How to Get the Best out of Passionate Employees
Who does not swear by the adage by Confucius, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” But what about those people who find happiness and excitement in the very work they do, day in and day out? Such are the people who are intrinsically motivated to give their best despite the odds. They are the ones who will pull through during tough times, and their passion is infectious enough to help others pull through as well. Such people are few and far between and are a true asset to the company because they do not rely on external motivation like perks, compensations and other benefits to outperform. Organizations must learn how to tap into the skills of these people and use them as levers to build a high performing work culture.
How can organizations exactly tap into the vast potential of passionate people? The first step is to identity these people in the throngs of candidates and employees. Here are some typical characteristics of passionate people:
- Curiosity: The person who always asks questions or is the first to challenge a said norm may be the one you are looking for. Passion harbors curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Most importantly, passionate people are too enthusiastic to care about what others will think if they ask too many questions. Getting clarity is significant to fuelling their passion.
- Love for learning: As they are curious, they will not just settle down after they get the right answers. Passionate people are usually tireless who want to know more. They have a set of interests, which they are keen to improve upon and are willing to put in the extra effort and resources to learn about their passions. Passionate people are often not okay with just getting by; they strive to master what they touch because they truly believe in its worth.
- Need for flexibility: Since passionate people are intrinsically motivated, they do not need the carrot to stay back and achieve that late-night deliverable. They give utmost importance to their passion, i.e., their work and are willing to be flexible to achieve the impossible. As a result they can often quickly adapt to tough work conditions and do not think of it as a pain.
- Ready to take on more: Intrinsic motivation has a way of spiralling and the enthusiasm for work makes such people take on more, voluntarily. Passionate employees are often good motivators who like to share their know-how and encourage others to do well. They extend a helping hand and go the extra mile to deliver, often by taking on more work.
- High achievement orientation: Passionate people go after excellence, they are high achievement-oriented individuals. They must feel they have achieved something meaningful at the end of the day. They will put in discretionary effort to achieve their goals.
Passion can move a thousand mountains. Recruiters are realizing that this is an invaluable soft skill to look for in candidates and are redesigning recruitment and selection processes to look for passion. However, it is important to look for passion that is aligned with the business objectives. It is also important to empower them to help bring out the best in them, by providing them autonomous roles and intangible engagement elements like leadership visibility. With these inputs, one can expect such people to steer the ship towards a great future, filled with passion and purpose.
