Changing drivers.
Opportunities for organizations.
Blog by
Marijke van der Meulen
People change. Due to events. New insights. Personal development. Experience. For all sorts of reasons. But does their job also change with them? New life phases can bring about changing drivers. It’s useful to know if you want to keep your employees engaged. And to harness that new potential. Career advisor Marijke van der Meulen shares her experience in this blog.
Drivers? Useful to explain briefly
As a career advisor, I often work with ‘drivers, talents, qualities and personal development.’ But saying what drivers are in one, two, three sentences—I have to think about that myself… The easiest way to explain is that you can see drivers as the motivation (drive/passion) to do your job. Generally, drivers develop during childhood. Part of our drivers are probably genetically determined. They say something about motivation, attitude, preferences, and values. If this motivation is further stimulated (by your supervisor, for example), the talent will emerge faster and be optimized sooner. The more drivers you find back in your work, the better someone fits their position. And thus contributes to the overall performance of the organization.
Drivers often change over the years
Drivers can change over the years, for example due to experience, development, or life events. You might recognize in yourself that you make different choices or gain new interests over your career. There may have been an economic driver to earn enough money to buy a house or support your family. And when that works out or is no longer the main goal, the job may no longer be fulfilling. If, as an employer, you are unaware of these changing drivers of your employees, there is a chance they will leave.
And what about employees?
Through changing drivers, employees develop new talents and qualities that may (still) go unnoticed. Undiscovered, untapped potential. Therefore, as an employer, it is useful to facilitate regular check-ins for employees to see if they are still in the right place. A good example of this is a potential assessment or analysis. A participant I coached had a responsible position for years and, with his specialist knowledge, was a go-to for his colleagues. He concluded that his work had not given him satisfaction for years. He looked deeper and discovered he would rather work practically, with his hands (driver). He took a course and not long after started working as a welder.
The opportunity for organizations?
By having employees (periodically) explore and discover their potential, you connect them to your organization and also invite them to keep exploring new drivers and/or talents. The more employees find their drivers in their work, the better they fit in their roles. This has a positive effect on the organization.
My tip for HR and managers?
Be aware that your employees change throughout their careers. The drivers for which someone was once hired may have changed over the years. A useful tool to check if your employees are still doing what makes them happy and what they are good at is a drivers test or potential assessment. Moreover, it is a great opportunity for an organization to go beyond engagement and retention and instead focus on growth and connecting with your employees.
Marijke van der Meulen
Career Advisor
What always makes me happy is being able to really mean something to people. Sometimes it’s small practical issues. But also offering insight into ‘the human iceberg’ and brainstorming to help shape someone’s dreams for the future.
