Lack of Control Can Cause Chaos
Managing time and money are two of the best skills a person can acquire. Why? Everything relates back to time and money. Whether you like it or not, you are using one or the other. If a person is short on money, they tend to spend their time. For example, if a person can not afford to pay a carpenter to update a room in their home, they may decide it will be cheaper to do it themselves. While they may save a few dollars, they will spend many more hours doing the work themselves.
If a person realizes that their time is valuable and they know it is limited, they may see things differently. For example, say new grandparents wanted to see their new-born grandchild that was across the country. Knowing that they only had a short amount of time to visit with the grandchild and knowing that their time is valuable, they may opt to take a direct flight, allowing them to spend more time with their grandchild, rather than taking multiple flights to save a couple dollars. I am not saying either situation is right or wrong. What I am saying is that in every situation, you have to manage time and money.
While people may acknowledge that managing time and money are important skills to have, it seems to be something that many people struggle with. And with this struggle, they may feel as though they have little to no control. I have heard some people describe their cashflow as coming into their bank account and going out just as fast in order to pay the bills. In other words, they are redlining their finances. Or to put it another way, living paycheck to paycheck- barely. As an employee, one works directly for money. The employee trades their time and uses their knowledge, skillsets, and physical abilities in order to be paid. The employees time is managed by a supervisor or boss for the time the employee is working, leaving the employee with little control over the two major skills that everyone should have: managing time and money.
Many people don’t mind working for money. It something that they were taught to do from grade school all the way through the university level. And there is absolutely, without a doubt, nothing wrong with working directly for money. The problem lies in the control or lack of control that comes in a turbulent economy.
The staggering statistics of lay-offs each month in the U.S. for the past year have been astounding. It has been so bad, I have stopped watching the news almost completely and choose to be updated on world events by choosing which stories I want to read on the internet. Now, as lay-offs are becoming somewhat normal, a new problem is starting to occur. Companies who have cut their workforce in order to be leaner and more adaptable are still not able to survive completely. So the next wave is to reduce pay, cut hours, and to furlough employees. By doing this, companies can maintain a workforce and cut costs at the same time.
From a company perspective, one could argue that it is a win-win. The employee gets to keep their job and the company can reduce overhead. But look at it closer. Remember what I said about lack of control? So what happens when an employee’s pay is reduced by 15% and their hours are cut from 40 to 32 a week? Well, I would say that their quality of life just got reduced and their stress levels just sky-rocketed. While an employee has little control over what the company decides to do, they need to be adaptable and have other resources available to them, even when “times are good.”
Has the Damage Already Been Done?
Companies are stuck having to make very hard decisions. And for the workforce that survives, what are their incentives to be loyal to the company? If an employee’s pay is cut, hours are reduced, and the work load increases, there aren’t a whole lot of reasons to stay with that company. So how can employers create incentives for their employees to help reduce stress levels, make them want to stay and work for the company, and empower them to work even harder?
Leave your comments below. This is a very interesting topic that I think will become a bigger issue as 2009 continues.
