Jakob Heuser (HEW-zer) is a veteran of Silicon Valley (holding previous roles with both LinkedIn & Pinterest). As an engineer, manager, mentor, and now founder, he is focused on solving the problem of employee retention through career alignment. Jakob sees the script between employees and employers flipping; loyalty expected of companies, not the individuals. With the right people, resources, and opportunities, people can get the most from the intersection of their career and their workplace.
His current project, Aibex (EYE-bex), uses technology to help individuals assemble the people, resources, and opportunities they need to get more satisfaction from their work.
Top Takeaways: Flip the Script, Avoid Detours, in Employee Relations with Jakob Heuser
- You are the only one with influence over your career trajectory
- How to have a symbiotic relationship with your employer
- Companies expect more loyalty from their employees than they offer
- Pre-millennials look for stability and security
- Millennials look for growth and development
- Our jobs are no longer a stable 40-year commitment
- Somehow, we lost 30% of employee loyalty over 1 generation
- A good economy has exacerbated the employee retention mentality
- New employee mentality- taking opportunities that have potential for growth
- How do you talk with your boss about your career trajectory without jeopardizing your career?
- How do you enroll your boss in your career direction?
- Just because someone is growing- doesn’t mean they are leaving
- Give people to grow as a strategy to get them to stay
- How does this job fit into your story?
- Create time and space for employee personal development (make time)
- As a leader, be vulnerable and along for the ride
- Get the right person on the right problem and solve them every day
- The messy middle is what distinguishes mediocre from successful
- Partial solutions are better than over planning
- In problem solving- the first question is “should we be solving this problem”
- Who’s going to advocate for you? I can’t advocate responsibility for myself.
Listen to the Audio
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Learning From Leaders:
Current Book: The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky
Leadership Superpower: Problem Solving
Motivational Mantra:
[shareable cite=”Rabbi Hillel”]If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?[/shareable]
Book Most Often Gifted: Flow: Living at the Peak of Your Abilities by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Ph.D.
Additional Items Mentioned
Jakob’s website and Aibex: www.aibex.com
