Moonlighting is Cheating ?
Rishad Premji ’s tweet “Moonlighting is cheating: Plan & Simple” triggered a thought provoking debate, across social media and television channels. Some fired salvos, some brickbats… and the debate continues.
Being a Co-Founder of Moonlyte, a gig economy platform for the same diaspora, I took on an almost impulsive response contextualising his references to the news feed on LinkedIn (see above) asserting that moonlighting is NOT cheating. It may have its own shades of grey which may be debatable but certainly cannot be broad brushed as one.
Sometime later, Business Today news channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPwkeqZN3Ok) put together a panel of stalwarts, including the well-known Mohandas Pai , where he expressed his surprise ‘that there were so many people doing moonlighting’. So why is it surprising? In India, moonlighting or freelancing is an age old practice. What Mr. Pai was trying to point out to was the contextual change that happened during the pandemic in the backdrop of work from home. What most employers could not accept is that employees, whom till sometime back, worked in the premises with allegiance to one entity, were now working for many in multiple forms of employment, moonlighting being one. This was the unpleasant truth that got translated into various forms of concerns leaving business and functional managers frustrated, if their human resources were ‘theirs at all’.
Stories in the media, of employees accepting multiple Letters of Offer at the same time were not forgotten and here came another missile of moonlighting that added to the productivity and performance woes.
This was all understandable, an employer being protective of their business interest and taking all efforts to ensure that there is order and decorum. However, the argument that a moonlighting employee is cheating was not cutting ice for me.
In response to all this, let me paint a picture that is there in my mind.
I am a product of moonlighting since the mid 1980’s. I was a public sector banker as much I was an event host and manager. My need to moonlight at that time was largely financial and to some extent for the joy of the job. Like myself, moonlighters do this to augment their financial strength and I don’t see anything wrong with that.
However, how does this same argument stack up when it is within the same skill set. For example, a coder writing a code/program and a designer making a video for another business. This is where it gets sticky and needs to set an ethical framework, applicable to both sides to ensure that such liberties are constructive and work for all. Especially those roles that may be strategic and confidential in nature, which can be dicey and threatening to the employer. Ganapathy Subramaniam, Chief Operating Officer & Executive Director, TCS in his interview (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=va2SsUVR2Tk) elucidates about the importance of this framework. This framework should be built with an objective to create a safer workplace for the employer and the moonlighter, making it conducive for this market to grow and benefitting all.
One more angle that is relevant in this context is the legal one. The law categorically does not stop any one from having multiple employments but definitely upholds the contract one has signed with the employer. So any clauses that disallows simultaneous employments or moonlighting needs to be a warning bell.
Moonlighting is here to stay and is a part of a ‘natural’ industry transformation. The pandemic only accelerated the process and brought moonlighting into the mainstream far sooner than we expected.
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It is not surprising that Industry stalwarts themselves, have in the past, resisted many changes that were a part of this transformation. Early 90’s saw fundamental resistance to anyone changing jobs. It was considered a bad practice leaving a blot in your career. Today, loyalty for the sake of loyalty is a passe. Mid 2000 saw large scale contractual workers becoming more prominent in organisations. Initially, there was a resistance to this arrangement too. Enterprises eventually saw staffing as a blend between fixed and contractual workers making them agile and flexible. As moonlighting matures this will only add to the flexibility of the enterprises keeping them nimble and light footed which is an absolute business need in the VUCA world.
In contrast to the nay-sayers, here are some of interviews with progressive thought leaders talking on the gig economy in 2019, much before the pandemic hit the market. This validates my point that this was expected.
Both S V Nathan and Prabir Jha are tall HR leaders in India having an impressive following and footprints.
Nathan S V (Partner & Chief Talent Officer, Delloite India)
Prabir Jha (Founder, Prabir Jha People Advisory)
Needless to say, moonlighting needs to evolve and mature, but is certainly not cheating.
Building Leadership Capability Coach to Board Members I CXOs I Emerging Leaders PCC - ICF I SP - EMCC I Certified Team Coach I MGSCC I MGLOF Executive Coach ? Leadership Coach ? Team Coach ? XLRI - Jamshedpur
2 年If one has signed an exclusive work contract / employment agreement, then moonlighting is plain and simple cheating if one is doing same or similar work for someone else during the term of the employment contract / agreement. However, if the contract is not exclusive or does not mention restrictions of working elsewhere in some other stream, post normal workhours, then it may not be construed as moonlighting. Similarly, if one has declared themselves to be a gig worker upfront, then the issue of moonlighting doesn't arise - falls more into the realm of being a consultant or freelance service provider. In short, legality / propriety of moonlighting, finally boils down to the terms of the employment contract/agreement one has signed.
Leveraging Wholesale Power Market Intelligence to Maximize Business Outcomes ?? Market Strategy & Innovation?? Integrating New & Emerging Technologies to Drive Productivity and Growth
2 年It's interesting that many companies expect a certain level of loyalty from their employees but have no loyalty to those same employees when times get tough; layoffs, furloughs, etc. I agree that the days of blind loyalty are over. As leaders, some questions we need to ask about an employee's outside employment: 1. Why is the employee taking on outside work? Is there something we could do differently to fill the need? 2. Is the employee still meeting expectations in their role? 3. Does the outside activity create a potential conflict of interest? 4. Will the outside work hurt our brand? If the answers to these questions are acceptable, then why should we dictate to the employee how they should be spending their time outside of their role with us?
Marketing Professional | Ex Zydus Wellness | Ex Dr Reddy's | Ex Apollo Pharmacy I Ex Ogilvy
2 年During my days in advertising it was normal to moonlight if you’re pursuing something which was different from the business your employer was in, like teaching assignments in your personal time, or working in your personal time for a client requiring same services as offered by your employer but only after you had initially referred him to your employer as a potential client but for some reasons your employer declined to take up his account. Also you had to ensure that you did it in your personal time and didn’t compromise on your responsibilities & deliverables with your employer! And I am not mentioning here what was brushed under the carpet but what was well documented in the ethics code of the organisation!
Global Executive Search | Talent & Performance Management
2 年Nobby Nazareth your insights have triggered the need to put in place a framework which addresses the need of both employees and employers; more needs to be done.
Founder & CEO at PRABIR JHA PEOPLE ADVISORY
2 年Moonlighting is doing things in the sly, beyond the terms of engagement and often to the orejuduce of the principal. But being a declared gig craftsman is not. You share your time and skills with a publicly declared multiple and no-conflict clients. The former has issues of ethics; the other does not .