I remember growing up in the job climate, one that pitted possible employee against possible employee. Endless interviews where the same questions were always asked, everyone had identical resumes and you never really knew what the employer was looking for. One thing you did know was that it was rarely your unique talent, for almost everyone knew the answers the employers wanted to hear.
After many interviews, it occurred to me that what they were looking for were the not especially bright people. Creativity or imagination was not appreciated and if you were able to work with very little supervision, you were downright suspect, for the hiring managers didn’t want someone working there who could possibly take their jobs from them.
There were a lot of possible employees that fit that bill but I wasn’t one of them. Employers knew they could find lots of people that were more or less average, have them work for a set number of years and then when their salaries were becoming too high, they would replace them with another average, so-so, boring person and start the cycle all over again.
In this way, companies cycle through many employees and the dream/myth of a full time long term job slowly disappeared. Most jobs that go by that description now tend to be those that no one wants to work at full time anyway, let alone for a long time.
Enter virtual teams. Our company, DemGen, doesn’t offer full time work. We are a team that collaborates on projects. We work together, virtually, with one goal in mind and that is to help your business grow. We each have our own unique talents and in this way our abilities offset each other so those who hire us get the best of everything.
Our work is flexible. For the most part it can be done anytime from anywhere. We have time for things outside of work and that time keeps us healthy so when we have to, we can give 110% to get the work done.
We aren’t replaced every several years; instead, new members are added to the team who have new talents that blend well with those we already have. We don’t have an insecure boss who is always looking over their shoulder (and yours!) to ensure their job isn’t going to be taken by one of us because we like our work and aren’t interested in someone else’s job.
We are good communicators, network well and aren’t looking for the gold watch or the big pension. We want to enjoy our work lives as well as our time outside of work, for the two go together. People work best when they have an interesting and varied life outside of what they do for a living.
The climate these days tends more toward virtual teams and remote workers. For many of us this works well and once larger companies learn the benefits of hiring virtually (and also the benefits of doing it properly), work may once again become something that people are proud of, instead of something they avoid.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2014
