Baronice on the Benefits of Staying Power
When discussing the merits of staying in a company while you build of your career, most often employees are advised to move around and gain a wide variety of experience to bolster their resume. But is this advice helpful when most people who have made it to the top in the corporate world and stayed there, did so over time.
“I would advise that you stay longer in any industry… It’s important to understand the business drivers that create those outcomes and that’s really where you add value.”
Forbes describe job hopping as the new normal, especially among millennials but is this building us the careers we want? Baronice Hans, the Managing Director of Bank Windhoek, who was also the second black female to qualify as a Chartered Accountant in Namibia, recommends against job-hopping. “I would advise that you stay longer in any industry. As a CA (Chartered Accountant), people think that it’s all about presenting numbers and analysing the numbers, but the numbers are an outcome. It’s important to understand the business drivers that create those outcomes and that’s really where you add value.”
“I personally believe that you need to stay at least five years, probably more, in an industry or a company, to gain depth and to understand the environment better. Then you actually get to the point where you add real value.” Says Baronice.
“In my career I’ve spent seven or eight years at every employer and I really saw that, that helped me.”
“In my career I’ve spent seven or eight years at every employer and I really saw that, that helped me. I was able to contribute a lot more. I had a deeper understanding of the business and therefore the analytics at the end of the process, was quite straightforward. I could understand what influenced business outcomes better than just understanding the outcomes which in themselves are the numbers.” Notes Baronice.
The global employment search website, Monster says that “job hopping is a potential career killer”, while Forbes, in an article titled ‘10 Reasons To Stay At A Job For 10 Or More Years’ note that employees “can progress much better, both financially and in skills, by staying in one place instead of jumping around. The whole idea and philosophy of the ‘perfect job’ could be blinding you from the even bigger opportunity to magnify the position you already have.”
“Staying longer actually gives you deeper insights and real understanding. Being able to talk with authority about an industry is more powerful than just being able to interpret the outcomes.”
Baronice notes that you have a better chance of growing your career by attempting to learn all you can, while staying with the company you are with. “I’ve seen people change jobs every two years, but what they did not gain was depth. They would go after salary, increased salaries, but they ended up knowing a little bit about every company they worked at. Staying longer actually gives you deeper insights and real understanding. Being able to talk with authority about an industry is more powerful than just being able to interpret the outcomes.” Says Baronice.
Written by Kirsty Watermeyer