What is it about developing people that gets bosses’ backs up? Even seasoned entrepreneurs become fear-stricken business paraplegics when faced with staff development.
By Nimroth Gwetsa, 15 October 2014.
The biblical adage that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enjoy heaven’s bliss” seems applicable in the business world concerning human development. Although the expression was meant to illustrate the problem posed by “riches” many rely on to become content with this life without much concern about anything else, it illustrates how such contentment encourages us to have a spirit of false independence.
This expression applies to human development in the business context. Business is reluctant to take on people from the street or even new graduates to develop them. Business seems content leaving the problem to someone else.
Some in business easily scoff at the idea of taking on unskilled people to developing them giving reasons such as, “you train them and someone comes and poaches them without compensating you”; “you train them and these buggers end up using their newly acquired knowledge to blackmail you to pay them more”, “these people are not loyal and I won’t waste my money on them”; “I’ll only train loyal and talented people. Everybody else is a waste of money and time”.
Some of these reasons are valid. Others are excuses ingrained in fear, apathy and ignorance.
But what makes business work and what is success premised on?
At the heart of business success is an entrepreneurial spirit and relentless pursuit of opportunities amid apparent risks. The effort involves overcoming fear, doubts and scorn and resolving to pursue the-not-so-obvious opportunities. When risks are known beforehand, the best decision would be to do something about the situation. Use knowledge to find insights into how best to overcome dreaded problems. The solution is not in doing nothing.
There is no such thing as doing nothing. Doing nothing is actually doing something. The difference is in the outcomes achieved. Like doing something, doing nothing is an action that has consequences. In doing nothing, one suppresses the thought about advancement or the body from exerting motion. The notion is oxymoronic, but an effort nevertheless that may not yield desired results.
Reluctance by business to hire inexperienced or unskilled people could be likened to a “doing-nothing” action whose outcome could eventually be regretted.
Why on human development are we not seeing vigorous pursuit of opportunities to develop the less capable and skilled solely to create possibilities for future prosperity? Risk is a twin of success. There is no success without risk. Nothing in this world is without risk. The simple act of opening the mouth to speak is risky. One risks having a bee in one’s mouth or being ridiculed, yet the joy of seeing spoken words comforting someone else, uplifting and teaching them is priceless.
It should no longer be a valid excuse for business to avoid developing unskilled people in fear of losing them to the market. Losing staff is real but can be avoided and mitigated. There is plenty material to help in this regard. The simplest and easiest solution of all to resolve staff retention problem is by “being the boss everyone wants to work for”. Similarly, employees should strive to be the best employee every boss would want to employ.
It takes two to tango. Business did not wake one day and decided, “we are no longer hiring or getting unskilled people to train them”. The market comprises many characters. They include those wanting to make a quick buck from any job even if their hearts are not on those jobs and the bored who just want change for superficial reasons. The market also includes genuine and passionate people who feel their jobs help them become the best they could become. It is not easy to spot real sheep from wolves masquerading as sheep. The prevalence of wolves in the market is the main reason seasoned and successful entrepreneurs are now so feeble and overcome with fear having to consider training unskilled people.
People seem busy nowadays. It is not easy to invest oodles of time sifting through millions of job applications just to spot genuine sheep from fakes. Sadly, the widespread busyness does not necessarily translate to increased productivity.
Has the time come to abandon traditional recruitment methods of sifting through CVs to look for qualifications of candidates, roles fulfilled, work experience and references?
Owing to oversaturation of job applications, we are now seeing the creativity of candidates wishing to distinguish themselves to attract employers. Candidates are now adopting unconventional methods to promote themselves. We are seeing the emergence of many other Alfred Ajani[1]’s (see picture below) trying to distinguish themselves from wolves. Soon, the fad would fade and the market would be inundated with wolves when this method becomes the norm for drawing attention of potential employers. Business would eventually retract giving opportunities to inexperienced and unskilled potential employees using this method.
(Picture taken from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2749042/Graduate-held-sign-advertising-Waterloo-Station-starts-work-s-handed-dream-job-passing-commuter.html – last accessed on 3 October 2014)
We would then face the problem again. Losses are incurred when nothing is done. Business is the stuff of legends and enduring entrepreneurs. Like a human body rejecting “foreign” organs, so should business about the reluctance to employ inexperienced and unskilled people. It is “unbusiness-like” to be gripped by fear of losing out. If so, business would not be business. Business results would be guaranteed and no business would close.
Perhaps business realises its loss of the essence of doing business as it was in the past. Business has become like a prison and practices modern day slavery. Some people are trapped in their employment. Others are heavily indebted to lavish lifestyle and cannot keep up with it. Their indebtedness has resulted in them selling their capacity to the highest bidding employer. Employers have inadvertently created single points of failure by creating greater dependence on these employees, hence the fear of losing them to competition.
The dynamics of supply and demand, technology innovation and quantum leap and revenue and cost of operations should inspire business to continue investment in developing talent pipeline. Pipeline comprising a mix of matured and unskilled workforce and increased use of technology.
Entrepreneur is defined by thefreedictionary.com as a “person who organizes, operates, and assumes the risk for a business venture”. Many in business do this daily. Since everything in business is conducted to serve the needs of people, human development requires a person who would “organise, operate and assume” risks to ensure the business venture creates a generous payoff. It is now beginning of the end of business people reluctant in developing people. The risks are worth taking and differentiate entrepreneurs from destroyers of business value.
[1] Refer to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2749042/Graduate-held-sign-advertising-Waterloo-Station-starts-work-s-handed-dream-job-passing-commuter.html