Come on in… Find your seat… Alright, where are we going today?
We operate in the “Nomad Economy”. What it means and why it’s important.
Attendance-based jobs vs. Difference-making jobs
How do we apply these trends?
Plus, Dolly Parton makes an appearance
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Your Future of Multiple Jobs
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
- Will Rogers
What comes to mind when you think of a Jewish wedding celebration? One of the first visualizations I have is the glass shattering. Whether you've actually seen it live or watched Wedding Crashers, it's an exciting end to the ceremony. The traditional meaning symbolizes the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The modern meaning symbolizes change. Change from your old life into your new married life.
That's not the case in the business world. There are no formalized glass-shattering moments of change. Instead, there are trends that come and go. Only time will tell what advancements stick.
Last week, we introduced the concept of a new business platform. I got the idea in January when the Gamestop/Reddit theater was going on. After examining trends for today's post, a new business platform isn't just a need; it's a necessity. It's not strictly because of the content opportunities, but it's a necessity for the inevitable transformation of work that will continue.
That's a very broad, general claim (I hate those), but no one denies it's false.
Long-standing institutions will continue to be threatened.
For #3, we're not even talking about technology advancements. It's the intersection of employee and employer that is changing, and there is something to be said about it.
Employee retention is a thing of the past. At some point, you will change jobs, companies, careers, locations, etc. The earth-shattering announcement 30 years ago of, "I'm changing careers," is now just a Friday in June for most people. Companies that begin to embrace the "Nomad Economy" and lead into it will win.
This creates a theme in modern work of -
"I don't care who you are (ethnicity, gender, religion, etc.) or where you are, I need the best person I can get to perform *insert project*."
The Nomad Economy
Korn Ferry produced a study centered around what they consider "The Nomad Economy." The thesis is each generation will travel from job to job, like nomads, more than the previous. A prominent New York real estate agent is featured. She has held multiple jobs ranging from college professor to managing a construction company to now real estate. Here's a quote from her,
"Decades ago, the “ideal” career was one where you worked at one company, taking on additional responsibilities as you got older and wiser. Switching jobs multiple times was, according to the stereotype, something only people without a formal education did. Switching careers was even worse, a sign that you couldn’t commit or failed so miserably at your first career that you couldn’t be hired to do it again."
I think sums it up perfectly. Let's break this down further. This graphic shows age groups and how long one stays with a job:
Or my elementary version showing the linear relationship between time and number of jobs you will hold:
Today, the average person will have 12 jobs in their lifetime (working years of 18-50). If that number only seems to be growing, what does the Nomad Economy suggest?
It's commonplace for an organization to change its strategy every 5 years. Many have even started to ditch strategies over 1-2 years. Conveniently, the average job tenure is 4.2 years. That means your job might not exist in the near future. The flip side means there could be tremendous growth in your field. Everybody tried to find opportunities on the growth side, and if that doesn't happen, it's on to the next job.
Organizations aren't ignorant. They know these statistics mean you're not going to work there until perpetuity. Although, it still feels like this rhetorical understood that you will. It's only a matter of time until organizations being to contract out more work to better align with current operations. This notion might be, "We've got this plan to achieve by 2025, we want you to be apart of that, and then, we will reassess after that."
Why would anyone want to do that? It seems like a moronic way to operate a company and even dumber to accept contract-based work as an employee. Well, it depends on what type of work you want to keep doing...
Attendance-Based Jobs vs. Difference-Making Jobs
I recently finished Seth Godin's book Linchpin which might end up being my "give as a gift" book. If you follow me on Twitter, I tweeted a while back that I'm not a fan of business books. Seth does a fabulous job of presenting ideas that are business-based, but the context can be applied to facets outside of your job.
In Linchpin (written in 2010), Seth theorizes a working world where people leave attendance-based jobs and pursue difference-making jobs. What does this look like?
Attendance-Based
The assembly line is always a popular school topic when discussing the transformation of work. American history classes usually highlight the Ford assembly line as part of the Industrial Era. In business school, we discussed the Toyota Production System (TPS) as an example of modern-day lean operations using machines and just-in-time production.
In the time period of the assembly lines (Ford to now), there have been numerous labor strikes among auto industry workers. A few of them lasted hundreds of days with instances of the National Guard being deployed. (If you need a good documentary to watch, look up American Factory on Netflix. It follows a Chinese auto glass company that opens up a plant in Ohio. The documentary unveils how quickly it takes for the U.S. workers to unionize, whereas the Chinese workers are satisfied working for merely nothing. It's fascinating.)
The auto industry is indicative of how work was during the early to the mid-20th century. A lot of manual labor where people typically become upset with the job. Who could blame them? They got paid nothing and worked in literal sweatshops. The same problems still persist today except workers press more buttons.
Godin explains these types of jobs as attendance-based jobs meaning your company just needs you to show up. If you don't show up, you'll easily get replaced by the next person who will. That's why auto industry workers had to unionize, otherwise individually, they would get replaced. Godin makes it a point for the reader to recognize these jobs and avoid them at all costs.
Difference-Making
The goal modern workers should have is difference-making work. Godin puts it this way:
"If your organization wanted to replace you, who would they look for? Not someone with a better resume, but the competitive advantage the marketplace demands is someone more human, connected, and mature. Someone with passion, energy, capable of seeing things as they are and negotiating multiple priorities as she makes useful decisions without angst. Flexible in the face of change, resilient in the face of confusion."
-Seth Godin, Linchpin
A lot of those buzzwords can fall on deaf ears, but it's true. In a seemingly disconnected working world where everybody has the same sheet of paper, there is a need for difference-makers. The only problem is, how long do difference-makers last at a job? The data seems to indicate not very long.
Let's revisit labor unions. Check out this chart showing the gradual decline in the last 40-or-so years of unionized workers:
Leaving the public sector alone (makes up about half of the 14.6 million and been fairly stagnant), what does this decline mean? For one, it means we're automating jobs that require unionization (let's save that discussion). For another, it means, well, people aren't unionizing. A lot of unionizing work falls in the attendance-based job category which isn't exactly high in job satisfaction, so people change jobs.
Everybody wants to be in some sort of difference-making role. Nobody wants to be at the point of, "Does it even matter if I show up for work today?" You see, attendance-based jobs are always there. Everything about them is constant from the pay, work, and hours. Difference-making jobs are always changing. You might not even last a year as a difference-maker before being promoted or hired away.
That makes the thing difference-makers encounter the most is, as Godin put it, change. I'd rebrand his synopsis further to say the number one quality of difference-makers is adaptability. Adaptability wins time and time again because - "I don't want to change" - loses every time.
From the Start: A New Working Relationship
Wouldn't be a MWF@8 piece if I didn't brainstorm some crazy alternative... The glaring sentiment toward high school students is always the same from adults.
"You're not supposed to know what you want to do or where you want to go to college. You're 16! You're supposed to be having fun!"
Yet, shortly after, we force the hand of 18-year-olds and decisions have to be made.
Whatever, that's not going to change. The college system is more manageable. Two years ago, I was a senior in college and about as clueless as it comes. I had no idea what to expect from the next part of life that they call being a "young professional." Yet, here I am still clueless.
But I actually think the fundamentals of picking one degree in college make sense. You might end up making the wrong choice, but the age range of 16 to 22-years-old is a broken record of wrong choices. Plus, we've pretty well-covered everything in terms of what you can still get some certification in if college doesn't work out.
I'll leave it at that for education because, at the end of the day, education isn't enough. It's about the application that ultimately spells if you enjoy what you are doing, not a textbook. That can take time, and time is so precious when you're in your 20s/30s before you really settle down.
A What If...
At this point, asking a 22-year-old to commit long-term to your company is a pipe dream. The days of someone working 20 or even 10+ years at the same company are dwindling. The turnover is only going to be exacerbated more as new skills are demanded, and I think most companies are well aware of it, as we have previously discussed.
What if short-term employment contracts became mainstream for entry level positions.
An easy scenario... Pretend you run a digital advertising company. You're steadily growing and need to add employees to meet demand. The only problem, the nature of attracting young professionals is hit or miss on who can perform effectively. Not to mention, it's becoming harder and harder to fire people these days based on performance alone. A short-term, say 18-month contract, could be beneficial as a trial phase. It gives the employer an opportunity to gauge if the employee is a fit. If they aren't, there is no shortage of advertising majors.
It's also beneficial for the employee. A short-term contract right out of college grants flexibility. First, keeping in mind the virtual work barrier, this allows one the opportunity to experience new cities with less of a commitment. The contract also serves as a tremendous understanding that it doesn't have to be renewed.
To solidify this idea, I believe it will be normal for people to work for multiple companies at once. I'm not talking about a day job and then waiting tables at night. I'm saying juggling 2 or 3 different companies in a 40-hour workweek. Similar to getting an internship, young professionals will be courted in longer trial work rotations with employers. This further encapsulates the freedom young professionals are already gaining. It also gives employers an idea if someone is truly committed to your company.
Conclusion
Dolly Parton remixed her smash-hit "9-5" a few weeks back as "5-9". The initial song ("9-5") is an anthem for women in the workforce. The remix ("5-9") portrays the new standard of side-gigs that many women are creating.
One job isn't enough. One opportunity isn't enough *cue Eminem* to seize everything you ever wanted.
No, but seriously, we're in a merry-go-round of work. The Nomad Economy is real and it's going to keep evolving. Employers and employees could band together and make this advantageous to both parties. It will take a big player to lead the charge, but the trend is evident.