How to motivate a young expert?

Do you handle work matters by fax or Whatsapp messages? Be that as it may, what is certain is that working life is in transition. The development of technology in recent years has changed how we work, but perhaps the biggest transition is yet to come.

Each one of us is a unique individual who sees things in a different way. One person wants to grind away independently in front of the computer, while another wants to do creative problem solving with the team. It is important to approach every person as an individual and try to offer them knowledge-building tasks that they find meaningful. Meaningful work motivates an employee to surpass himself and become better every day. This results in a win-win situation for both the employee and the employer: the employee enjoys and improves in their role, while the company enjoys better results.

Work atmosphere remains in order when employees are allowed to do relevant and meaningful tasks, and when there is no need to compete with each other. This also makes coming to work on a Monday a pleasure. Of course some tasks are more routine and less meaningful than others, however, the most important thing to note is that at least some tasks are ones that the employee actually enjoys – then they are also able to persevere with routine tasks. Teams should be built from differing people, so that a sensible and meaningful distribution of tasks is possible. The best solution is usually achieved through trial and error until the right combination is found. Sometimes several attempts are needed – the electric bulb wasn’t invented on the first attempt either.

However, the most important factors for motivating an expert are challenges, learning and development. Positive experiences are important on the journey to expertise. Challenges should continue to grow bit by bit, so that employees are constantly on the edge of their comfort zone.

Matti Alahuhta summed this up in his book Leadership : “When a person is in a role that interests them, where they learn something new and that is sufficiently demanding, they will grow both as a person and as an employee and deliver results.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.

A young expert looks for challenges, is courageous, and does things from the heart. This and many other things will be discussed at Fondia in the next Managing Experts workshop (the workshop is in Finnish). Come along!