The benefits of an iPodding IPro

One of the passions in my life is working and supporting those who are in the transition community (job search, to those of you who are lucky enough never to have experienced the event). When, as VP Marketing, I parted company with Unilever, it provided me with the best opportunity of my life – speaking, consulting and writing on business, motivation, leadership. I now do a lot of pro bono work, showing people how they can SHEIFGAB the World.

For many the transition process is a deeply painful, distressing and de-motivating experience. It hurts financially and it hurts psychologically.
I am convinced though that many executives who are in paid employment suffer similar “psychological overdrafts” related to lack of job satisfaction and, strong frustration levels associated with corporate bureaucracy, career rut, work life balance etc.

There are a lot of mid-level, mid-career executives out there who hate their job, hate going to work in the morning and who are stuck in a twilight zone of poor job satisfaction and de-motivating work environment. Unfortunately for them, they are either afraid to change or do not have the financial wherewithal to gamble and jump.

A recent study by HR gurus and as they like to say “Human Capital Solution Providers,” Hudson Highland Group, provides some interesting insight on this topic. Hudson conducted a global survey of more than 2,100 professionals in full-time and independent roles, in the U.S., Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. The survey was conducted amongst Full Time Professionals (FTP) and Independent Professionals (IPros) to determine attitudes to work, job satisfaction etc. The report The Lure of Autonomy: A Global Study of Professional Workers is available at http://www.hudson-index.com/node.asp?SID=5466

Key findings include
* Independent professionals are more pleased than full-time employees with the type of work they do, their employer and the industry in which they work.
* While both groups are most satisfied with achieving high levels of competence and expert knowledge, IPros are more satisfied with their autonomy and doing interesting work.
* Full-time professionals rate paid vacation and health benefits among the most satisfying aspects of their jobs.
* If full-timers could change one thing about their situation, it would be working fewer hours and no longer feeling as if they are “on call” at all times. One full-time professional states, “The term ‘full-time’ has come to mean 60+ hours per week. I would like to see that number come down.”
* Neither IPros nor full-timers are particularly satisfied with their job security. While full-time employees are more satisfied than independents, neither group scored satisfaction with their security higher than 6.9 on a 10-point scale.

You might say, “Nothing too surprising in those results.” Maybe not, but as an iPodding IPro (sorry just had to throw that in), I do believe that job satisfaction is substantially better for the independent who has escaped the corporate world. I did enjoy corporate life, but the level of independence, the sense of autonomy and the opportunity to learn as I deal with different clients, different corporate cultures and industries has provided me with a growth experience I would not have got in corporate land. Sure there are downsides to being an IPro. If anyone expects to work less hours than in corporate land, it don’t happen. The difference is, you are doing it for yourself. Interestingly, Hudson also suggests the IPro has a higher income level the FTP, at least based on survey respondents. It should be noted that the average IPro surveyed had been out of corporate land for at least seven years.

If you can survive out in that independent jungle for the first few years, the benefits do come. For the IPro, income security initially is an issue, but Hudson’s findings that FTPs scored job security at only 6.9 on a 10-point scale is lower than I would have expected. Sure, the days of the job for life are gone, but I don’t recall seeing such a low rating in a cross industry, multi-country survey before.

Ah – the benefits of the IPro: Job satisfaction, job security (at least it is in your own hands), flexibility, blogging. What more could you want? Well, another high paid speaking engagement, maybe!!

Keep the shovel tippin'

Conor Cunneen