Stefan Ciecierski, european managing director of Aquent
In a recent credit card TV advertisement, late and hassled parents are seen being ‘fired,’ ‘sacked’ and ‘let go’ by their sad and lonely children. The sub text is clear. These children have had enough of absent parents who spend all hours at the office only to slump into a chardonnay fuelled fog of guilt and exhaustion upon their return. But this isn’t how life is supposed to be, is it?
It’s no wonder that 1.2 million people are now employed in the UK through freelance, temporary or contract agreements. A temporary worker can enjoy higher rates of pay and the ability to develop and improve their own skill base through exposure to numerous employment situations.
This statistic should be a wake up call to all those employers out there who indulge in old fashioned thinking and are under the influence of archaic personnel thinking. These dinosaurs risk losing their brightest, most creative and talented individuals from permanent positions until they can show them the same respect, autonomy, empowerment and most importantly trust as the consultants, freelancers and temporary staff they employ...
For years social commentators have talked about work-life balance and its importance in modern society. They painted a picture of a golden future where employers would be happy to let staff work from home, exchange and swap hours and disappear off on the odd soul searching sabbatical. By this point the traditional ‘nine to five’ was supposed to have become history with most of us enjoying a lot more family and leisure time and a lot less commuting and pointless office hours.
Yet the reality is that the ‘working from home’ option is still a rarity for the majority of us. Whatever the rhetoric, most bosses simply don’t trust their staff not to vegetate in front of Jeremy Kyle when they should be typing away. The boss wants to see bums on seats, jackets on chairs and, well, bodies in the office.
It comes as no surprise then that many have been attracted by the independence and flexibility that taking a temporary role can offer. For example, temporary workers find it much easier to negotiate working contracts that suit their own personal needs, whether that means working for short and intense periods, a few days a week, or even, for example, just mornings.
Importantly, the relationship between the employer and the contracted worker is seen to be fundamentally different from that of the permanent worker and employer. Permanent staff are more likely to buckle under management pressure to ‘put in’ more hours and are often conscious that being seen to leave ‘early’ will not find favour with bosses. This is not the case for temporary staff. Pre-agreed working hours, payment by the hour and a real sense of independence empowers temporary workers to resist the pressures of the long working hours endemic to British corporate culture.
Perverse as it may seem, employers are prone to trust temporary staff to work from home more than their permanent work colleagues. The very nature of the temporary worker means they are more likely to enjoy greater trust to work independently and can often stay aloof from the sort of office politics that breeds employer and employee distrust.
Critics of temporary working like to point out that its advantages are outweighed by the lack of paid holiday time, job insecurity and the poor pension provision. But in the current strong employment market, it is easy to move from one role to another and new legislation provides temporary workers with paid holiday time while most pension schemes offered by big companies are being wound up with workers left to fend for themselves.
However, there is a solution for individuals looking for genuine working flexibility and therefore a better work-life balance and therefore many workers are choosing to give up on full-time work.
They are trading in their permanent contracts to become freelancers, consultants and temporary staff. And why not? Temporary staff can enjoy most of the rights of their permanent colleagues, typically earn more and are in a much better position when negotiating working flexibility with their employer.
Comments (3)
Posted by John Wakeland | November 28, 2007 2:16 PM
My experience of temporary workers is that they are much less effective than full time employees. They know they will only be there for a short period of time so their sense of committment and loyalty is much less. Combined with the fact that they are extremely expensive, I will always opt for full time workers - even though this may not be brilliant for their work-life balance.
Posted on November 28, 2007 14:16
Posted by Ben | November 28, 2007 6:25 PM
Whilst I agree with some of your points, insofar as they pertain to more mature "temps" than those from the average high street agency, I have always found that the more senior freelance workers often end up putting in more hours than their full time equivalents.
I work extensively with freelance management consultants and executive coaches, and in my experience people who are able to build successful careers on this basis are often particularly driven and hard-working - which is probably not a coincidence. The downside of "working from home" (as many of them do) is that their homes become their workplaces leaving no escape, and that eternal tempation to check email one last time or "just to catch up a bit".
The dream of a workforce of "free agents" with bags of leisure time is ultimately not realistic: to work in this way beyond the most basic level means essentially running your own business, and that is never going to be an option that will permit more time for family and leisure. To only work at the most basic level means making serious sacrifices of your income and the level of career success you can expect to acheive.
Perhaps the only truth in all of this is simply that we all have to make choices... there's no easy option or one solution for everyone.
For my part, I prefer the employed life. I don't lie awake worrying about paying the mortgage next month, and where the next paycheque will come from. Yes I sometimes have to put in a few extra hours, but I love that when I go home (even if this is at 9pm), I can leave work at the door and enjoy my wife and kids uninterrupted in a place which is my "home", just my home, and very deliberately different to and separate from my "work".
Posted on November 28, 2007 18:25
Posted by Leanne | October 8, 2008 2:10 PM
I’ve experienced working full time; contract; part time; and am now self employed. All options come with advantages and disadvantages.
If I had to choose between all options I would choose self employment every time. Yes you have to work hard but you personally reap the rewards that go with that labour. My next option would be permanent employment but working flexible hours.
I have two children and have tried full time paid employment but found working in the confinements of an office, during stipulated hours, just too restricting.
I came home exhausted after working in excess of 40 hours a week only to start another shift at home, which consisted of picking my tired and grumpy children up from the childminder at 7pm at night, ensuring their homework had been completed and their bags were packed for the next day, getting them ready for bed and tucking them in for a bed time story. Once that duty was complete I then had to start cooking, eat my dinner, potter around with household chores and go to bed. This situation did nothing for my energy level or my relationship with my employer, children and husband.
There are many women like me who are trying to do it all. Companies who offer employees flexibility over their working hours or location will receive a return on their investment. Time is the new currency and people are willing to work hard for it. Not only will employees reward their flexible employer with loyalty and commitment but they will invariably be more productive as result of increased moral and energy levels.
As a final note, it’s not just women who want to work flexibly. I have many male friends who want to spend more time with their family (especially when the children are young) and wouldn’t mind doing some work in the evening if it meant they could take their child to school or pick them up from school on the odd occasion.
Posted on October 8, 2008 14:10