People no longer want to work in any way to achieve organizational objectives. Faced with hyperdemand, job burnout and the ever-increasing impact on mental health, there is a growing trend among the new generations – but also among adults – to stop assuming leadership roles or climbing the corporate ladder in order to become “successful.”
This people They seek more relaxed and less responsible roles, prioritizing psycho-physical, emotional and relational health.thus changing the meaning of professional and personal achievement. Added to the contextual turmoil, this approach marks the need for an imminent change of mindset on the part of current leaders, organizational cultures and businesses.
Sofia came to my consulting firm desperate. She had the job opportunity of a lifetime: lots of money, a regional leadership position in technology, social status, car, health insurance, bonuses, etc. Her family was proud, encouraging the young woman to rise. But she didn’t want it and had a panic attack.“I don’t want to spend my whole life working in an office full-time,” she said, crying. “I want to have time to enjoy my family and friends, and to travel the world. I love working for technology with a positive impact on society. The problem is companies and their formats that suffocate me. I don’t want to end up like my parents: with money, together and unhappy, pretending and showing off nothing. I just want to live off what I like and can do.”.
Or the case of Matías, who was offered a leadership position by a bakery chain to control the stores with a better salary and more working hours. Told me: “If I do this, I won’t see my daughter, I’ll be stressed all day and I’ll perform less well in the bike group. I feel social guilt for wanting to be and live well.”.
Paradigm shift
Is it wrong to think about what we want? For decades we have ignored our deep vocational and work desires in order to satisfy other people’s desires, respect mandates, belong to a social space and have assets while sustaining the labor market, thus losing our life and our psycho-physical, emotional and relational health. Work became our home and family, and we left everything there. The young people who saw these parents and grandparents suffer, and even many adults of that post-pandemic generation, made a high-impact click. Therefore, work no longer has the same meaning. Aspirations are now directed towards other personal aspects and in this situation the organizational world is mostly not understanding what to do..
The story of Sofia and Matias are examples of the growing trend of “quiet ambition” or “silent ambition”The term first appeared in a Fortune 500 article, and then a study of 1,000 employees by Visier found that only 4% wanted to be a senior executive, and 38% of individual contributors were interested in becoming people managers in their current organization. The remaining 62% would prefer to remain individual contributors.
Some call them sensitive, fragile, and others like me call them connected, breakers of useless and human mandates, but like everything, it also requires a balance so as not to go over to the other side. These generations need help to achieve that exact point of professional development and psycho-emotional management that helps them grow professionally and find a way to match their purpose with that of the organizations for their continuity. These people are changing the structural policies of organizations and mobilizing obsolete leadership by force.
The biggest challenge lies in the ability of these organizations to change and adapt to the needs of generations, changing contexts and new technologies that add new complexity to the new work era.
New aspirations that are joining this trend are:
- Living at low stress levels and prioritizing mental health is a mantra: They seek to develop in environments that promote a balance between personal and professional life, flexible hours, mental health policies and healthy work spaces, but with a tangible, non-textbook impact.
- Working for something that transcends or connects with the purpose and meaning of work for the person attracted to companies with strong social and environmental values, and look for opportunities to contribute to positive change.
- Upskilling and Reskilling for what’s coming: They value training and professional development opportunities that foster creativity, lateral thinking and innovation.
- Working with others to achieve common goals, where the diversity of ideas and perspectives is valued.
- Connected Leaders with themselves and with others who can self-observe, be REAL and inspire, empathize, respect, include and develop teams.
A challenging moment
How are they going to create new leaders if they try to fit strategies into a population that says “I’m not interested”? This is one of the most challenging, creative and profound moments in the history of leadership. In order for these generations to continue sailing these ships, current leaders will have to break with everything known, working on their own psyche, and updating strategies to what the new generations need.not only in relation to business, in a real way, not pretentious, without stories, or ephemeral promises, or buying health or freedom with materialism to advance as a society and forge a common path.
This task of redefinition is not only for recruiters to attract talent, It is up to all the leaders of each organization working on this consciousness. In the organizations I have worked in so far as an occupational psychologist From the Tarasiewicz Method, both in SMEs and large corporations, I have observed that the impact of this conscious approach at the human level and in the business is very high..
All of this represents a challenge for organizations, which need to adapt to people’s new expectations. Those that do not offer a good work-life balance, a positive work environment and professional development opportunities risk losing their best talents. Therefore, will have to face major adaptive changesnot only to the context and consumption patterns, but rather from its structural models. Working with the employer brand and, above all, unlearning a materialistic, transactional and superficial way of thinkinginvested with good practices, to connect humanly with people and meet their needs from there towards the roles for an improvement in productivity and, therefore, in the quality of life of people and the business.
Although this change takes time, which seems to be lacking, stopping and rethinking from more conscious leaderships will generate a more sustainable change and not only from agile processes with the same basic organizational cultures..
Work psychologist in the new era. Director @trabaja.mejor.
Source: Ambito
David William is a talented author who has made a name for himself in the world of writing. He is a professional author who writes on a wide range of topics, from general interest to opinion news. David is currently working as a writer at 24 hours worlds where he brings his unique perspective and in-depth research to his articles, making them both informative and engaging.
