Employees who want jobs vs those who want careers

Dear Bob …

Are career minded people necessary at professional level jobs? For instance, if a Security Systems Administrator has no career direction or desire to enhance his or her career, can he or she be effective long term?

When a person takes a stance that his or her career is not important and a job is just a way to pay bills, that concerns me with this type of position. Technology changes fast and being reactive all the time can get companies in trouble, not to mention the person will become complacent.

– Staffing strategist

Dear Strategist …

Beats me. For the most part, I figure career-minded people work harder and take the initiative more than people who are happy where they are. That’s a gross generalization, though.

Here’s a maybe that seems reasonable: There are two groups of employees who are happy where they are, and you have to be clear which of the two you’re dealing with.

The first group are the ones who are just in it for the paycheck. Under the best of circumstances you get a professional day’s work for a day’s pay. Under the worst you get the minimum effort with the maximum supervision.

The second group are the ones who have found their vocation and are happy in it. These are some of the best employees you can get. They love what they do and drive themselves to be great at it. Even better, you’ll have them in the same position for quite awhile — no need to replace every few years because they’ve taken their next career step.

The one risk with the people who have found their vocation is that compensation policies invariable result in their hitting a salary ceiling after awhile. Unless you can get creative with bonuses, they can end up disgruntled because of their lack of financial progress.

– Bob