Technology and the culture of novelty : Part One
Technology moves fast and is in a perpetual state of renewal; it is thus no surprise that the workers in this field expect their careers to echo these traits and be as as fluid and as flexible as the network through which they navigate daily.
In such a context, their loyalty falls to the companies which provide challenges tailored to their professional growth. In fact, this criteria often eclipses salary and benefits when it comes to applying for a new job.
As such, C.E.O.s in the technological industry need to harness novelty not only in their product lines but in their business practices, internal systems and employment perspectives.
One scenario hinges on providing the next stepping stones for your prospects’ careers. Instead of hiring based on established skill and experience, offering the next step in the applicant’s learning process often proves to be the key factor for self-motivated, high-performance employees.
Any task on the cutting edge of technology involves a lot of undocumented, pioneering work; whether veterans of younger recruits, success will come to those who have a genuine, personal interest in the challenge.
In most cases, this path leads to employees who will not only have learned new skills through their employment but who will also have a sense of being part of the company’s success; there is no better way to inspire loyalty and innovation in your staff. If the change comes from their desires and their ideas, or are implemented using methods they’ve conceived or put in place, your company’s success can be nothing but exponential.
Revenue sharing and stock ownership complement this approach nicely. When an employee’s performance has a direct impact on the company’s success, it becomes an investment on their part which they will naturally tend to protect.
In order for this approach to be successful, this plan requires company-wide transparent and open communications. Keeping your employees informed of successes as well as mistakes is a great way to engage their interest; it is also the main factor with which to inspire trust, the most valuable of commodities.
It is worthy of note that the aforementioned behavior is prevalent in workers of the Y and millenial generations as well. Since their lives have begun with the maturation of informationr technologies, it is no wonder that similarities abound between their work ethics and the functionality of technology.
Bear in mind that there will always be maintenance work, whether for the code, servers or back end. By definition, these positions offer little in terms of novelty and can thus afford to be filled with the usual, tried-and-true employment methods of decades past.