On the topic of chairs

At one point I went to a lecture where the lecturer spoke of one of these usual recruitment interviews, where the interviewer asked the hopeful candidate the traditional question: "Where are you in five years?"
The applicant had the courage to answer "At that time I sit in your chair!"
From here, what happened further fades in to the mist - the story does not even tell whether the applicant got the job, but we can guess that the outcome to some extent had something to do with the interviewer's courage: if she was a little nervous and looked at the recruitment as part of a zero-zero game where the total amount of team cake is a constant, she would naturally feel somewhat threatened.
But if she was able to see the possibilities - and able to examine the applicant so well that she dared to trust that the person could contribute constructively to the progress - thereby ensuring growth and positive development - there are certainly perspectives in having such an employee.
Maybe there would even be room for promotion of the employee without the expense of the person hiring her - maybe because the hiring manager herself was destined for bigger things.
(Translated from Noget om siddepladser, originally published May 2nd, 2016)

Property and employability

Don't worry - I will soon stop ranting about market value people being goods and customers for each other, but nevertheless, I just need to put forward a single phrase, because I think it fits so well into the context. In all its simplicity, it reads as follows:

You own your own employability.

- or in other words: you yourself are the sole responsible for making yourself interesting for an employer. We have not reached the point where I can expect my employer to find a new and interesting piece of work for me at the moment when there is no longer any need for the effort I currently provide.
I myself must control to which extent I am worth recruiting and for what - that's the freedom I have when I offer myself to the market - my market value is my property and it is my task to manage it as good as possible.
- and yes, I would like to acknowledge that this is the same as saying that one is only employed by an employer as long as the relationship between employer and employee makes sense. At the moment when this is no longer the case, the product is not good enough for the customer's needs - and then there is no longer any deal.
(Translated from Ejendom og ansættelighed, originally published September 14th, 2013)

On the topic of market value

Some time ago I heard an interesting point of view on people management. In all its simplicity it was stated that a people manager's sole duty towards her employees is that she must at any time work to increase their market value - enable them to sell themselves at a higher price, so to speak. If the manager does so, the employee has every reason to be satisfied.
On the other hand, the worst accusation that you can give your manager face to face is: "You do not increase my market value" - or perhaps even "You are impairing my market value." If the employee is in that situation, it is the most important reason that she should look after something else to do.
Not least if the manager is confronted with it and no improvement can be noticed.
(Translated from Noget om markedsværdi, originally published March 5th, 2012)

Pedestrian

I highly appreciate a management style known by the acronym MBWA - "Management By Walking Around" - which in all its simplicity is about the manager setting time aside to get around in her (or his) organization, talk to people and understand what is happening. As a matter of fact, I have never met very many managers who makes use of the method; for sure, they can stand on a stage in front of the employees and do one-way communication, but when for once they manage to come by the desks of the employees, it typically causes the reaction: "My goodness, there must be something terribly wrong since the manager comes here. "
If a leader does MBWA, I see several benefits. Firstly, the manager is better informed about what actually occupies people, but not least it significantly reduces the distance between the leader and the employees - and in good times it establishes a connection between the manager and the employees; a connection which can be extremely valuable in difficult situations.
But unfortunately, there are too few leaders who find time in their schedule to do it on a regular basis. Last time, I saw something similar to MBWA was actually back at the university where the rector had made it his routine to visit all departments in the week before Christmas to wish the students and staff happy holidays. Although once a year is not much, is it, after all - and unfortunately - more than what I experience as average.
(Translated from Fodgænger, originally published March 3rd, 2017).