Respecting the style with which I usually write my articles, the content of the following work will talk about the author in the third person, even though the reflections and proposals presented here are my own and the product of my research in the administrative sciences.
They are agile, fast and, in most cases, accurate.
These arthropods jump from place to place with such confidence that even scientists wonder if it is a reflex produced by the survival instinct or a conscious and planned process.
Possibly one day it will be known. What is a fact is that such a peculiar inhabitant of mountains and meadows can be an example to follow in the competitive and changing contemporary world of work.
In 1992, and from a very personal perspective, the idea arose to compare the behavior of the professional employee with the behavior of the grasshopper, at that time it seemed common to observe how people changed from one job to another very easily. Even though the country's macroeconomic conditions seemed to vary with the recent changes in the currency and the financial reality experienced by companies and banks, there was the perception of a significant number of job offers that attracted both foreigners and locals. The professionals back then looked like grasshoppers, going from one place to another with freedom and security.
But times have changed. The characteristic economic contraction in almost all developing countries has led to the loss of sources of employment, the market has become increasingly competitive, offers are scarce and very specific. However, in the face of this prevailing reality, there are still employed professionals who wish to try their luck in other settings and make use of the concept of "employability", people who have reached a significant number of years in their positions and who do not see the possibility of continue to grow or be considered for other responsibilities, and even people who feel that they have already given their all for the company and dream of having the opportunity to gain oxygen by experiencing other working conditions in different settings. These professionals simply feel the need to jump.
But jumping from one job to another is not a matter of gaining momentum, taking a deep breath and jumping into the void to finally fall into the desired position or level of knowledge; It is much more than that, and it is precisely at this point where the Grasshopper Theory begins to make more sense for those who want to venture out, change jobs and move on.
The Grasshopper Theory is simple, like almost everything whose inspiration is nature, it is mainly defined by 6 principles, these are:
Principle One: Sharpen your senses, read and interpret the signals.
A grasshopper knows exactly when it is time to jump. The grasshopper is equipped with hairs that allow it to detect when the community where it operates has grown enough to take away space, thanks to its delicate and sensitive touch, it does not expect it to be too late to jump, so the grasshopper understands the signals, He interprets them and knows exactly when it is time to look for a new space.
Just as organizations evaluate the performance of their employees, they are obliged to evaluate their situation in the company in the short, medium and long term in order to glimpse their future within it and compare it with their dreams and expectations.
If the result of this evaluation shows that there are sufficient reasons to “stay on the ship”, the best option is to continue feeding the identification that you have with the company, maintain or increase the work rate and continue adding value to management. But when this is not the case, it is time to think about visualizing the opportunities that the labor market offers.
In some cases the same company offers unequivocal signs of its limitations and / or manifests its impossibility to continue offering challenging goals to its employees; but in other cases this information seems to travel in a key way throughout the work environment and it requires sharpness and attention to understand the message.
On the other hand, the employee cannot expect the company to take the initiative for change, as a consequence of its policies and plans, and it is she who decides to end the employment relationship by offering outplacement workshops as an incentive to facilitate reintegration into the market, at best; you must be attentive to the signs and, like the grasshopper, sharpen your sense of space and recognize when everything around you is no longer the size of your dreams and expectations, and then, only then, once you have objectively visualized your environment, make the decision to move to another setting.
The above, although basic, is usually a typical error that the professional incurs.
You do not always study the reality of the environment, the facilities that employment provides you and you make visceral decisions based on impulses or extraordinary situations that activate the ancestral desire to throw everything on the ground and start again. The change from one job to another is not always well thought out, the signs are not observed with enough attention and this generates different results than expected. That is why before thinking about changing jobs it is recommended:
Make a list of the pros and cons offered by the position you have: What advantages would there be in staying in it? What risks would you face when changing scenery? Are you ready to take that risk? Is it a momentary whim? What concept do you handle of stability? Will you achieve what you expect in the next job? Have you really exhausted all avenues in your current job? Reviewing your situation will allow you to know if it is a fortuitous and isolated event your desire to jump or, on the contrary, the conditions in which you find yourself are foreign enough to your expectations to start looking for new horizons.
Conduct a self-assessment: Has my conduct been proactive enough to be considered for other positions or levels of knowledge? Am I adding value to my work? Am I sufficiently identified with my company and the activities I carry out? Was I honest in setting my expectations or did I just say what the job would ensure me?… This step is essential because it avoids making the same mistakes in future positions. If you have not done your best in this job during all the time you have done it, what does it suggest to you in another scenario if you will? Now, if you have strived to be an extraordinary employee and still cannot see a better future in the company, it is time to jump.
Visualize the environment objectively: Is this desire to change the environment due to a specific situation? What really motivates me to think about other scenarios? Do I really have no more opportunities in this company? Are there no challenges or am I not interested in the challenges there are? Finding answers to these questions and others that may arise when objectively evaluating the scenario where you operate will allow you to be more successful in making decisions related to your jump.
Principle Two: Don't try your luck, plan the change and study the variables.
The grasshopper does not jump by chance, before doing so it usually locates quickly the safest place and that provides the possibility of jumping again.
When employed there is some margin of stability, in traditional terms, of course. The person knows the job, knows the boss and her colleagues, the dynamics of the organization, in short, the pros and cons of the entire business. If you want to experiment in a new work scenario, you cannot venture the first good impression that another company offers you, you must ensure that it is the right place where you want to jump, that your chances of continuing to grow are greater than those you already have and that, finally, that position will serve as a catapult to reach new challenges if it is once you feel such a need.
Being employed offers a competitive advantage with the rest of those who offer their services, because if they do not coincide with the expectations of the new company, the experience serves to value what you have and to establish new personal goals to achieve other challenging objectives; situation different from those who do not have a job, because, regardless of being a sobering experience that will allow them to self-evaluate and learn from it, the refusal of income is one less opportunity that is possessed in the labor market at that moment of the search.
But studying new offers must be a quick decision and at the same time very well thought out, the market is changing and you can face a double opportunity cost. The first corresponds to the option of the new experience, not all companies are willing to wait and often require the presence of the selected talent in the short term, if they are not sure enough to accept the offer, even when they have been through Throughout the selection process, the slightest indication of insecurity can offer a wrong image in the employer, diminishing or eliminating the interest for the future employee. The second opportunity cost is in the same company where you work: perhaps you have not been efficient enough,identified and proactive to be valued and maintaining that attitude in the new job could generate the same need for change, which is why it is suggested:
1. Talk to your bosses or supervisors: Don't expect to be evaluated, sincerely and respectfully express your emotions, frustrations, dreams and expectations in a coherent way to your superior. Although this is necessary, it is particularly difficult in some cases, this is due to the existence of inflexible and almost impenetrable supervisors whose attitude requires fear rather than respect. If the situation in which the professional you want to jump is in is the one described above, there is not much to think about, it is clear that working in these conditions limits the creative capacity of the employee, damages communication and the spirit of teamwork, as well as identification with the company decreases, therefore the jump will be a consequence of such conditions.
2. Evaluate the responses and initiatives received: If you have already expressed your concerns and the responses you receive are evasive, vague or conditional, you are in a company that has no expectations of offering you improvements or changes. If, on the other hand, the answers are direct, sustained and reasonable, but aimed at keeping you in the same situation you are in, you work in a serious company that is not capable of meeting your expectations. Now, if you see a concerned, interested and solution-oriented response in the short or medium term to your situation, you are in an organization willing to correct your omissions, don't miss that opportunity!
3. Evaluate the new company: If you see the need to change your work environment, it is important that before making a decision, you investigate enough about the new company: What is your management style like? What is the staff turnover rate? How long did the person you are replacing stay in that position? Why did you withdraw? Is it common for the company to be cited to the labor authorities for excesses or omissions with the staff? Are the people who work in it satisfied? What growth possibilities does it offer? Is working on it considered a good reference?
4. Make a complete co-esteem and generate commitments: During the selection process, specifically in the interview openly state your dreams, your expectations and the (well-founded) reasons for your desire to withdraw from the company you are in, as well as the reasons that identify you with the one interviewing you. Be very clear on what you expect from your new position, do not leave empty spaces. Without being smug or extremely demanding, locate the interviewer in what you really want to achieve in the new position and point out what exactly the company wants from you. If the outcome of the co-esteem process fits both sides, you're ready to jump.
Principle 3: Keep your work up to date and your knowledge up to date, always be ready to jump.
Grasshoppers keep their hind limbs in constant tension, this provides them with the ability to jump at the precise moment that the condition demands, otherwise they could be threatened by circumstances and lose the opportunity to get out of them unscathed.
In the case of the professional employee who dreams of experiencing other scenarios, the premise must be the same, he must be prepared and always ready to jump, either in the same company or outside it, but that is only possible if the goals are clear., work up-to-date and whether sufficient time has been invested in keeping up-to-date in terms of knowledge and skills, since opportunities require additional competences to those that are held in the position in question.
How many opportunities have not been missed for not respecting this principle? Lack of developed competencies and skills is one of the most powerful reasons that prevent focusing attention on a particular candidate, companies are looking for people who add value to their work and do not just do it, they expect from their staff an effort and additional knowledge that allows them to successfully manage themselves and base their decisions on the correct criteria, and this is only possible if you are prepared for it. However, some positions have such an operational burden that the employee simply fulfills it without taking advantage of the idle capacity of his work time to invest it in exploring new knowledge. Therefore it is recommended:
Do not leave jobs or tasks pending: Manage a detailed and complete process of everything you do or should do at work, according to the characteristics of your job, this will allow you to establish deadlines and commitments close enough to reality to be able to meet with their tasks in the time that their management is planned, whether it is six, eight or twelve hours a day.
Document your activities: If your position requires it, keep a detailed summary of what you have done, how, when and why you have done it and the issues that are pending, including, if possible, point to the persons or entities that are required to attend to these unreached points; This will save you time in the event that you must jump immediately and you will not run the risk of paying a high opportunity cost.
Share your knowledge: Keep at least two people aware of what you do and your most common techniques, share with them what you know and how you would attack pending matters, this will facilitate your withdrawal without causing damage to the operation of the company that leaves and will also allow you to leave a good image of your management, vital for the traditional recruitment and selection processes that still often make use of job references.
Fourth Principle: Be aware of the opportunities and threats of your environment, the market and socioeconomic conditions before deciding to jump because two eyes are not enough!
The grasshoppers are endowed with five eyes, two compounds and three simple ones, this offers them a true holistic vision of their environment which allows them to be aware of the smallest changes that occur in it and provide them with the necessary and immediate information to take the right decision.
In the case of professionals, the five eyes must be represented in the technological and communication tools that exist, as well as in their collaborators, peers and friends. It is humanly impossible to be everywhere and know everything that happens in the environment, so it is necessary to stay informed through various sources, this exchange of data and events will facilitate engaging mental images associated with knowledge essential for the creation of possible scenarios of opportunities and threats present in that reality, offering the professional a clearer and less subjective vision of the consequences that could result from his jump or from its absence.
Being informed is essential, without it the decisions lack sustenance and the chances of success are scarce, therefore it is required to develop a behavior oriented to promote the use of those additional "three eyes" that nature did not offer in a conventional way to the human being, but that in the professional and personal field can be adhered to in a conscientious and planned way in order to possess a sufficiently broad vision of the environment that allows the correct decision to jump or not to be taken, depending on the case. For all of the above, it is suggested:
1. Be aware of the national and local events: Read the press, check the Internet and even be attentive to the internal communications that the company offers, this will provide you with the essential data when the need to make a jump occurs.
2. Create and promote information networks: The exchange of information with co-workers, whether from the same area or others within the organization, is essential, provided that confidentiality is respected in cases where it is required and what Get exposed add value to communication. Although it is not prudent to ignore the rumors, since they usually have a percentage of truthfulness, it is advisable to learn to separate unfounded comments from objectives and recognize the individuals who spread them. Only truthful and reliable information will help you make decisions.
3. Verify the information: As true as a piece of information may seem, verify its authenticity, do not make decisions based on assumptions or perceptions of third parties. Jumping to another scenario, within it or simply not doing it is a serious decision that must have a solid and reliable foundation.
Fifth principle: If you plan to jump do not disclose it or give obvious indications that it will.
The grasshopper uses mimicry as a defense mechanism. When the grasshopper is threatened by a predator, it does not start to jump from one side to the other, that would put it at a greater risk, on the contrary, it uses the environment and is confused with it, waiting for the most appropriate moment to perform the jump that it will rid you of the threat.
Another common mistake that some employed professionals make is found, precisely, in the incapacity that they demonstrate to hide their frustrations and desires to abandon the work that they carry out.
When an employee constantly expresses his desire to change jobs or the frustrations and disagreements he has with the one he currently works, he becomes a negative element for the work environment in which he operates and, therefore, is one of the most immediate that the company has to dispense with its services. If this happens, the professional will find himself unemployed in a highly competitive market and without any preparation, because not only has he been the main cause of this situation, but he also becomes an immediate example of what should never be done if you do not have something safe..
Companies hire their staff based on a series of processes that are not foreign to the candidate, who in the end accepts the offer and the conditions of the contract that is offered.
If after a time the conditions do not meet the expectations of the employee, he discovers that what identified him with the company is no longer attractive to him or notices that it is not possible, due to external conditions, to continue offering his services in that organization is unprofessional let him shout eloquently and shamelessly his discomfort. It is more appropriate to maintain the pace and quality of work that has been offered over time and begin to use external resources to locate a new work scenario. In these cases it is prudent:
Do not disclose your discontent: As already stated, express to your supervisor the unfulfilled expectations and your emotional state in relation to the work you do, do not make it public, you may be simply going through a bad time and it disappears or that it does not manage to complete the selection process in the other company and its image is affected in which it currently works, if that is the case. Showing dissatisfaction is not always well regarded by supervisors, but it will certainly be the first thing they remember when evaluating their performance in the organization and making decisions about it.
Manage the jump process with discretion: Try to be interviewed outside of your working hours, on non-working days for your company or during lunch hours. Don't neglect your current job. Do not discuss your searches or interviews with people outside your closest circle until you are completely sure that you have been selected and you are ready to leave the company, unless this is a competitive advantage for you and you can improve your condition at work. currently occupying, in case you want to continue in it. Do not insinuate or suggest your desire to jump to people who do not have the operational capacity to improve their condition within the company (if your desire is to stay in it), since what you will generate with them will be a series of events and comments that do not they will be useful.
Mimetice: Unless it is an advantage, keep the posture, do not stand out or be anxious, confuse yourself with the environment if your desire is to withdraw professionally, as already noted, even companies practice consulting references and it is not prudent to leave a bad image in the company that is abandoned.
Sixth principle: If you are going to take a leap, evaluate your talents, if you do not have them with certainty another will have them.
Although they are usually solitary insects, the grasshoppers are not always in this condition and sometimes they are concentrated in large flocks whose simple description produces anxiety just to imagine it, since they generate significant damage to the environment. When this happens, there can be real struggles for the spaces and food available, where only the fittest grasshopper wins.
It would be naive to suppose that you are the only professional who wants to jump to another scenario, the numbers of professionals who have understood and have become true employable talent is increasing every day and that has generated a huge concentration of professionals competing for good positions in the market. labor. In this case, it is not only important to jump first, but to possess the required competencies to secure the desired position, which is why companies currently require higher levels of study and other knowledge, the purpose of such practice is to reduce the community of applicants and be able to choose among the best.
Final thoughts
Changing jobs represents a much greater responsibility than looking for a job, mainly because in the latter case there is no damage to third parties due to an abrupt or unwanted breakup, there is no dependency and the decisions rest with the interested party and its correct co-estimation with a single company. But when you are employed there is a code of ethics that must be respected, because employment is something serious and valuable, based on this last statement it is important to highlight that both the company and the employee are responsible for generating the need to seek other horizons.
Employers must be open, honest and definitely clear enough when hiring, that avoids generating wrong expectations in people who are interested in a particular position. But that is not enough, organizations must have rotation and stimulation systems so that their employees, in any area, do not fall into monotony and their jobs lose their challenging status. At present it is known that a person should not stay overnight at the same level of knowledge or position for more than five years, unless their capacity for innovation and creativity are active and on the rise, otherwise the same organization would be fueling the flight. of valuable staff who would consciously or unconsciously practice the Grasshopper Theory.
On the other hand, employees must correctly manage their expectations and not wait beyond what is possible to receive from companies. These are also responsible for the decisions that the organization makes in relation to them since the company starts from pre-established agreements commented and discussed during the hiring in most cases. Although it is true that due to the current conditions of the labor market they are not enough to sit down, take time and choose the one that best suits them, due to the shortage of offers, it is no less true that it is irresponsible to complain and demonstrate nonconformity of the working conditions once a job has been chosen under the premise "this is better than nothing".
But in the case to which the Grasshopper Theory refers, the vision is another, it aims to guide the professional who has reached an important number of years in a certain position and who does not see the possibility of continuing to grow within the company in the that works, including those people who feel that they have already given their all for the organization and dream of having the opportunity to add value to others who really need it, since it is necessary not only to be part of the change but also to be able to generate it, which demands planning, preparation and precision, otherwise they would be obviating unalterable principles of the administration and leaving to luck what should be the consequence of a well thought-out and sustained decision.
If you want to jump into a new work scenario, it is worth reviewing the six principles that the Grasshopper Theory exposes and answering the questions that it suggests objectively and reflecting on its postulates, since its approach is to guarantee success in that goal. labor. Always remember the six principles of this interesting theory:
Sharpen your senses, read and interpret the signals.
Don't try your luck, plan the change and study the variables.
Keep your work up to date and your knowledge updated, always be ready to jump.
If you plan to jump do not disclose it or give obvious indications that it will.
Be aware of the opportunities and threats of your environment, the market and socioeconomic conditions before deciding to jump, because two eyes are not enough!
If you are going to take a leap, evaluate your talents, if you do not have them with certainty another will have them.
