“A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within.
-Will Durant
As anyone who has read the eleven-volumes of Will Durant history will note, time and again, societies through decadence and apathy consistently decompose from within before they are conquered by an invading force.
Businesses do the same.
In a recent survey posted by my colleague, Lisa Yasuda, 77.8% of young people in Japan are not interested in getting promoted to a higher positions in their company. The survey results prompted me to ask the inverse question, “Would companies hire a person who doesn’t want to be promoted in the future?” My premise was that companies would want eager, energetic, youth who are ambitious to grow a company. After all, this was based upon thousands of conversations I've had with hiring managers telling me they want to hire young, energetic, talented people.
From my limited LinkedIn poll, however, I was surprised that managers too are happy with the complacent attitude of young people. The poll brought 110 votes, with 71% voting “Yes”, they would hire young people not interested in promotion.
Behind the survey, there were some interesting comments. As Chris White points out, it really depends how we define, “promotion.” As Chris writes, “Many people don’t aspire to manage other people or are even good at it…but if a promotion means better pay…then you reward the skills set.”
Erik Spitzer, from Woven Planet, gave the very pragmatic viewpoint that young people, “may or may not change their mind in the future. Both are ok. The important thing is just to have ongoing discussions with them to know what their goals are.”
Hiroko Hoshino, an HR Director at Trend Micro, mentioned that “Companies need to figure out [how] we can satisfy them other than just promotions. People want to be valued. So we also need to consider the value of the employees not by salary range based on grades even if they stay in the same position.”
I thought these comments were thoughtful, accommodating, and pragmatic for creating a diverse workforce.
From my point of view, however, I fell in with the camp of the 29% who wouldn’t hire someone who lacks the ambition for promotion. I feel that if someone lacks a growth mindset, then it is difficult for me as a manager to help grow the individual. If a person is apathetic, fearful of challenges, neglects self-development, or lacks interest in growth in general, then these people have very little to contribute to a growing, dynamic organization. And even more fearfully, probably to society in general (read the Durant quote again).
Thankfully, however, the reality that I’ve seen recruiting in Japan for the last 25 years is that the survey is probably wrong. This may be down to the fact, as Chris White mentioned above, that the definition of “promotion” is vague. If you ask a candidate if they would join a company without an opportunity of career progression, learning, or clear growth for the future, then most candidates would give a resounding, "no."
My advice to any leader: if you’re bringing in talent demand a growth mindset and in return create a career path for that young talent to grow. On the other hand, if in interviews you find only an apathetic, passive candidate, immediately reject them. Like a civilization, if you decide to hire such people, then it is only a matter of time before a more dynamic company that hires ambitious talent will conquer you.