Even allowing for holidays, the stretch in work-life tenure towards the age of 70 in many countries will see people working in excess of 10,000 days. We think, therefore, that work needs to be somewhat more than a mundane set of tasks compensated by a monthly pay cheque.
People need to be right for jobs and jobs need to be right for people; there needs to be a sense of ‘fit’ or, alternatively, compatibility. Where such ‘fit’ does not prevail, we very often see people doing as little as they can get away with. There is no buzz, so putting in the extra effort seems an alien thought. Where such ‘fit’ does prevail, we see individuals and teams putting in discretionary effort and delivering exceptional performance.
In our minds, a successful recruitment decision is one where ‘fit’ has been achieved. Very often, we see such ‘fit’ not achieved at managerial level. Fundamentally, individuals are not motivated to be in positions of authority but pursue management for other motivational reasons, i.e. romotion is the only way to earn more money within an organisation’s reward system.
GMI can help organisations and individuals understand the extent of ‘fit’ between a particular person and a particular job. GMI can be used to measure an individual’s motives and assess the degree of ‘fit’ between them and the requirements of the job. It can also help individuals appreciate whether a certain role is right for them. For ambitious individuals seeking senior roles, we see such ambitions unfulfilled because they do not appreciate some of the counter-motivational issues they may have to contend with in the early roles in their career. Those that understand these issues can and do succeed in achieving their longer-term aims.
