How passionate do you really want your staff to be?

Passionate, driven, hardworking, et cetera – we often see these words on applicant CVs. Of course, these are attractive selling points. After all, what prospective employer wouldn’t want a high-spirited worker? But just how much passion do you want your staff to have for their work, and is it a good thing? 

What does it mean to be passionate?

Being passionate means being excited and happy with what you do. You can observe this from employees who have found purpose in work or people whose interests align with their job. Being passionate is a rare trait, and many organisations value having highly motivated firebrands in their team, though there is a divergence regarding what this means between employers and their employees. 

As such, it is not uncommon for job hunters to portray themselves as passionate individuals – and strive to be such. Doing so should make them more attractive to talent acquisition professionals, helping them land good jobs faster. More specifically, here’s why employers love passionate hires: 

• Passionate employees motivate their colleagues. Their energy is contagious! Their dedication and overachievement can easily inspire other employees and inspire them to do better.
  
• They are never absent. They love to work, so you’re sure they will be on time and available, except on sick days and in the most extreme cases.
  
• They are loyal to their employers. Once you get them on your good side, it will be hard for them to let go, maybe until the project they’re hired to work on is done. As long as there’s work for them to do, expect them to stay.
  
• Creativity shows among passionate workers. Their dedication helps them master their work and come up with creative solutions to all sorts of problems. You can expect them to have a workaround for every roadblock. 

On the other hand, here’s why employees strive to commit passion to their job:

• Being passionate is a great way to get ahead. Dedication and commitment get workers noticed, opening various opportunities for them to receive well-deserved bonuses, salary raises and promotions.
  
• It expands their connections. Word of passionate professionals spreads rather quickly, and these individuals can leverage this to expand their network.
  
• Passion makes working less stressful. When you love your job, you have little room for stress for as long as you have something to do. 

How passionate should your employees be?

Passion drives success, and you certainly want your staff to put utmost dedication and energy into their work. We tend to look favourably to people who maintain passion projects, hoping that their devotion translates to good, productive work ethics. In other words, we want them to be completely dedicated to the job at hand, working with enthusiasm to boot. 

However, take care not to take advantage of their devotion and assign them tasks unrelated to their job. They’ll be more than eager to do it, but that will bring them dangerously close to burning out that can snuff out their passion.