Models of Employment

I found there are at least two models:

1. Direct Profit Generating

With this model, the employee generates profit for the employer directly. In that case, that means the employer is earning money from the employment relationship, and the salary for the employee is only part of the profit generated.

A simple example will be the dog of the hunter, or a fish-catching bird of the fisherman. In both case, the real profit generating party is the employee.

Of course, sometimes the situation can be a little bit more complex. For example, when the employee cannot generate that much profit by himself alone. The profit generated is a result of economy of scale, or it can only be realized with the whole team. However, the sum of the profit generated by the team should still be bigger than the sum of their salaries added together.

2. Indirect Profit Generating

With this model, the employee does not generate any direct profit. In that case, the employee only helps the employer to do some of their work, and these work were not generating profit but if the employer has to do those work by himself, the employer will not be able to use his time to generate a certain amount of profit. That amount should usually be bigger than that of the salary of the employee.

A simple example will be housemaid, drivers or any other supportive workers.

So?

So if you are in case one, you might be able to get yourself a better position. You should find some places where you can actually do more for yourself instead of for your boss. If you are in case two, I guess you should train yourself up so that you might be able to switch to a better position sooner or later.

Changing domestic helper

In Hong Kong, it's so common for a couple to go to work. Therefore, it's again popular to hire a domestic helper to take care of the kids, like cooking and bringing them to school and some other interest classes, etc.

After one or two contracts, we will usually need to change the domestic helper. It is because they will want to come back home to see their own family. And it's also nice in the sense that the reliance on the helper could be reduced a bit. You know, sometimes the kids would love the helper more than the parents since they just spent more time with each others!

Recently, after a lot of prayers, our handover process is smooth and nice. It's also partially due to the fact that I resigned from my job to help the transition. Originally, I anticipated that the kids would suffer most, but then I found that I also suffered. I mean when I went to supermarket, I don't know what I should buy, and which brands that we were using, etc.

Therefore, switching is still a good thing, for you have to reduce the reliance on a certain helper like what I have mentioned in the first place.

Overshooting and Realignment

Sometimes we overshoot. We actually have a tendency to overshoot, or our environment forces us to overshoot.

For example, when you want to buy a lunch to fill your hungry stomach, the restaurants, fast foot shop or whatever will usually offer more than you wanted, but since you have no choice, you will end up buying more than you needed, eating more than you wanted. The side effect is not just about spending more, but you actually waste something, or you ended up with more fat inside your body. All these could be harmful in the long run.

We all want a balanced life. But when you go to work, you will be pushed to spend more time in your work than you might want. Yes, that could bring you more money but that could eventually squeezed all your schedule and you ended up with no time to spend.

When all these become excessive, it's time to realign ourselves. To find out what we really wanted, to make sure that we're doing what we wanted. It's not something that we could never change, but instead, awareness is the key.

Overshooting means that, we are working for others. We are trying to fulfill the goal of other people, more than for ourselves.

So, act now, do realign your life and your priority. Define your goal and act accordingly, the choice is really here, and the decision is yours.

Last Day

Last day means a departure from your comfort zone.

Last day means a termination of certain relationships.

Last day means reaching a certain goal.

Last day means leaving some people alone.

Last day means running for another goal.

Last day means a beginning of certain relationships.

Last day means going for new challenges!

Power of Interviews

Interview is not really a very accurate means of finding suitable candidates, but when we have no better ways, it's still a very common procedure in a recruitment process.

When you are going to have interviews, that means you are about to give up your current position, or at least you have some motivations to change. In that case, you might be easily in a position that, you think your current position is not very good and promising. However, in this kind of situation, how can you find something good out of your existing position?

Interview, by itself, could be a good way. Why is that?

Interviewers will ask many questions to understand your ability, your attitude, your experience and so on. Through these questions, you might re-discover what you have learned in your current or past positions. That's a good side-effect of an interview. You will easily think all the skills/ability/experience that you have is so common, but that most probably apply in your current company as well. A common skill in a certain place could be entirely valuable in another place.

Even negative experience could be great for the potential new employers, since you have learned from the expensive mistakes from your past/current employers, and these expensive experience will certainly bring benefits to your potential employers. In this sense, even negative or failures could be great.

So all these are the power of interviews.

Acquisition

It could be a natural thing, and it could be a bad thing, and it could be great thing. Just depends.

Acquisition usually means the injection of money, and new management. However, injection of money does not necessarily mean that the employee could be benefit. For example, the new management might want to have return in the shortest time, so they might decide to cut non-earning business in order to make the whole organization to have net earning. In that case, it really depends on what is your existing position. At the same time, with the injection of money, financial control will most likely to become tighter.

Acquisition could mean a bigger organization, like in a merger. In that case, if you are working in the relatively smaller half, actually, you will have a better chance of promotion and you can even go further than before. However, if you are considered redundant, your position is at risk. Of course, if you put politics aside, the stronger one could still survive, however, politics is always something very real and actual, so simply could never ignore it.

Acquisition could mean a change of the core business, like if the acquisition is a listed company. In that case, the investor is just buying a listed shell, so any one in the original business is going to be squeezed to the absolute minimum until it can still earn money but yet with the least expenditure. In that case, the original staff are going to suffer most likely.

Acquisition usually means new management. So, if you are already very close to the original management, you might not be in a good position after all, especially when the old management is still around with lesser influence.

Every count, I would say, but with a different weighting. Hard work, capability and attitude are always important, but they could have different weighting in different settings. Call it luck? I won't, at least it's not sheer luck, call it controllable? Never should it be.