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Please let us know what you think. Thank you all for your patience and support.

And so we begin! Happy Trading.

Renee

Join Worknow & begin trading today.

Thanks for checking out our blog. As you might notice from the last entry date we’ve moved. To read our most recent posts on Gen Y, work and entrepreneurship please visit www.worknow.co.nz

Cheers,

Renee

Governments including the USA and Australia are touting “green collar” jobs as a way to create new forms of work and aid economic recovery. The ever expanding Green sector encompasses industry and fields from engineering and planning to science and management, from construction to manufacturing and retail of alternative energy sources such as solar, wind and wave energy.

Copenhagen Climate Summit 2009

This year the environment will receive some serious attention with the international effort to address climate change culminating with the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 7-18 December.

Already campaigns supporting environmental reform are in full swing. Global Environmental, Humanitarian and Animal Welfare organisations are taking a united stand to raise awareness on climate change.

Celebrities encourage people to Sign on with slogans from the likes of Ex NIWA Jim Salinger stating “The Science is bloody obvious”.

And with a ground swell of support, grass-root movements such as 350Aotearoa freeze sees people of all ages and backgrounds taking a statue like stand, to raise awareness and get people to question “what’s all this about?”

Growth of Contract Jobs in Green Market

Indeed, increased environmental awareness bodes well for the emerging Green industry which is already proving that it can create new jobs. Not only is the expanding industry creating “employment” but contract work too.

The green market has historically been one of permanent job placements…However, as the field broadens we are seeing more opportunities for contractors as engineers become more involved in the space, innovation creates short-term opportunities and many organisations opt for a more flexible workforce in light of the uncertainty of economic downturn. Source

While the UK is heralding the flexibility  and creativity, for which contractors are known, as the potential savior of UK economy the benefits of outsourcing and contract work are also being recognised here in Aotearoa. Hence, it is likely that with the growth of Green Industry, we too will experience growth in the number of contract opportunities.

Contractors Marketplace

At Worknow we support  and encourage a more flexible, entrepreneurial work ethic and are here to help contractors find, connect and collaborate on project work opportunities.

Social networking tools will play an important role in the future of work organisation by helping us to create, connect and collaborate as project teams, regardless of time or place.

As workers move toward contracting and business’ take the opportunity to outsource work to increase productivity new methods of organising and facilitating work will arise.

Institutional “containment” as we know will cease to exist and with it the barriers to productivity that stalled the growth and development of our people and businesses.

Networking Tools & Platforms

Today’s social media tools and network platforms have created an environment where communication, collaboration and coordination are already in use. They need simply be applied in business to make it quicker and easier to get work done.

No longer limited by time or place or disadvantaged by the costs of travel, the concept of using networking tools to facilitate projects begins a paradigm shift in the way we think about and accomplish work.

IT and business technology will take center stage in the post-recession economy. The crisis…will sweep away organizations that do not grasp the importance of and utilize social network technologies.

Innovation will be defined by networks, [collaborating to] work with partners or competitors or customers using social technologies. George Colony, CEO of Forrester.

The way we work is changing and with it comes a shift in power, away from the corporate hierarchy that directed and controlled productivity in the past towards the innovative, more flexible contract workers that are ready and able to work, as needed.

Connect & Collaborate with Worknow

Networking tools and platforms give individual contractors and dispersed project teams the ability to compete with institutions at an unprecedented level. At Worknow we support this more flexible, entrepreneurial work ethic and are here to help contractors find, connect and collaborate on project work opportunities..

The UK is heralding the flexibility & creativity, for which contractors are known, as the potential savior of UK economy.

UK organisations start to appreciate the benefits of a flexible contractor workforce, and …the positive impact interim executives and IT contractors are having in achieving technology innovation within large organisations, despite reduced budgets.

“The UK workforce has demonstrated unprecedented flexibility during this recession,” comments Keep Britain Working founder James Reed, “allowing organisations to explore a whole range of cost-cutting responses, other than relying solely on redundancies.”

The benefits of outsourcing and contract work are also being recognised here in Aotearoa as 63% of White-collar New Zealander’s look to sacrifice the security of nine-to-five salaries in order to head out on their own as private contractors.

As companies continue to let staff go and struggle to contain costs in the face of falling profitability both workers and employers are beginning to recognise that full-time permanent employment is not necessarily the most effective or efficient way to get work done.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Projects & Contract Work

By outsourcing work to private contractors businesses can get work done and maintain productivity while minimising payroll expense. While “employment” may by comparison seem safer, more secure, working as a private contractor also promises better pay and the flexibility to live a more balanced, family orientated lifestyle.

Future Models of Flexible Work

At Worknow we support a more entrepreneurial work ethic and are developing ways to help people find and connect with project contract work opportunities.

I came to odds once, with a baby boomer manager, who directed me to “spin” some benefits in a communication to  potential clients that I had been working with.

“It’s marketing 101,” she insisted, when I defended my copy as being honest and direct. There were no benefits for the client that I could fathom and when I raised this point she urged that I had best “learn how to spin” marketing copy.

“So you want me to learn to lie,” I thought.

In response I told her that I valued open, honest communication and while I was happy for my draft to be altered, I would not put my name to a communication that I did not support or believe.

Now, we both cared about the project but that I did not “comply” with her direction was solely a values based decision. I did not want to comprise my being open and honest  to learn how to “spin”  invented benefits for our clients.

I perhaps naively thought such values would be respected but as time showed,  she saw me as creating barriers to getting work done rather than being a person of integrity.

Baby Boomer vs Generation Y

In retrospect it is very clear that our generational differences, Baby Boomer vs Gen Y were at the root of our conflict:

[Gen Y are] are less afraid to confront and discuss issues with their peers and their superiors.

And how does this freedom and authenticity translate into the business world? It doesn’t.

It would crush the carefully constructed hierarchical structure to pieces. It’s a strange and obscure network of relationships that determines the real power in businesses.

If everything is said candidly and openly, this network loses its function. People lose their power. Read Source

Gen Y’s need for Authenticity

Because Gen Y want to feel that we work to contribute to something meaningful in this instance the idea of  inventing the truth,  a.k.a lying, was in stark contrast to my personal need for authenticity yet to my manager it was a learned and acceptable way to convey one’s point.

• For me, voicing my personal values, was part of being true to myself  but perhaps my manager considered it  insubordinate and a threat to her authority.
• For my generation (and other people)  working together  involves connecting and collaborating but many of the old school still adhere to the hierarchical methods of directing and controlling which were once the status quo.
• Consequently, to challenge my managers perspective, and assumed authority to direct my “compliance” was to risk my position within the heirarchy.

However, what must be understood about Gen Y is that our need for authenticity is a much stronger driving force than the false sense of security promoted by “employment”.

We are a generation willing to take risks, for ourselves and the things we believe in, which is a symptom of our stronger entrepreneurial tendencies.

Gen Y Perspective

While I am not exactly objective about the scenario related here it is simply a means to discuss what I see as the generational mindset difference between “manager employee” relationships of the past and the more entrepreneurial, collaborative teams our future.

To qualify my point of view, I recognise that in some industries “employment” will always remain the most effective form of getting work done, retail for instance.

But I believe it is time to recognise that many forms of work in our knowledge economy  – web development, design and many creative tasks – need no longer operate as a manager employee relationship.

Indeed, contract outsourcing this type of work will increase productivity and save companies time and money by facilitating a more flexible, motivating working environment for people with specialised talent and skill.

Entrepreneurship is not yet considered a viable alternative to the professions because, as Sam Morgan noted November 2008,  New Zealander’s tend to view entrepreneurship as a niche, high risk, slightly crazy alternative  to employment.

This sentiment permeates New Zealand’s culture as was confirmed when I spoke to students attending the Otago University Career fair about news of a trend in New Zealand towards private contracting instead of employment.

When asked whether they would consider private contracting as an alternative to employment some did not consider it a viable option while those that did support the alternative noted that it’s often seen as too risky.

Our education system undermines the development of a more entrepreneurial culture by encouraging our smartest people towards  “safe, secure professions” such as lawyers, accountants, and doctors.

“We seem to have focused wrongly on building CVs rather than building businesses” Sam Morgan

As a result we have a wealth of talented people preparing themselves to be “employees” rather than cultivating talents which could drive economic growth through the creation of new business and new jobs.

Aotearoa NZ, Past Achievements.

We  would do well to remember more often that our small pacific nation has lead some of the best innovations  and achievements of the last century.

Rutherford split the atom, Hamilton built the first jet engine.  We were the first to allow women the right to vote and our spirit of adventure inspired Sir Ed to summit the tallest peak on earth.

More recently, Sam Morgan and Trademe introduced us to a new world of buying and selling online and Stephen Tindall and the Warehouse forced us to reconsider our need for plastic bags. History proves, we are an innovative nation.

Present, Our Entrepreneurial Nation

Entrepreneurship is one of our economic strengths. In 2008 Auckland was voted the most entrepreneurial city of the OECD. The same research in 2006 identified Maori as the third most entrepreneurial people in the OECD yet we still promote the fallacy that entrepreneurship is too “high risk” without qualifying or highlighting any of the benefits of risk vs reward.

Future of Entrepreneurship

Gen Y demographic research shows that more than any previous generation Gen Y has a more flexible and entrepreneurial approach to work.  The traditional dependency on employers has begun to weaken as more and more young people recognise the potential we have to connect with others in order to create our own forms of work.

While our entrepreneurial and flexible approach to work demands of us greater self-reliance in return we reap the ability to shape our own future rather than “comply” or “conform” to the expectations of a workforce that often fails to utilise our talent or understand our work ethic.

Inspire Encourage & Support Change

Rather than bemoaning the generational differences we suggest it is time to inspire and encourage a more entrepreneurial culture to support the development and growth of talented “business owners & teams” rather than just “employees” .

1. Educate and promote the economic, lifestyle and personal benefits of a more entrepreneurial culture
2. Encourage and support entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to the traditional “professions”
3. Celebrate the  success’ of our talent people

Worknow, Aotearoa NZ

• We encourage and support a more flexible and entrepreneurial work ethic.
• We work to connect all that share this philosophy so that together we can build a more entrepreneurial culture for Aotearoa NZ.

Fact is, recession leads us to change the way we accomplish, commit to and think about work. Options being considered here in New Zealand include, a nine day fortnight, reduced hours, and an increased interest in contract work.

At the moment, these strategies are a way to deal with the reality that there’s simply not enough work to keep people in “full-time employment” but more importantly the change leads us to question our traditional forms of work organisation.

“…The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them…” Albert Einstein

To question long standing assumptions about the way we work; 40 hours, 9 – 5, five days a week at a set location. Most importantly it sets the stage to move towards a more entrepreneurial and flexible way of working that will be better suited to workers in our knowledge economy.

The future of entrepreneurial and flexible work

Our mission is to inspire, encourage and support a more entrepreneurial work ethic by helping people connect with each other to create solutions and new knowledge, intiatives and work opportunities.

It irks me that people and media feel justified in deriding our generation. Almost daily I read about how lazy, fickle, disloyal and demanding generation Y is yet so rarely is voice given to the truth that we Gen Y have different attitudes, and workplace expectations to the existing generations.

Gen Y are disloyal

If you lead, we may follow. But keep in mind our concept of leadership 2.0 involves asking questions, connecting and collaborating not the archaic methods of power and control that ruled 80′s management theory.

“…For leaders who have the privilege of ushering the new generation into the workforce recognise immediately that traditional approaches to leading, communicating and delegating are likely to be met with passive or active resistance by Gen Y.

As a leader it is time for you to adapt your style by offering ideas and inviting feedback instead of issuing commands. Emphasise group work and encourage brainstorming. Forget the ‘we’ve always done it this way’ approach and encourage individuals and teams to find new and improved ways to conduct the work of your business…” Source

We saw Silence of the Lambs. Quid pro quo. We understand that employers need us as much as we need them.We  move on when there is little or no sense of mutual benefit or when it appears that our values and goals diverge.

• We seek leaders that inspire, support and encourage our personal growth and development.
• We want to feel that we work to contribute to something meaningful.
• We will find new and improved ways to increase  effectiveness, efficiency and productivity in business.

Gen Y are unrealistic about pay expectations

Yes, I can see that to those that did not have to pay for an education our pay expectations may seem disproportionate. Yet, education has burdened our generation with billions of dollars worth of student debt. Is it unrealistic of us to aspire to be debt free within the next 15 years?

Gen Y workers are demanding & always wanting something different.

Gen Y seek challenge and variety in the workplace. Why? well let’s consider the education system. Not only does it offer us a myriad of choices, it’s an environment where variety, challenge and change are the status quo. Where performance expectations are established at the outset and tested, measured and rewarded.

Is it unrealistic to expect that work might present a greater opportunity for such variety and challenge? or that work expectations be established at the begining for us to work towards. Or does our education system simply fail to prepare us for the realities of today’s working world?

Gen Y workers are self-focused and lazy

The reality for us is that, unlike earlier generations, work is not our life. Work is important to us but we’ve been taught that it is better, for our health, to work to live, rather than live to work.

In addition to work we may also be juggling study, friends, family, sport, other paid and unpaid work commitments. Hence the need for flexibility. Remember: if there’s a clash in the work-life balance, life inevitably wins.

Gen Y Entrepreneurs

Love us or hate us 10 years from now we will represent almost 40% of the New Zealand workforce. Maybe it’s time to accept that aspects of our work ethic, our ability to adapt quickly and easily to change for instance, are more suited to modern living.

Our entrepreneurial spirit makes us increasingly willing and able to take risks, our education has armed us with knowledge and insight and today’s technology allows us to connect,  share and collaborate in new, more effective ways.

To those that expect us to be so desperate for employment, during this recession, that we will just come into line and act more like you, you may be disappointed to find we are indeed well equipped to adapt and not as dependent on traditional “employment” as previous generations have been.

Today we recognise that we always have the option of working for ourselves. With the right team building a company need not be as risky as it has been made to look. And anyway, what do we really have to lose at this point except, of course, our massive student debt.

Next Generation Work

At Worknow we encourage entrepreneurship, knowing it to be a more effective, efficient and productive work model with which to drive our knowledge economy.

New Zealand’s workforce is showing our ability to adapt and do things differently by considering contract work in favour of taking on the lower paid, less fulfilling full-time roles on offer. According to the online survey conducted internationally by recruitment firm Robert Walters:-

White-collar New Zealander’s are preparing to sacrifice the security of nine-to-five salaries to head out on their own as private contractors – in unprecedented numbers.

Nearly two out of three professionals (63 per cent) say they would be happy to take on a contract role, a new survey shows. That is higher than anywhere in the world except in Britain. Read Article NZ Hearld

As companies continue to let staff go and struggle to contain costs in the face of falling profitability both workers and employers are beginning to recognise that full-time permanent employment is not the most effective or efficient way to get work done.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Projects & Contract Work

By outsourcing work to private contractors businesses can get work done and maintain productivity while minimising payroll expense. While employment may offer security of income and contract work is comparatively higher risk, working as a private contractor also promises better pay and the flexibility to live a more balanced, family orientated lifestyle.

Future Models of Flexible Work

At Worknow we support a more entrepreneurial work ethic and are developing ways to help people find and connect with project contract work opportunities.