Job Hopping

Job Hopping - Its psychopathology, cause and effect - Is it beneficial in the long run?

It is necessary to understand the psychopathology of job hopping. In the earlier days, job hopping was considered bad. Job hoppers were considered as unreliable and unstable material. There were not many opportunities and joining a competitor was the most popular but not very ethical.

Such people are mostly technical specialists in some field. They very rarely acquire cross functional skills. Experience shows that they make very poor man managers and leaders. There are three kinds of job hoppers. The first kind change in the same field and for the sake of money.

The second kind is ambitious, dynamic, proactive and change agents. These people seek challenges and do not accept slow, steady and safe jobs and try to climb to leadership positions as early as possible. The third kind are the people who change functions and industries and are high risk takers. The third kind makes world class leadership material and good entrepreneurs.

Unfortunately, such people get labeled as ‘jacks of all trades.

Experience shows that most job hoppers have suffered injustice at the hands of the previous employers at some point of time. People change not because the employer is not acceptable to them. They change because the bosses are not acceptable to them. Since one cannot choose a boss, it ends up in them choosing a different job. However, there is no guarantee that the new boss in the new job would be any better. In the past, every employer had the same type of autocratic managers. Despite these handicaps, if people change jobs, it shows guts, ability to face hardships and prove oneself. Each job change means starting all over again and proving oneself in a different and new environment. The environment will be hostile and unfriendly to the new incumbent in the initial stages. Past track record does not guarantee future success. It is not easy and calls for great knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

The world always has talented young people and only recently this has been recognized. In our younger days such people were considered as eager beavers and upstarts. Every effort was made to dissuade and discourage such people. The older workforce available today is largely an untapped resource. Organizations will have to start considering them, if they want people who can lend some good and solid experience. In the case of people who have retired, one can get them on board as consultants or trainers or advisers besides offering them part time employment.

Old people do not necessarily lack creative ideas. Leonardo Da Vinci painted ‘Mona Lisa’ at the age of 60. A country like Japan utilizes 83% of its old employees. In India it is around 14% and that too only in family managed organizations. In a society that does not have any old age and social security benefits, it is necessary to utilize this valuable resource. Young people who shun and hate old people at workplace must not forget that they will become old one day.

Finally, we come to the effect of such frequent job changes. The biggest disadvantage is that one loses long term benefits like pension, gratuity etc., Each change must be sufficiently rewarding financially, to offset such losses. Very rarely, large offers were offered in the past, unlike today. Moreover, tempting offers are being offered only by modern service industries. Old economy companies rarely make such offers. Majority of job hoppers lose sight of this. Large and established companies in any field always pay par salaries. They are more worried about maintaining internal equity. It is the new entrants who offer high salaries to attract people.

However, they might not have the staying power. Only 1.6% of job hoppers really gain in the long run. Majority do not gain and rather they would find that ordinary and mediocre people have caught up with them by staying with the same company over a period of time and without undergoing any of the troubles they underwent. At senior levels and in leadership positions, when the knowledge and skill levels are the same, experience reveals that successful job hoppers with a good track record at senior levels are better than people who have not changed jobs at all or had change of jobs at junior levels.

© June 2007. www.madgopes.com. All rights reserved.



To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.

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