Working for yourself
In an article[1] on the competitiveness of elderly people, I suggested, without elaborating, to consider the "working for yourself" approach. This is a fairly common choice for a large category of people nearing retirement after long careers as employees. The main reason is most likely the undeniable pressure on older employees, despite all the legal rules against such discrimination. These people simply decide to take fate into their own hands, even at the risk of additional stress and efforts for, very often, half an income. Why do they do it? What are the main factors leading to this?
For some in such a situation, working for yourself means a complete change in their status – they become business owners with full control over what they do. For others, it means more caution when signing new employment contracts, with more autonomy at the price of, for example, a fixed period of validity or a lower salary. The two situations are not as different as they first appear, so I will treat both as somewhat similar.
Undoubtedly, market constraints can affect the business and therefore also the decisions of employers. Most often they are related to cost reduction to maintain the necessary level of competitiveness of the business. In such situations, layoffs or wage cuts are inevitable. Sometimes it is also about a new business requirement, such as investing in new products and services or using new sales channels or, for immediate future, using automated or even AI based solutions. If current employees can't adapt, can't improve their skills, then of course their replacement seems inevitable.
There is also a very specific problem with any type of business, small, medium or... huge. In addition to the overall objectives or business results stated publicly or at least internally, most often employers also have hidden objectives, future plans or current business problems, which are not visible to employees, at least for a period of time. This is normal practice and in fact, in most cases, legal; unfortunately, this cannot mitigate the impact of a dismissal decision. No one can take it lightly and the compensation package, if any, cannot deal with all the consequences.
In any large organization, and often even in medium-sized organizations, employers try to create and maintain an organizational culture that would make work more productive and work life more enjoyable. Since many employees sincerely embrace it, it is up to employers to align this concept with the company and the business reality. Is this always the case? Of course not. Remote work, after four years of rapid growth, has further complicated this issue, with great debates for and against. It is also true that employees can have very “demanding” expectations that cannot be met. Personally, I would have brought my dogs to the office, almost certain that my performance would be better. Maybe others’ too! But I have not had much luck in this regard. In the last few years, before my retirement (but still open to interesting challenges!), when I was a consultant, hybrid work was my main preference, enjoying remote work while also recognizing and emphasizing the need to have office hours as well.
Let's get back to the main topic: how to work for yourself? It is true that we always work for ourselves, for our families or for people we care about. We say: "I work for company X", which is true, but above all we work for ourselves, for money, for our own satisfaction, public recognition, or even because we are too bored to do nothing. The employer is responsible to set up a business and create jobs and the employees are responsible for delivering the right work in these jobs for the benefit of said company. Both parties contribute. And how to align? I have always believed that the basis of a solid and fair employer-employee relationship is the employment contract, while a healthy organizational culture is really a welcome complement. Look for a good contract, not the best or the perfect one for you, because the latter does not exist. A good contract must be a compromise between the employer's requirements and the employees' expectations, satisfying both parties sufficiently and guaranteeing a good business result.
I do not intend to go into the details of such agreements, nor into the details of working conditions, performance requirements or payment arrangements, because employees are very different, employers are very different, and companies are even more so.
Whether you have an employment contract or act as a freelancer, or even as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, in principle, there are no big differences regarding the mentioned alignment and its result. Unfortunately, real life is complicated, that is why the contract must be very carefully checked, aiming at favorable conditions for the present, the immediate future and, do not ignore it, the longer term.
In addition to seeking as many common goals as possible with the employer and including them in the contract, it is very important to be able and authorized to verify their achievement. In my opinion, the so-called labor, work or employment contract, should actually be a service contract!
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Even at a more respectable age, you can start your own business, my recommendation being to stay close to your industry, unless you have proven expertise in other areas. In my case, a business in gardening could have been an option! As a business owner, contracts are in practice contracts for services. So, treat them as such.
I agree that talking about working for yourself may sound a bit… selfish or lonely wolf like, but it is not. You cannot work alone all the time, nor always remotely. Collaboration is not only necessary, it is inevitable. And it should be, since we are social beings. Therefore, collaboration also requires face-to-face meetings, online communication having clear limits in this regard. The same goes for partnerships. You just have to choose them carefully!
On the other hand, life is a competition. At home and at school, we receive an education, today of a high level. Education is a way to better prepare ourselves for life, for the competitive world we live in. The “non-competitive” education, more present in recent decades, should rather be called “collaborative” education, a term much closer to real needs. There is no non-competition. But we can build a collaboration, using a win-win approach.
This article was inspired by the real and very likely difficulties that older people face in the last phase of their career. We need to prepare ourselves in advance for this stage of life, including training ourselves to take on other new responsibilities. The best is to follow this path throughout the career, even if you are not that old! Changes are not bad, on the contrary, they should be seen as opportunities. Working for yourself can be a real opportunity.
There is currently a lot of discussion, often turning into fierce controversy, about what I would call the “human resources crisis”, some cases being hot in my country, but in fact, we see them everywhere. It is not a coincidence that I am writing this article now, in fact planned months ago. It was inevitable. And it is time to replace “resources” with something else. For example, “individual contributors”, or in the new AI era something like “specialized creators” or similar.
No one should be just one among many.
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Managing Partner, IQ.HR Solutions
1 个月Would you take me as your apprentice in gardening? I'll be a very good worker :)
Wise words from a wise man - thanks to share your reflections, Dragos - the topic about "above all we work for ourselves, for money, for our own satisfaction,...." has been bugging me the last couple of years... its always a trade-off between: how much are you willing to invest, for the return it delivers. In the end... we are all participants in the big economic game.