The employment myth

Employing our people so that they belong to us, and our organisation, is the standard way of doing things.

“They are ours!”

No one else can have them.

Or so we think …

Yes, they might be physically present in our offices, sitting next to us – or maybe not, now we’re adopting hybrid working …

Yes, we know what they are doing for our organisation, or we think we do …

Yes, they can’t easily leave us without giving us notice and fulfilling all the legal obligations, but sometimes that works against us …

As the Gallup research tells us every year, only around 20 - 23% of employees are engaged at work.

Yes, they might be physically present, but we are kidding ourselves if we think we have their hearts and minds.

This is the employment myth.

Because we’ve always employed our people and it has been a sign of status, size, stature, maturity, success … and togetherness (at least from the outside looking in), we think it is the best way to do things.

But there are other ways to achieve these outcomes and there are signs that employment might not always give us what we want or think we need.

This is where the Access Economy comes in, and particularly for the C-suite.

There is plenty of research out there that …

High level C-suite talent are getting bogged down and fed up with corporate life.

They want more agency, they want work/life balance, yet they are still committed to delivering their best and making an impact.

In addition, mid-to-large organisations are facing global challenges like never before. The pace of change is increasing dramatically, and they need a broad and deep set of agile C-suite skills in their top teams… Not to mention all the SME businesses out there who just need to get access to C-level talent for the right amount of time they need, not full-time, but part-time and at a level they can afford.

Locking into an employed model doesn’t work for these situations. It’s too inflexible for both the individual and the organisation. And I contend, it gives sub-optimal outcomes anyway.

Just because we employ doesn’t mean our people are really “with” us and engaged.

If we can venture out from our comfort zones and realise that accessing C-suite skills together with building feelings, on both sides, of belonging i.e., we build psychological ownership within our relationships, then we can have the best of both worlds. 

We will have long-lasting, solid, and enduring relationships with meaning, which add value and deliver for ALL of us, AND using an access model we will have the flexibility and agility lacking in employment.

The key to making the access economy work for the C-suite is to build psychological ownership feelings within the relationships.

These are high level executives working in the gig economy, i.e., they are self-employed, but they are at the privileged end. They are different to the swathes of gig economy workers forced to take zero hours contracts to make ends meet and who would rather have some of the security and protections that come with employment.

Instead, these senior level professionals have chosen to work this way, they haven’t been forced into it. They want their independence, they want to control their lives, and have freedom of choice, and paradoxically, what we need to realise is that ..

This freedom and sense of agency they achieve means they do bring their hearts and minds to their work – they are engaged, and fully!

In addition, in the access economy, organisations get to engage with a highly committed C-suite team both flexibly and dynamically. When businesses can’t afford, don’t need, or don’t want full-time employees or when they are facing complexity and change which can’t possibly be dealt with by one set of talent, time, and skills from a single individual – this access economy business model really comes into its own and delivers.

It’s about time we stopped thinking employment is our only option and that it meets all our needs.

It really is a myth.

There are better alternatives out there and if we want to stay ahead, we should consider them.

If you want to learn more, have a read of "Strategy and Leadership as Service” which you can find out more about here.