Job Offers: Is it always about money?
When looking for work or establishing career, do employees always look only at the money offered?
YES!
Salary is indeed important and one of the factors why we accept jobs. If you are a fresh graduate, or the breadwinner of the family, salary indeed plays the large percentage of the decision making. It’s not wrong, it’s right and understandable.
…and NO.
As we progress in our careers and build financial stability, especially the ones that really loves their work and thrives for excellency, salary plays the lower percentage. Again, it is still a factor, it’s what gives us food on our tables, feeds us and makes us live comfortably. But on the other side, a vast majority, according to Business Insider, resigns and moves to work not because of salary rather because of growth.
I’ve been in interviews for quite some time now and the most common question is, “What are you looking for in a company?” And I answer the same in each questions, “I am looking for a company that gives opportunities for growth, promotes leadership not seniority, mentorship and not dictatorship, and most importantly, a company that values its employees as it values its clients.” Sounds too promising for an organization, right? The surprise is, I was able to work for a company that provides all these and showed me that it is indeed possible. It was my first company and they were the ones who honed me into the employee that I currently am.
Growth is important.
Growth is being uncomfortable and nervous at something. Growth is what leads us into becoming better.
In a company, its basic unit is its employees as to a society, its families. The thing about growth of employee is, it’s echoing. Employee development does not only benefit oneself but also benefits the organization. We enhance our skills to be better. We upgrade our knowledge to perform better. When we become better, we become more competent.
Every employee likes to acquire new skills and learning while at job. A sense of pride develops when they feel that their organization is investing time and resources to train them. Employee development is essential for extracting the best out of employees.
As a leader…
Having a perspective from different roles, it gave me a different way to lead. I lead by experience. The books only contain the processes and practices, but there is no book telling someone, “This is the RIGHT WAY to lead or manage people.” As the courses I took from IBMI tells, “There is no right way to manage a project.”
When we lead by experience, we get to be more emphatic and see what others don’t. I am very fortunate to be given opportunities, mentors and friends in my first years at work. As I look back, these people are the ones that influenced me. And now, having a role of project manager, is the time for me to give back and lead how I was led, how I was heard, how I was valued, and how I was seen even if I was back then a new hire, a junior developer and inexperienced.
Employees are people too. Lead by experience. Lead by the golden rule “Do unto others, what you want to do unto you.”
With this perspective, I always come down to one question to myself and to my team, “Are you growing, personally and professionally?”
Conclusion
It can differ from one’s needs and/or priorities at the time. We all have our non-negotiable.
The top and common reason of why employees quit is lack of growth or engagement which we can relate on what most of us look for in organizations we’ll spend our time.
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References:
- 4.5 years and counting of working experience. Yet, there are still lots of things in store for us and new experiences to learn from.