Employees For Employees’ Sake

I’ve struggled with what the best angle is for me to approach this topic from. To be fair, I haven’t been an employee in nearly twenty years. To say I understand what employment is today, or even in the past, wouldn’t be entirely fair on my part. Even when I was an employee I was young, the jobs I had were the standard “starter” jobs that young people tend to begin their work lives in. For myself, I began by mowing lawns as a young child for my father, which evolved to landscaping when I was in my early teens. My first official taxable job was as a busboy at IHOP when I was fifteen years old. From there I held odds and ends jobs throughout my teens in a myriad of fields, all low wage positions. My final place of employment was with my father’s landscaping company, prior to enlisting in the US Air Force. I don’t really consider the military a standard form of employment, you don’t have the same worker rights as you do in the private sector. Once I separated from the Air Force I partnered with my father and other business partner in their holiday decorating company, and have been self employed now for twelve years. So to anyone reading this, I do understand the relative naiveté that I’m sure will ooze throughout this post. I’m going to attempt, instead, to outline how I see labor and participation in markets, and I hope to shed some light on some possible exits from the churn that is the job market today.

My father has always been a grinder when it came to work. His life has really revolved around it. It was an aspect when I was younger that I couldn’t really relate to. Nowadays, as I’ve toiled to make the businesses that I’m a part of actually earn me enough money to get by, I’m much the same way. This tends to confuse others I interact with. A common retort I get is, “OK, that’s enough shop talk”. I, honestly, hate that phrase. What do you mean? My businesses are my life. They provide me the means to put a roof over my head, food in my belly, and the ability to buy the occasional toy. Furthermore, as a business owner, no one is more aware than me that I know too little, and more information is always better. I want to talk “shop” because I am hoping to glean some kind of insight from the other party that may assist me in improving my business practices. I understand, though, why others whom aren’t business owners don’t necessarily appreciate the conversation. I think as a society we’ve forgotten what work actually is and means. Business has been around for as long as humankind has. Trade and bartering happened in even the smallest social groups. One member, perhaps, made a better bow or spear than another. Another member made better baskets, or whichever useful item needed at the time. Those that were better at certain things would specialize, to a degree, in those items and trade them for other items that other members specialized in. That’s business at its plainest. A simple means of production with agreed upon values, exchanged amongst others within a “market”. Business has always been interwoven with our lives. As this scales up, business takes on more and more roles. Lower skilled trades become entry level jobs where basic skills are developed. The fundamental skills necessary to achieve greater successes in life. These skills aren’t limited to the basics of the trade, but also include negotiating skills, peer to peer communications, team building, and so on. There is a certain level of professionalism required to succeed in any field, which may be the most important skill gained. As I see it today, we’ve completely upended that basic structure. I don’t know which is the egg and which is the hen, but employees today don’t view employment as a means to acquire new skills that can be applied to personal ventures that could become businesses of their own anymore. Instead, they’re simply viewed as a means to earn some money with which you go and enjoy yourself with in your off time. This is a mindset I can’t fully wrap my brain around. Recognizing that every person is going to have their own temperament and ambition, the degree of employment each of us will have is certainly going to vary. By no means am I suggesting that everyone ought to be fully autonomous, or even that that is possible considering each individuals’ personal situation. I do, though, believe that autonomy and freedom are paramount to a fulfilled life. A fulfilled life is a subjective term, surely, but I don’t believe that most of us would choose less autonomy over more. This is the core issue for me in regards to employment. So I ask you, what is an employee?

It has taken my business partners and me years before we managed to grow our company large enough to justify hiring. It’s been no small feat and has required blood, sweat, and tears to achieve it. I suspect this is common amongst all businesses as no business, in its beginnings, functions very well. Most of us make mistake after successive mistake, which is why most businesses fail, before an optimal method of production is found. I don’t want to ride this high horse for too long, but it’s important to point out as I often hear complaints from others about how the business owner earns too much, is entitled, or any other complaint that we all know too well. I also don’t want to defend every business owner or claim them to be infallible, but understanding what they’ve gone through to achieve the degree of success necessary to just be able to employ someone is important. To answer the question at the end of the previous paragraph, an employee is a means to increase production of a business in order to meet increased demand. The employee’s value is directly correlated to his or her output, as well as the level of skill or expertise within a particular field that they bring. I often hear that employment is akin to slavery, and I guess I agree to a certain extent. Even though employees are compensated for their labor, they have limited autonomy. As the employee, the expectation is to follow the standards of practice outlined in the employment agreement. Essentially, the employee’s time becomes the employer’s time. I suppose this better relates to serfdom than it does to slavery, but the end result is the same. The employee sacrifices a certain level of freedom in order to be compensated by the employer. This isn’t ideal over a long arc of time, for either party. I’ve long thought that, in general, employees shouldn’t remain employed for too long. I’ve estimated this duration to be around ten years or so. I think this because human nature tells us that we become accustomed to our environments and habits. This sedates innovation, which harms the employer, and directly harms the employee that seeks getting a raise or promotion. Over that same arc of time the employee begins to believe that they have a stake in the company itself. This mindset then instills a certain level of entitlement to decision making, earnings, and in some sense a feeling of ownership over the business. This harms the employer again, but also harms the employee. The employee begins to stagnate in new skills acquired, thus not benefitting themselves. In my ideal world, the employee will acquire new skills and knowledge during their tenure at any job. They then either, find new employment in an adjacent field further honing those skills, or they take the knowledge they’ve acquired and strike out on their own. The question then becomes, how is this done?

I used to tell my wife that she should take from her employer all that she could. This did not mean steal or take advantage, rather fight for every dollar they’re willing to give you. Fight for every skill and bit of knowledge they’ll let you in on. Never seek information from those of equal position to you, instead seek knowledge from those above you. The reality here though is that as people we’re selfish, and in a hierarchical system, those above you will only relay enough information to you that will increase your production enough to make them look good. But never enough information to supplant them. This is the major fallacy with the employee mindset. There is a false ceiling placed above you that only raises as your superiors elevate, leading you to believe that any promotion you receive is solely the result of your own efforts. I’ve never been a very creative person, nor have I been terribly ambitious in my life. Because of this I’ve had to rely on my grit rather than my intellect. I’ve needed to seek out where there are market deficiencies or where certain sectors aren’t being adequately served, and simply outwork others in those fields. Being the grunt that I am, and the fact that most people don’t want to sweat or get dirty, the areas I found tended to be in the service sector. Individuals smarter and more talented than me tend to find these deficiencies in the areas of society that more closely align with their interests, but realize that this is rarer than you think. In there lies an important point, the venture of your choosing may not always be what you’ve always dreamed about. Employment can be the vehicle, however, that funds the venture that brings you closer to your dreams. As you’re working for someone you should be saving as much from what they give you that you can so that you can exploit an avenue where you find some interest. In your off time, focus less on pleasure and focus more on diversity of experience. If you’ve been fortunate and have some family around and a core group of friends where you receive the necessary reciprocation of love, then you can find joy and pleasure anywhere and anytime. Lean on that while you pursue your passions and interests. In that pursuit you may stumble upon an idea that may produce some income. Finally, don’t be afraid of failure. Failure is good, it is the best teaching tool on the planet. It provides the necessary visceral reaction to not want to repeat a mistake.

I don’t want to make it seem as if self employment is all sunshine and rainbows, it has its own draw backs. Rather than being a slave to the employer you become the slave to the client. Trust me when I say clients can and will be more vicious than any employer. The benefit, though, in this relationship you can choose not to provide your services to a client without a complete loss of your income. Where with an employer your only choice is to accept it or quit, where quitting is the forfeiture of all of your livelihood. Self employment also comes with a heightened level of anxiety. Any time you’re not pursuing new clients or production improvements, is time you won’t be compensated for. For this reason, I often find that other business owners are frequently working at the oddest of times, and rarely are there times when some type of business related task isn’t being accomplished. Whether that be taking a phone call while out with friends, canceling a get together with someone due to something having come up, or discussing amongst friends a certain issue they’re facing rather than the score of the game last night (insert “shop talk” moments). This anxiety is only heightened when one reaches a level of success where hiring becomes essential. Now the employer is no longer solely responsible for him/herself, their family, partners, but also the employee. The business now must maintain a level of production necessary to accommodate all of these members. I’ve rarely met a more down trodden person than someone that has been placed in the unenviable position of having to let someone go. Not for any reason other than the company is no longer able to support the staff it has taken on. The reasons for this down turn aside, it is a heart wrenching scenario for all involved. These are facets one must take into account when considering expanding one’s ventures, and they shouldn’t be taken lightly. There is also the general risk of failure and loss of the investment made into the business venture. The greatest of risks result in the greatest returns or the greatest of losses.

I won’t pontificate for much longer, but having had endured the ups and downs of self employment has left me with a few profound realizations. I value freedom to a high degree, freedom to me is time. How I spend my time and for what purpose is very valuable. Weekends are no longer the days I look forward to for rest or activities, any day is. I decide the days I want to work and want to play. This is a freedom I don’t think I could ever give up again. Further more, my understanding of taxes is significantly deeper than I ever thought I’d bother learning. I had long wondered how it was that the rich held on to so much of their wealth, until I was able to afford an accountant. My mind was blown at the savings available to businesses that our overseer politicians have written into our tax codes. Regardless of whether you agree with it or not, they’ve set the rules to the game and you aren’t playing until you have a business of your own. The ruling class have put in place so many barriers for the individual, but through your own company there are a few avenues you can exploit that would otherwise not be available. Money has a new meaning for me now. Innovative thinking is simply a by product of owning a business, largely because you end up always trying to find new ways to generate income which requires investment. I am often happy to pay myself less if it means that I can perpetuate my business’ success. The longer I can live off of my business the longer I can enjoy the time I have. As I’ve said numerous times in this post, a fully autonomous lifestyle isn’t for everyone. Full autonomy, though, isn’t the point. Any degree of freedom you can achieve is a degree of happiness you’ll enjoy. I urge you to find a side gig, weekend business, hell I’d be happy if it was a lemonade stand that at least covered a date out with your significant other. I want you to find an exit, even if it is only a partial one from the general employment market. I want you to have a taste of the freedom I enjoy, you’ll likely find that you’ll want an ever increasing amount of it.