Does your employment contract or the results you achieve give you security?

At the beginning of February 2021, I posted on social media: “The employment contract does not give me security, but the results I achieve.”

Reactions to it were different, and it was this difference that made me want to write a blog post on that very topic.

The discovery of self-perception is one of the most important discoveries of the 20th century.

Self-perception is a set of all truths and beliefs that a person accepts as his truth during his life. It is the main software of our mental computer, it is mostly subjective, it determines our level of efficiency in advance, as well as our attitudes about ourselves and others.

Our attitudes are largely determined by our expectations, which are largely based on our values and beliefs.

 I carefully read all the comments that were written, it is amazing how clearly the definitions from the previous sentences can be clearly seen in each of them:

• those whose work results are easily visible at work, who saw in their environment that people get fired due to poor results or are themselves directly responsible for the results, agreed with the statement,
• those who had excellent results, but the criteria of managers for promotion were not in line with their expectations, or in line with what was presented to them at work, reacted violently and differently,
• those who deal with law focused on the form rather than the substance of the claim,
• those who had both experiences, tried to clarify that both are important.

The conclusion came down to the fact that it was not a claim, but an emotion and experience which it provoked in each of these wonderful people who wrote their comments. So, often it is not about what is happening around us, but about the way we react to it.

Therefore, I will try to be more precise in this text, and to clarify the essence, and not the form of the statement.

The business world has changed drastically in recent decades and I would like to single out 3 major changes:

1. We have come out of the era of permanent employment and entered the era of permanent employability

The very term “permanent employment” in our region has its origins in the communist period, when the employment contract was indeed considered permanent. Today, however, we have fixed-term and permanent employment contract. The biggest difference is actually figurative, i.e. in the need for its renewal on the one hand, and in the probationary work of the employee on the other hand. The essence is that we hired an employee for a certain job and we expect him to complete it.

Work is an opportunity to achieve results, the company is a platform that provides us with working conditions and gives us a chance to show our abilities.

a) As long as our contribution is greater than our cost for the company, we are profitable for it.

b) Each person costs the company at least 3 times more than the net salary he/she is paid. Taxes and contributions are added to the net salary (65% of that amount), then the lease of office space that a person needs for work, heating, cooling, electricity, water and other additional costs of using the space, workplace with all the equipment and infrastructure, software and licences, car, registration, fuel, telephone, etc.

c) Unfortunately, many people think that they are paid for the time they spend at work, and they measure that time with the net income. Most of us are paid based on the results we achieve or the help we provide to those who achieve results because that is the law of economics.

2. We have come out of the era of one-time learning and entered the era of lifelong learning

In the past, schooling used to take place behind a school desk and ended once we leave school. Hence the phrase “What (school) did you finish?”.

However, today, in a time of extremely rapid changes, many educational institutions do not manage to follow the changes in the market with their curricula and therefore fail to timely train the workforce.

Many companies have in-house training departments that constantly train their employees, in addition to hiring external training partners. I know this well, because it is the basis of the work I do.

However, even this is not enough today. Today, companies know that education is expensive, when they employ people, they often choose those who invest in their own knowledge. Those who do not wait for someone else to invest in them more than they do themselves. For those who know that their knowledge is something that goes with them wherever they work, every euro invested in knowledge and skills returns tenfold during their career. Those who are not reactive, who do not wait for their career, but are proactive and build it themselves.

Such people in the market are easily employable and difficult to find because they are usually not free.

3. We have come out of the era of manpower and entered the era of mind power

 Until the early 1980s, the only relevant IQ was the logical IQ. However, they started noticing that most people with a high logical IQ find it difficult to cope with ups, downs, or turbulent business challenges. For that reason, the emotional IQ emerged, which deals precisely with what was said before. The more turbulent the times and the greater the pressure of competition, the more we need to manage our mind. The human brain has 100 billion neurons, each of which is connected with over 20,000 other neurons. At every place where two neurons meet, a thought or idea may form. We were born with the most sophisticated computer in the Universe, which is called the human brain, but without – USER GUIDE. Only when we discover how this remarkable organ is managed can we feel its incredible power, and thus be ready for great achievements.

To summarise: We are all self-employed. Our company is called Name and Surname Ltd.” We only lease our services to the company with which we have a contract; the higher the quantity and quality of those services, the greater the compensation for them, as well as the job security. Companies that do not adhere to these principles may not be good for you. I met a lot of people who were dissatisfied with the treatment in the company, or used to achieve great results that no one saw because someone else took the credit for it.

a) The first group stayed, remained constantly dissatisfied and constantly grumbling

This is the worst option for the employee and the company. If you think you have to suffer because you don’t have any other option, ask yourself why. Why are you not profitable as workforce on the labour market, at what level are your skills and knowledge? Do something with yourself first, increase your value.

b) The second group fought until someone from the management saw it and changed the criteria with which they were satisfied 

They learned to fight for their worth. They learned that in every company there are 3 types of selling: to customers, to colleagues and to the management. They did not grumble, but fought for the visibility of their results and adequate compensation.

c) The third group went and found a different company that met their standards or became business owners 

They realised that they do not share the same values with the company, and that it is not a good environment where they could continue their career. In addition, they learned how some things in life and career should not be done. I hope that these lessons will be useful to them one day, once they become responsible for others, or when they start paying them out of their own pocket.

Truth be told, some criteria change when you find yourself paying people out of your own pocket.

The conclusion regarding the title reads: I believe that the contract is a FORM, while the result is the ESSENCE which should bring good to other people.