Paid for results, not time

Times have changed. I remember thinking that salary is simply money paid for time rendered in service no matter the work. And then I get so jealous of the executives with the big offices – they look like they work less but are paid more, while we mere mortals on the lower floors slave like crazy but are paid less. My dream then was to climb the corporate stairs and one day get into one of those fancy offices with smiling receptionists and secretaries at my beck and call. I’d have one secretary to make appointments and another to prepare coffee. I reached that stage and was there for a while.

Now things are totally different. Fancy offices are gone, and rarely do I see secretaries and assistants lining up behind their senior officers. Things are no longer the same.

We used to be paid in terms of time rendered. This was a very “Industrial Age” paradigm, wherein time and motion studies were the buzzwords. When computers came into the picture, you and I were still paid for the time we rendered, but we were also rewarded and recognized for the processing of information and knowledge. This was the Knowledge Economy, and HR practitioners measured KRAs, KPIs and other such measurements to determine whether an employee is paid more or less. Technology enabled people to create; ideas then became the valuable currency. And the world ushered itself into the Creative Economy. Expecting to be paid in terms of time rendered became a key obstruction towards idea generation.

Today office cubicles are down giving way for open spaces, and strict rigidity of company rules and regulations give way to fun, innovation and creativity as ideas become the foundation for competitive advantage.

Creativity today requires a breaking away from the imprisonment of time-based pay. Let me put it this way: as an entrepreneur, I’d rather pay and reward my people for the ideas they generate, than for the hours they put into their jobs. This is what gives me my competitive edge.

When I was still in the garments manufacturing business (an extremely Industrial Age paradigm), I was fascinated with this company which succeeded in the mail-order business. They opened a few retail stores, and I’d shop there every time I go to the US and never fail to get their brochures. The brand went silent for a while and resurges today as a premium fashion brand with a cult following the likes of Michelle Obama and American Vogue EIC Anna Wintour. The brand is J Crew. Peek into their business model, and you’ll find that their creative department is considered as important as their finance department, and none is above the other.

You and I are now in the Creative Economy. Don’t just work hard. Be creative and work creatively. Remove the old idea of wanting to be paid for time rendered. Begin to accept the fact that we should be paid for results delivered. And one more thing – that we should be rewarded (highly, I should say) for the ideas provided.

Average is no longer acceptable in a world of hyper competition which has made excellence an entry-level requirement.

It’s a different world now. So we should look at and do things differently.

(Spend two whole days with Francis Kong as he facilitates the well-acclaimed Dr. John C. Maxwell Program “Developing The Leader Within You” on June 18-19 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries, contact Inspire at 09158055910, or call 632-6310912 for details.)