Don’t worry, this isn’t a post about work-life balance, how lucky, why you work for yourself, etc.

Anyone who knows me will know that I always talk to everyone.

No one is safe from me talking to them. Be that the person next to me on a plane/train, the random person walking down the street, on their way to work or someone who looks like they might be having a tough time. Everyone is far more interesting than me.

Having just driven around Iceland (highly recommend), it’s been a real surprise as to why someone would choose to live and work in some quite remote locations that we came across. One restaurant/petrol station in particular was a good 30+ miles from the nearest town, on a lunar landscape, and literally had nothing to do or anywhere to go.

The first thing was that most people in hospitality/retail were EU citizens. Very rare to talk to actual Icelanders, although those we did were very friendly too.

A key driver for a third of people was quite simple: Money.
Economic migration.
Living costs are much higher (except heating, water), but equally, you could earn a lot more than in much of Europe. The consensus was to earn as much as they could, save it and go back home at some point.

Several cited moving for love (partners moved so they did).

Peace, quiet and a love of the natural world were about a quarter of people too.

Some mentioned a desire to live somewhere with cooler weather.

A different experience also popped up a lot.

Pretty much 100% of all I talked to, though, loved what they did, loved Iceland regardless of any flaws it may have.

It made me think about motivation and why we do what we do.

If you have never asked an employee or colleague, it’s incredibly valuable to understand why someone does what they do.

What truly motivates someone to work for you, or make them want to join your team or business? If work is solely about money, then should you find candidates with more passion for your company’s journey perhaps?

When we at Jump IT Recruitment Solutions Limited talk to candidates, it’s something we normally ask, why they want to leave a role, what it is they want from their next role, etc. What is their real motivation to leave/look elsewhere?

If it’s not something you ask at an interview or ask employees at appraisals, then it’s worth doing.  It may surprise you and help you understand what motivates them.

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