I always talked with the people I managed about their career goals, and always tried to adapt their job to be a closer fit to those goals. When I couldn't do that I would acknowledge that and even help them find a different job that did fit.

How else can we expect to get the best out of people?

Yeah I agree. I can get people to work harder and cheaper if I can align their career goals with mine.

Overly pessimistic article that is more absolute than reality.

That's great. I wish there were more of us but I'm glad we still are out there doing the best for our people.