Friday, July 12, 2019

Employers should be less concerned about diplomas and certificates

Recently, a couple of times, I have been in contact with people who wanted to make a career move. A combination of contributing to an organization in their change, growth and or development, and at the same time an impulse for their own personal growth and development. A process, or rather a project, that in my opinion should always go hand in hand for the best results.

Why I call it a project is because it is good for people and organizations to say goodbye to each other after a while. That keeps both fresh.
Now that I write this, I remember a conversation with a trainee in communication sciences who once wanted to work for our organization. As a boss I told her at her introduction just before she got her job, that I hoped that she would work somewhere else within five years as a business card for our organization. At first sight she turned to be a bit surprised to hear that from me, and… she followed it. Now I dare to say that both she and the organization had positive effects of it.

Many people fall into the routine of continuing to do things they once liked doing (and not really like anymore because the impulse for wanted growth is over already for a long time). They earn their money with it as an encouragement to continue the work they are doing. No longer getting any satisfaction and challenge out of it any more. That’s unfortunate for two sides. Have the guts to change. Understand that change is growth.

Back to my topic for this week. The people I talked about in the beginning saw it as a problem to serve an organization (and themselves) because they did not have all the required papers and diplomas mentioned in the job description. And that experience this week was the trigger for my blog. The frustration of bureaucracy.

What about required certificates and diplomas? Employers, in many situations, should have the guts and courage to deal with that a little more lightly. Guts? Yes. As a boss you may have to explain something to your Works Council and / or Labor Union. And still ... can’t you do that if you believe in the quality of people, their passion and mission?

Many organizations feel so bound to all kinds of rules (or find it easy that there are) that the flexibility to attract outstanding people without all the required papers and diplomas has gone. Afraid to be addressed or, for good reason, to deviate from the fixed pattern.

In various organizations in which I worked as an end responsible manager I took all those set diploma and certificate requirements sometimes not too literally.

The Polish poet and noble prize winner Wislawa Szymborska (1923-2012) once wrote a surprising poem about writing apparently in bureaucracy in relation to applying for a job: “Writing a Curriculum Vita”.

Be honest. In a new job, isn't it much and much more about the match between the deeper mission of the company and the personal mission of a candidate? About inspiration, talents, connection, affection, personal background, enthusiasm, resilience, life experiences and thus already acquired life wisdom and genuinely desired growth?

Indeed, as Szymborska says so nicely, CVs are requested that are written as if the applicant has never talked to him- or herself and has always looked and stayed far away from him- or herself. Are this the kind of persons you are really looking for?

A good diploma does not say anything about how valuable a (new) employee really is or can be for your organization. You can often get so much more for the same money (or even at the start a little less). And, because of the inner motivation of this type of candidate’s management is less needed. This people are of the type learning by doing and are in the mood of exploring on their own.

As a company or organization, don’t you get much more sustainability and motivation if your diploma requirements were not taken too literally? I have great experiences with it.
After all, as a manager aren’t you responsible for the quality of your staff? If you have the courage and especially feeling and engagement with your business, you dare to deviate. In addition, if you believe in your own qualities, it is also easy to explain your different choice to the outside world.

Gangey Gruma (Frans Captijn)

Captijn InsightCatalyst in developing tranquility & in-sight to get in a sustainable way real connection, purpose, pleasure and flow in life, love, family, business, career and work again.



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