Not many people look forward to returning to work in a new year after a long festive holiday. To trading swimsuits for corporate suits, deck chairs for desk chairs, cocktails for coffee and sunscreen for a computer screen.
To numb the pain, many come armed with New Year’s resolutions to improve focus, increase commitment and achieve new goals within their current position but some hope for promotion, a pay increase, a new job or even a complete career change.
“How managers and employers respond to these New Year’s new-yearns will determine whether 2014 is a year of success or disappointment for their business,” says Kay Vittee, CEO of Quest Staffing Solutions, Africa’s leading staffing solutions company within the white-collar recruitment industry.
Vittee explains that learning to identify the warning signs of which staff may yearn to change their working situation is the first step in managing risk.
People who have been doing the same job for a long period of time will understandably be suffering from boredom fatigue; their repetitive tasks performed on autopilot.
Despite the temptation to keep these people just where they are, because they perform so well without supervision and demand on your management, there is a real risk that they do not feel that their work is being recognised and have become tired of the monotony.
Staff who perform in high stress environments facing the constant onslaught of financial pressures, customer service demands, challenging timelines, safety concerns or any such stressful requirements, may be worn down and incapable or unwilling to subject themselves to the strains of these situations any longer.
Long hours, take-home work, weekend work, canceled leave, travel commitments and other demands that steal time from family and friends put enormous pressure on staff trying to balance their work demands with their personal demands. Often causing real problems in relationships and families, this work-life imbalance is unsustainable and despite the threats to their personal relationships, burnout is a real risk too.
If a business has recently been restructured, downsized and retrenched staff or has shown obvious signs of strain in the current economic climate, staff may feel vulnerable and insecure. There is little doubt that they have considered the possibility of losing their jobs and that this concern has them looking outside your company.
Staff who have consistently performed well, achieving and exceeding targets and deliverables may feel unrecognised and that their efforts are not being rewarded quickly enough either through remuneration or promotion. These staff are, by nature of their accomplishments highly sought-after and may be headhunted or approached with alternate employment opportunities.
“As a manager you are faced with the challenge that most people view career success as vertical – ‘climbing the corporate ladder’, ‘moving up the ranks’, and so on a quest to move higher and closer to a position of management.
“However the reality is that today’s companies, although still hierarchal, are less vertically structured and there are not enough positions of management to satisfy all your staff’s aspirations,” says Vittee.
In order to deal with staff who have New Year’s new-yearns and retain vital skills and experience, Vittee recommends “horizontal movement”.
Horizontal movement can be defined as staff movement across different company departments, taking on new portfolios, usually at a similar status level and with similar responsibilities.
The concept of horizontal movement within an organisation seems to have originated from the thinking of Frank Ostroff and other management thinkers. Ostroff put forward the concept in his book The Horizontal Organisation published in 1999, although it seems that only now, more than a decade later, companies are adopting the thinking.
The benefits of horizontal movement for both the employer and the employee are substantial.
“Although not being promoted to a position of higher status, employees who are moved horizontally within their place of employ will gather new skills, adding to their resume and making them more attractive candidates for vertical promotion. By experiencing different departments, different working environments and doing different tasks and learning different skills, employees may discover new talents and find their own niche.
“The employer benefits from the improved productivity, increased skills and better morale horizontal movement can offer. This is also an ideal way to identify talent and utilise strong skills and experience in mentorship programmes,” concludes Vittee.
