Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1120492
23.05.19 13 OPINION The gig worker Kevin-James Fenech Kevin is the founder and owner of JOB Search - jobsearch.mt and FENCI Consulting fenci.eu. He is a management consultant and business advisor by profession, focusing on strategy, human resources and recruitment. He has a passion for anything related to business and has written about the topic for over 10 years in most major newspapers or journals I am not referring to a two-wheeled car- riage; or a music gig; nor am I referring to my old boarding school ('Gig' short for Giggleswick school). I am referring to a new but fast-growing mode of work and type of worker. The gig worker essentially is an inde- pendent worker on a non-permanent contract. To be more specific and tangible, I am referring to the social media mar- keter, software engineer, graphic de- signer, freelance photographer, SEO consultant, content writer, blogger, accountant, lawyer, e-commerce en- trepreneur, management consultant, ERP service provider, block chain te- chie, etc. In the words of one gig worker: "I can be the most I've ever been myself in any job." In America, more than one third of the labour force work as gig workers and it is forecast to go up to nearly 50% by 2020. In Europe and North America, this adds up to 150m+ work- ers. From a talent-management and re- cruitment point of view, employers need to take note. The gig worker changes (disrupts) everything from the employer-em- ployee relationship to employee en- gagement and much more. In fact, research confirms that gig workers are 1.5 times more likely to be fully engaged than those in more tradition- al roles (Source: ADP Research Insti- tute). Gig workers tend to be well mo- tivated (especially self-motivated), ambitious and go-getters. Meaning: employers need to adapt and loosen their HR policies and work practices to accommodate this new breed. This translates into new modes of work such as working from home up to 4 days per week; a very loose definition of 'working hours'; work on demand arrangements; and many other non-traditional 'work' practices which senior managers over a certain age will find difficult to comprehend and accept. You can blame the millennials for all this ☺ They've disrupted everything else so why not blame / thank them for this new phenomenon. The point is that the 'creative geni- uses'; the ones that make a real differ- ence in any business in Europe and America; the ones that add a lot of value; are increasingly gig workers. Conversely, those that prefer the comfort and safety net of a traditional contract of employment are the 'foot soldiers'. Sure every business needs 'foot soldiers' but it's the creative-ge- niuses which give you competitive ad- vantage. The cost of replacing a gig worker is estimated to be 2.5 times their 'salary', therefore, not only do they add more value and tend to be more creative but it pays a company to retain their ser- vices since cumulatively they become more valuable to the business. It pays because in today's over-competitive business landscape, especially in ma- ture economies, this is almost the only way to carve out competitive advan- tage. Therefore, businesses have to learn quickly how to attract, retain and ex- tract the best out of the gig worker, since that is where the employment market is heading anyway. Your business might not have any gig workers today; since everyone falls under the all-encompassing and out- dated umbrella term 'employee' title but this will soon change. Mark my words. It's happened in America and Europe and Malta always follow. As recruiter and strategic HR advi- sor, I see this as an opportunity for employers rather than a threat. Sure the status quo is being fundamentally challenged and the minute local em- ployment law catches-up, there will be plenty of disruption but if I were an employer, I'd rather have a highly en- gaged, highly motivated and self-dis- ciplined gig worker to the more tradi- tional nine-to-five 'foot soldier'. Let's be frank, to-date the tendency is that the high-performers (the ones that make a real and big difference to a company) are always a minority in any workforce and it is the 'foot soldiers' which constitute the majority. With the gig economy, employers get more of the 'best talent' out there and with the right HR set-up and organi- sational culture, a business can exploit this new reality to its advantage. The doubters or those that fear change, will claim that the balance of power has shifted in favour of the 'employee' and to the detriment of the owner (the risk-taker). I beg to differ: I reckon the gig econ- omy creates a win-win situation, whereby, both the 'employer' and the 'employee' get the best of each other. We just need to learn as a country to harness the benefits and advantages of this gig job market. I believe that with Malta becoming more and more cosmopolitan; with a thriving job market based on Maltese plus non-Maltese workers; and terri- torial boundaries meaning less espe- cially with the single market; all this adds to our comparative advantage as a country. In the words of Gianpiero Petriglieri, Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD, the gig econ- omy creates 'liberating connections' because it both frees people up to be individually creative and binds them to work so that their output doesn't wane. Employers, therefore, need to see this as an opportunity and re-struc- ture their recruitment policies, re-de- fine their concept of work and re- think their predefined 'worker types'. The one-size-fits-all model of 40 hours, Monday-to-Friday and a fixed 'work place' is broken and needs re-thinking. I think the 'gig worker' model with its many variations, is an excellent win-win model. Let's have the courage to embrace it as a country. Gig workers tend to be well motivated, ambitious and go-getters