Click the image for details. When employees join a company, they naturally want a prospect and room for development. Water flows downhill, but people strive to climb higher. If this year you're a salesperson, next year you're a salesperson, and the year after you're still a salesperson, what prospect is there? The repetitive work pattern might be acceptable to the 60s and 70s generations, but the post-90s generation definitely can't stand it. The reason why many post-90s frequently change jobs is largely because there's no development or space in their current company. However, bosses don't want to make things so complicated. Between employees and positions, it's best to have one employee per slot, doing the same work year after year. Stability is best, because whether it's changing positions or training new people to take over, it's troublesome and somewhat delays the work. So it's best for everyone to stay stable, and ideally, wages shouldn't even increase. The core reason for conflicts between people is asymmetric understanding. For the same matter, what the boss thinks and what the employee thinks are not aligned. The boss only thinks about his own business development and considers the employee's personal development too simply, while the employee puts personal development first and only then considers the relationship between their job and the company's development. So on this issue, the boss shouldn't be stubborn; he should proactively help employees consider their development. Only when employees develop personally can they drive the company's development. Never use the mindset that company development drives employee development. So, what is employee development? Generally, it means moving upward, but it can be reflected in multiple aspects:

  1. Job promotion From salesperson to sales supervisor, from sales supervisor to sales manager—this is the simplest.
  2. Salary increase Some companies are small (with only two levels: boss and sales), so there's limited room for job promotion. In that case, reflect it in compensation, achieving employee development through general salary adjustments. Income growth is also development.
  3. Enhancement of cooperative relationship Employees come to work for the company, and the basic cooperative relationship is an employment relationship. If both sides cooperate happily, it can develop into a shareholding relationship or an internal contracting relationship.
  4. Enhancement of industry value Even if there's no room for job promotion or salary increase, there's still the enhancement of the employee's personal value. Whether employees look for a job or start a business, the core is their personal value. The same person might be a salesperson, a sales manager, or a sales director; the difference lies in the employee's own factors, such as professional technical ability, practical experience, industry reputation, historical performance, and excellent cases. That is, even if employees leave the company, once they have a certain industry value, their starting point for both employment and entrepreneurship will be different. Actually, saying all this is to illustrate a principle: there is definitely room for employee development. Moreover, employees themselves are always actively thinking about these things. As a boss, you need to think ahead. Of course, some bosses have thought about it and told employees, but they say it too vaguely: "Work hard, and you won't be treated unfairly in the future!" But to employees, this sounds too unreliable:
  5. What does "work hard" mean?
  6. What is the yardstick for working hard?
  7. What are the corresponding compensation and development changes?
  8. What is the quantitative calculation yardstick?
  9. When will it be realized?
  10. Are there actual cases? The boss hasn't clarified these issues, just a vague sentence. Of course, behind this there may be two reasons: one is that the boss subjectively thinks this matter is simple—employees must first work hard, and if they do well, he'll consider it later based on the situation; the other is that the company simply doesn't have corresponding quantitative standards, so he has to handle employees vaguely. Actually, when employees first join the company, they have enthusiasm, hope, aspirations, and want to work hard. But these positive factors are quickly consumed by repetitive work and compensation, gradually losing confidence in the company and personal development. They either become passive in their work or start considering changing jobs. This is like a newly married couple: they are definitely positive about future life and have many aspirations. But if the wife sees that her husband is not ambitious, goes to work and comes home every day, and just watches TV and plays games, over time she will gradually lose confidence in future life. In summary, employees who join the company are not robots; they cannot remain unchanged. They must have development. At the same time, employees' horizons are limited, and they cannot endure long waits. As a boss, you must give employees a prospect, and you must also consider that the time between each prospect cannot be too long. So, the specific work is just these points:
  11. Determine the quantitative standards for promotion between positions at all levels, that is, when employees reach what level in their current position can they be promoted to a higher position.
  12. If there is no room for job promotion, then at least salary can be promoted. Also set quantitative standards to explain the corresponding standards for salary increases.
  13. Based on cooperation time and work quality, you can also introduce threshold conditions for internal contracting and shareholding.
  14. Quantify the time points. At least once a year, there should be a clear promotion time point. Don't say "we'll talk later"; it must be clear. For example, every December is the promotion point, and whether you can be promoted or not is clarified at this time.
  15. Even if promotion is not possible, you must clearly explain to employees which specific points have problems that led to the failure, so that next time they can make corresponding improvements and enhancements. For employees, even if they can't be promoted, they need to know where the gaps are. In addition to the annual promotion point, in daily work, the boss can also communicate with employees through irregular one-on-one meetings about current work situations and main problems, helping employees analyze problems and adjust work methods, clarify direction, and accelerate employee progress. The author is a private business owner who has managed a family distributor company for many years, during which he also served as a business manager and trainer in several production enterprises. His research direction is internal management of small and medium-sized private enterprises, with main topics including personnel management, cost control, management backend construction, and the entry of demobilized military personnel into private enterprises. He continuously breaks down over 400 topics related to internal management of private enterprises and keeps updating material collection and solution updates. -END-