Momentum is a critical part of living and feeling vital, to always know that new opportunities are emerging and that one’s abilities are being utilized to their utmost. To make the most out of now, so that in the future, more will be available. To never be stagnant, stuck or otherwise without options. Most employees are lucky to make it 6 months without momentum being killed, not by an inner sense of torpor, but from not being placed in a situation where one’s potential can be realized through daily situational challenges.
We like to place blame on the employee, for not reaching out, for not taking the opportunities to educate themselves to realize their potential, we place all the responsibility for an individual’s success on the individual themselves, and none on the circumstances which surround them. Business fails to educate and in turn, learn the capacities of their workers, which results in a complete inability of management to utilize the full potential of their resources.
That’s the problem with seeing people as square pegs to fit square holes. The needs of business are prescribed as religious doctrine from the powers above, orders obeyed by paid followers, when the true needs of a business remain unseen by decision-makers seeking relevance. Like any living creature, business needs to be able to anticipate, adapt and react to change quickly and in a way that mitigates as many negative consequences as possible. If business enables employees with decision making powers, business achieves the ability to adapt and utilize the full power of it’s resources.
Of course, every employee can’t run freely, unfettered, doing things which aren’t in the company’s interest. This would result in anarchy, turf-wars and destabilization of the organized enterprise which allows for the survival of all. However, one can be reasonably certain that most people will operate in their own self-interest, and if that can align with the company’s interest, then you have the coveted, harmonious win-win situation. Which is quite powerful.
A company’s interest is fairly obtuse, making money in the manner they know how. Challenging an enterprise to adapt to the changes in the marketplace is not only inevitable, but necessary to remain competitive. Arranging the responsibilities of company resources in a way that is both efficient and appropriate requires opening up the information flow as a two-way street, from bottom to top, as well as top to bottom.
How to find out what appeals to an employee’s self-interest? Listen during those critical first six months, listen to how the company can do things better, listen to what abilities an employee has beyond what they were hired for, listen to what an employee does outside of work. Just as companies bring in outside CEO’s for thinking that is outside the box, every new hire also has that unique perspective without the million dollar price tag.
Relaying this information is part of the initial ‘just-hired’ momentum. Attempting to make the work and workplace personally relevant beyond a paycheck is the ultimate ambition. These attempts are often met with misunderstanding, as the entrenched powers in the organization feel threatened by the change, and shoot it down as a matter of instinct, with little to no objective thought. Thus, most companies cannot provide a working environment which serves non-financial employee interests.
So, after the first 6 months as the initial enthusiasm, drive and momentum wears down, it is replaced by resentment of the stasis inherent in ‘the way things are done around here’. This works especially against the employer if they have promoted ideals which serve recruiting and self-promotion purposes, but do not accurately depict daily life on the job. The pre-concieved ideals surrounding the position are replaced with the reality of the situation.
It is this reality that either has a space for and perpetuates momentum, or halts all progress as a matter of expectation.
It is this reality that converts the work environment from one of creative freedom, full of possibilities, to one of laborious drudgery, full of disharmony.
