Image: Philipp Tomsich
Do managers see regular job changes as positive or negative? The Hernstein Institute for Management of the Austrian Economic Chamber investigated this question in the latest edition of the Management Report. 1,500 Austrian and German managers were surveyed, 623 of them in Austria.
65 percent of those surveyed are of the opinion that companies benefit when employees have experience from different professions and companies. “New perspectives, interesting contacts, learned work or process flows from previous activities can be valuable,” says institute director Michaela Kreitmayer. Managers with up to three years of experience are particularly open-minded. Among them, the approval rating is 69 percent. For colleagues with more than 20 years of professional experience, the figure is 58 percent.
However, some managers also see disadvantages to this behavior. Twelve percent completely agreed and 23 percent somewhat agreed with the statement that employees don’t really become good at any job through frequent changes. However, managers are cautious about whether it is a disadvantage for employees’ careers if they make frequent career changes: 16 percent completely agree with this thesis, 26 percent somewhat agree.
“In order to avoid a high willingness to change, it is important that personality traits and the respective corporate culture fit together,” says Kreitmayer. This is something to keep in mind during the hiring process. Regular development discussions are important.
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