The term "perfection" has been used to designate a variety of concepts oscillating between an ideal and its approximation. It is colloquially used as a superlative, it has also been construed as that which is the best. In mathematics, it describes numbers that demonstrate uncommon properties; in theology, it is which lacks nothing, achieves its purpose, fulfills its functions.
People quite commonly say that you don’t quit a job — you quit a boss! That’s a saying heard so many times, and may be very true if you have a horrible boss — but would you quit the "perfect job"?
In a recent survey carried in Facebook, a company that claims to have great managers, results shown that even when they wanted to keep people, people left anyway - even when they were happy with their managers!
People leave when they feel they are not enjoying their jobs anymore, or if they feel their strengths are not being used properly, or if they are not growing in their careers as they wish. Of course they might leave merely for the money if they feel it's not enough, but who’s there to judge?
At Facebook, the survey concluded that people didn’t quit the boss — they quitted the job. But who’s responsible for what the job is like? Managers!
It’s up to managers to design jobs that are too good to leave
Most companies design jobs and then slot people into them, and in too many situations, opening a door in one's career means closing another in personal live. Good managers should start thinking differently: they should be creating jobs around those talented people they want to retain; they should be working with them in trying to minimize any career/family trade-offs by creating opportunities that mesh with personal priorities!Good companies set up shields — they protect their employees from toxicity. Good managers open doors to meaningful tasks and learning opportunities — they enable their people to be energized by their projects, to perform at their best, and to move forward professionally without taking steps backward at home.
Where Do You Stand?
To Aristotle, perfect meant complete — nothing to add or subtract. To Empedocles, perfection depended on incompleteness — to possess a potential for development and for complementing with new characteristics.The perfect job might not exist, as the very paradox of these two parallel concepts suggests, but if you work for a company where managers care about their people happiness and success, their career and life, you will end up with a better job, and it might be hard to imagine working anywhere else!
P.S.: The Year of the Rat! It's Chinese New Year, the holiday of happiness...
