One of the major challenges that organizations face today is the high rates of attrition. Employers are finding it difficult to retain the talent in organizations as young professionals leave their current jobs the moment they find better opportunities elsewhere. Timothy Butler and James Waldroop attribute a major part of attrition to the inability of organizations to understand the psychology of work satisfaction; they assume that people who excel at their work are necessarily happy in their jobs.
Employers need to understand that the key to retain employees is to offer them a job that matches their deeply embedded life interests (DEMI). These interests are not hobbies (Cooking, Swimming) nor are they topical enthusiasms, such as the stock market or oceanography. Instead, deeply embedded life interests are long-held, emotionally driven passions, intricately entwined with personality and thus born of an indeterminate mix of nature and nurture. Deeply embedded drive what kind of activities makes people happy. At work, that happiness often translates into commitment. It keeps people engaged, and it keeps them from quitting.Life interests start showing themselves in childhood and remain relatively stable throughout our lives, even though they may manifest themselves in different ways at different times. A person’s life interests essentially vary as a child, teenager and adult.
Job sculpting is the art of matching people to jobs that allow their deeply embedded life interests to be expressed. It is the art of developing a customized career path for the employees that increases their chances of staying in the organization.
- Job sculpting demands the managers to identify each employee’s deeply embedded life interests. Managers using psychology and behavioral science principles can implement sculpting. Managers should make this effort to know their employees and retain the best of talent.
- Each change in assignment provides an opportunity to do some sculpting. For instance, a human resource manager with an interest in quantitative analysis might be given new duties working with the marketing analysis wing of compensation & benefits unit while remaining in the human resource department.
The eight life interests identified by Timothy Butler and James Waldroop are:
Application of Technology measures interests that are often associated with engineering, production, operations, and the general use of technology to accomplish business objectives
Quantitative Analysis measures interests that are realized through problem-solving that relies on mathematical analysis
Theory Development and Conceptual Thinking measures interests involving broadly conceptual approaches to business problems
Creative Production measures interests that are realized through highly creative activities such as the development of new products or marketing concepts, the gernation of new business ideas, etc.
Counseling and Mentoring measures interests that involve developing relationships as a crucial part of business work, such as coaching, training and mentoring
Managing People and Relationships measures interests that involve developing relationships as a crucial part of business work, such as coaching, training and mentoring
Enterprise Control measures interests that are realized through having ultimate decision-making authority for complete operations
Influence Through Language and Ideas measures interest in exercising influence through the skillful use of written and spoken language
In order to carve a career path for employees; employers should lay emphasis on performance reviews. They should actively listen and ask probing questions to employees during the reviews and at the same time allow them to put forth their concerns. Once it is done; managers can customize the jobs according too the interests of the employees by either adding (or removing) responsibilities or changing the job altogether.
As the concept of learning organizations grows in this knowledge-driven economy; it is important for organizations and managers to understand the essence of career development of employees which can contribute a lot in retaining employees in the long run. Managers should not underestimate the criticality of understanding their employee’s expectations. It’s time they make an effort to know the hearts of their employees along with their minds!
Author: Rahul Sharma
Reference: Job Sculpting: The art of retaining your best people (Harvard Business School)
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