Employees are Merely Responsible for Showing up to Work, or More?

It is quite odd how people tend to think that being an employee means coming to work every day. Like that’s the main responsibility that one has, and like that is what your employer expects you to do: to just come to the office, chat with everyone, sip from a coffee, and go back home. No specific results to achieve, just presence!

You may say it’s unbelievable people behave this way, but let me assure you there are millions of people who do this way all around the world. 

And here is a question:

Why are service providers/freelancers/self-employed people/businesses who receive income and do not deliver real results considered cheaters, but employees who show up for work but do not deliver results, but yet receive salaries are not cheaters?

Usually, managers and employers are supposed to help and train employees who are falling behind, manage them more efficiently. Some even fire such employees, but no one ever calls them cheaters…

Some state that cheaters are those who cheat (in this case - do not deliver results) deliberately, consciously, and in a pre-planned way. But it rarely happens when employees perform that way. They just do, not deliberately, but subconsciously feel that if they do, they won’t get fired, nor get scolded.

But with businesses it works the other way round, right?

Assume a situation, where a business receives a prepayment to provide a specific service, let’s say – building a house. And being very confident the business assures the client of specific results – high-quality brick walls, 3-store building, French renovation, etc. And for some reason all the constructors do not appear to be building in a pre-planned way, they use wood, instead of stone, build 2 stores, instead of 3, do everything low quality, and start explaining themselves coming up with tons of reasons to why it didn’t go as planned. 

A normal client would expect the business some sort of remuneration or refund for the time and energy loss. A normal client would be disappointed in the matter and demand either full or partial compensation. But why employees, who didn’t meet the targets, cheated the employers with high promises of their skill sets and knowledge, are not expected to pay their salaries back? Why is it normal not meeting the expectations of the employer?

In both cases, the other party exaggerated/overestimated their abilities to meet the expectations and goals of the other party. But why dramatically different approaches between businesses who perform in such a way and employees?

Now let’s compare!

1. Behavioral control

Employee - your employer decides where, when, and how you work. For instance, if your employer wants you to be at the office every day during general 9 to 5 business hours, you are expected to do that, and there is explicitly a behavioral control present since if you do not appear, it will be considered a negative action, even if the actual quality of your work surpasses their expectations. Moreover, your employer has full power to tell you HOW to do your job! The methods, software used, the sequence of your actions is chosen to accommodate your employer’s comfort, not yours. 

Lesson learned: you have no power to choose your behavior, methods of reaching the targets, nor the software to complete the job.

Freelancer or independent contractor – with minor exceptions you get to have full control and choice to decide where, when, and how you want to work, as long as you meet the deadlines and targets. 

In my company - since the whole team consists of freelancers, we vote every time there is a decision to be made concerning the software we need to subscribe to, about the timing of our team meeting, Instagram design to choose, and even the most minor things. We all have voices to be heard, and no one is superior to the others. 

2. Financial Control

Employee – your employer decides your compensation rate, solely makes decisions concerning the raise or bonus system. Very rarely, and mostly in IT companies, employees get to participate in such decision-making, and employers listen to their opinions and act accordingly. 

Freelancer or independent contractor – as a freelancer, you can have either one, two, or multiple clients. You can take on the projects you like, and reject the ones, you don’t want to devote your time to. Respectively, you get to choose your own rate, set your minimum, and pick the employers based on the criteria you have outlined for yourself.

3. Relationship Control

Employee – your employer expects you to work for them until you either get terminated (fired in other words) or quit unless your contract is temporary. This employer sometimes goes the extra mile, i.e., provides health insurance, benefits, retirement plan, 401(k), etc. 

Freelancer or independent contractor – since the cooperation with the client is mostly project-based, the communication, hence the relationship ends with the project. Therefore, the client does not provide any benefits. However, if the cooperation is long-term, small perks may apply. 

In my company - I offer small perks to all my team members (freelance based) who have worked in our team for more than 3 months. They’ve got to choose what it is, i.e., some prefer coverage of their Netflix or gym subscription, while others pick an online course in their specialization. See the list of perks, most valued by job seekers below:

I know society pushes employers and entrepreneurs to hire people on a full-time basis. This is what they hear most, learn most, and think is the best choice. 

But especially for small business owners, I do not think it’s the best choice.

Let me introduce you to the benefits of hiring a freelancer:

1. You’ve got to pay only for the result, and not the process.

2. You pay for the work you need.

3. You can seek out the freelancer matching your expectations on ALL criteria, based on experience level, rate, like-mindedness, etc. 

4. You have access to talent not limited geographically (of course, if you plan remote working method)

5. And most importantly! Freelancers will provide higher quality because they work for the result! The stakes are clear: x, y, and z should be achieved by this or that deadline. And the relationship is more transparent. Now imagine not having any clear results, nor having clear deadlines. This is what it’s like hiring an employee. Mostly! 

What makes employees less efficient? It’s their comfort and subconscious feeling, that regardless of their performance (good or bad) they will receive the same amount, over and over (of course, this doesn’t apply to variable compensations). Performance topic aside, they live and work in the comfort of always having a job until they are told otherwise. 

Based on my experience, this is when people stop growing, learning, making an effort, putting energy and time into the work. In other words, they stagnate! And who gets most affected by this: the employer!

Then what are the benefits of being a freelancer if it means working harder?

1. Freedom of clients and control over workload: They have the choice to work with selective clients on a long-term or take on clients only project-based. A survey of 1,000 freelancers shows that the most common methods of finding new clients are networking (56%) and job sites designed for freelancers (Upwork, Fiverr, LinkedIn, Flexjobs, etc.). 

2. Flexibility: This is what many people who work full-time dream of. You got to choose how busy you are because it’s up to you how many projects you take on. Moreover, it’s up to you where you work from. Whether you are working at the beach or traveling while working, nobody will care, as long as you deliver results on time. To summarize, you’ll have flexibility both timewise, and location-wise.

3. Experience, and broadening horizons: Working as a freelancer opens up the opportunity to work on a variety of topics, niches, and industries, while a full-time job for one company may not provide such experience. This variety keeps the freelancer alert, ready to adapt to any given situation, is less boring, and adds adrenaline to work. This is a way to get highly experienced in any given field. 

4. Autonomy is key in the work of a freelancer, by law! Freelancers plan their own schedule, meeting deadlines as they desire. During the working hours, they are not typically “on-call” but can be available for in-advance scheduled calls. 

I have worked myself as an employee and have witnessed the pros and cons of non-remote working, moreover the limitations our society puts on an employer concerning the behavior and working style of an employee. It has sort of so long roots, that most of them do not even seek a way out or think there is another option to this. They witness how their employees appear at the office, chat with this person, then with that person, turn on the green light on their Slack, or Skype, then decide it was too much hard work and they urgently need a caffeine intake, otherwise, they will die. 

And why does this happen? 

1. Because people themselves have limitations about what they can or cannot do. Usually, the job they would love to do and would be ready to work hard for is on the list of “cannot do”. Hence, they arrive at a job, they secretly hate, but somehow magically convince the employer of the opposite. 

2. The employers have limitations of what is the most important objective at work: the process or the result? Most bureaucratic companies go for the process and find themselves stuck in verbal/subconscious/non-written agreement with their employees about a certain behavior, style of working, expectations to meet. And all of these appear to be superior to results, flexibility, one’s comfort, and most importantly – real-life happening at each one’s home. 

This all may sound too unrealistic to change or too complicated to find a remedy “matching everyone’s preferences”.

But one day we’ll just have to.

Why? Because we’ll live longer, work longer, and for the safety, mental and financial health of our whole society will depend on how we control the work-life too. Imagine working in your 70s and 80s… you don’t? But that’s what you are going to do if you were born in the late 90s or even later. 

Let me introduce you to a phenomenal book, “The 100-Year Life”, by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott. 

“More than half the babies born in wealthier countries since 2000 may reach their 100th birthdays... They will live longer than their parents and grandparents, and their children will live longer than them.” - Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott, professors at London School of Economics

Given the increases in the lifespan, we will either dread the reality of working significantly longer or embrace the gift of additional years and what we can do with them. We will move away from the traditional “three-stage” life of education, career/adulthood, and retirement. The “Retirement” period will be much longer, and it will include several transitions, not just the abrupt transition from working to retiring like in the old model.

The new model drastically changes how we need to plan for retirement. People will need to save and invest with the possibility of a longer retirement in mind. From a non-financial standpoint, people will also need to plan for the additional years in retirement, including lifestyle, health care, work, and leisure pursuits.

The authors note that with a longer retirement, it is wise to invest in planning and preparation because the consequences of bad decisions can be severe. However, this new model has few role models and road maps to reference. You have to build your own.

The authors offer a few ideas on how you get ready for this radical change:

- Audit your tangible and intangible assets today and start planning your future

- Use your free time to invest in fitness, skills, and relationships

- Think about the experiences you want to have and plan for them

- Experiment: There are no role models to follow, just your passions

- Be flexible and open to change: explore your options

“Combining insights from psychology and economics, this book explores our life chances and choices in a world where living beyond 100 will become the norm.” - Lord Adair Turner

There will be much experimentation!

One thing is clear – neither individuals nor communities, corporations, or governments have figured out yet the best methods to support a 100-year life. But, as you are reading this, you are lucky enough, because you can prepare yourself better, with the expectation of a long life. If you are in your mid-life, most probably you have followed the footsteps of your parents and led a 3-stage life. But it’s so clear, especially during the pandemic, that the 3-stage life is more and more uncomfortable.

HRs in a nightmare

With all the pros of a flexible life (now you may understand why I talked about freelancer vs employee in the beginning), such as better cooperation between leisure and work, family and friends, health and finances, sorting out in this chaos will turn into a nightmare for many big, bureaucratic corporations, especially for their Human Resources departments. It’s not a secret that companies like simple, predictable processes, rules, and systems. So don’t get the wrong idea if most of the institutions, even governments, resist the change, and believe me, they will. 

But now, especially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many experiments take place, people work remotely more than ever, they find out that they enjoy the flexibility, and having the choice over their time and place. And therefore, many experiments are happening both on individual and corporate levels. Even now, as corporations desire an over-the-market skilled workforce, they are being ready to quit their superstitions about rules.

Therefore, one day, our individual desire for change, flexibility, and the choice will overwhelm corporates’ desire for predictability and systematic control. Yes, the confrontation will be tough, and it will gradually bring to shortening working week and pressure on companies to offer more flexible working conditions, considering how we have grown since Industrial Revolution (and are still working in the same mechanism and style as back then, which is not fair, agree with me??). It will take decades to resolve, but eventually, we will win. 

So, what do you, as an employer or employee, prefer – someone/to be someone who comes to the office and checks his presence, or someone who delivers real-time results within a discussed deadline?