Thursday, August 11, 2016

Maslow’s theory of needs rewritten? Needs and wants intertwine. But wants outshine. | Professional Certification





image courtesy: http://c.asstatic.com/images/1292759_634609393918906250-1.jpg

Expectations are always high. One of Abraham Lincoln’s letters goes like this :

“Let Him Have The Courage To Be Impatient, Let Him Have The Patience To Be Brave.”

In changing times, especially in the IT realm surrounded by gadgets and flooded with apps [to the point that alert about rogue apps are being circulated], the millennial and iGen just can’t be restrained by patience. They are already  pampered with the luxury of living that one hears the lament of ‘I want it and I want it now.” Cost isn’t the criterion; it’s the catch – what’s new and exciting. Inventive and innovative. It’s the desire to stand alone by owning either that’s something new to the market or that has something better than existing. The glint of pride lies in the possession. Try with a kid and it could be anything from a tablet or the latest game to greet the market. One wonders the psyche of long queue to get hold the new gadget. People lining up for apple’s products are legendary.   Their needs long met, kids are screaming about wants. 
The adults fare no better.

Oversupply and undervalue

The market is skewed when it comes to skilled professionals. We have an oversupply and hence undervalue, which is inevitable. The Asian sub-continent is known to roll out hundreds of thousands of engineers and yet recruiters are finding it a hard time in zeroing on the ‘right’ candidate. Why? Those who line up for openings somehow fails to measure up to the expectation.  In the milieu that’s driving professional mad with its demands and infinite possibilities NEEDS no longer suffice. It’s the WANTS.
For instance, how many certified PMP®s are available to be engaged in typical waterfall methodology? It may not be surplus, but let’s say, sufficient enough or barely adequate.  Alright, assuming the same professional is expected to work in an agile environment, and the norm is to possess a PMI-ACP® certification, now check your human capital that holds these two certifications? What’s the count? Professionals holding a dual certification of PMP® and PMI-ACP® are much less in numbers that recruiters would have to really look into the talent bucket to scrounge and scrape. What’s now a ‘good to have’ in your resume will become a mandate as ‘must have’. So brace yourself, as times ahead aren’t going to be any easier.

Get certifications, get higher salaries
Globally renowned and internationally acclaimed certification, especially in niche technologies like social, mobile, analytics, cloud including big data and internet of things, is a clear recognition of acquired skill, and when they address the mission critical initiatives , then their ‘ worthiness’  will soar for sure, commanding attractive compensation.  It’s becoming passé to excel in a particular field or  specific area of interest. Professionals these days are expected to be more fluid, without bracketing into a particular bucket, but to meet ever changing and evolving needs. They need to be flexible enough to accommodate as many tasks as possible - is the minimum expectation. In how many possible ways can I use the same resource to increase the ROI - yes, multitasking and that translates as 'monetising'. You are an asset and there is substantial investment. And as an investor, it’s only fair to expect an enhanced return on investment. Here again, the need is replaced with want.

Let’s accept that not everyone becomes an entrepreneur. Segment the society and sift the populace and find out how many families run on salary as bread-winning source. Most remain salaried. So your job matters. Disruption in technology is understandable but automation is not only perceived as a mere threat of disturbance but uprooting your livelihood .

Why is that threat real? Because the same skills don’t serve all time always. Like system upgrade, human capital too should reboot and reinvent.

When one need is met, another arises. Redefining Maslow in the present, would it be off the target to postulate when one want is met, one more emerges.

Needs and wants intertwine. But wants outshine.


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