work

There’s a price for everything. That’s true. Someone is paying in cash or kind in every transaction. When we bartered with only need as the basis, it might have been simple. You get this for that, because we both need what we don’t have or I can’t live with what I have.

Some wisemen decided this is not fair. What’s the fun without some imbalance. So we got a common denominator – money. One that started as means to measure turned itself into the measure of worth. If you don’t know what your work is worth, may be you are not worthy. Or more you price your work, it might become worthy and so are you.

A lot of science, technology and experience has evolved to price a thing. People follow a variety of strategies around pricing and using price as a bait, a reward and in some cases a chain. How does this work when it comes to your work. Are you getting paid what you are worth or what your work is worth?

In most of the cases, you hire for potential and pay for performance. Unfortunately, both of them fail the test of common understanding and measurement. People question – what’s the use of potential when performance is not upto the mark! So, the worth get’s reduced and so is the price over time. Young people then start looking for a restart. Since you may not get a chance in the same company, you jump!

Every company that’s hunting for talent, is looking for potential as judged by what you show on CV++. Since they are desperate, you get your price matched or improved than expected. It shows their desperation and not your worth. But we assume we are worthy and move-on. Until you hit another cycle when work gets measured for its worth as per the price-tag. Spiral continues till you get tiered or market moves on.

As you get old in the system and reach the middle-management-cadre, new reality emerges. You are now required to measure the worth of work and pay! You do what you feel is the best to keep your worth and move on. Till the crises becomes unmanageable. How to measure the worth of your work as a manager? A big question and a lot of defensive answers. But have you tried answering this in-front-of-a-mirror, in a closed room? Give it a try.

I ask this question to all probable CEOs of our ventures. Tell me what’s your price tag and how do you make it worthy? Some of them tell me standard answer which points to their achievements in the past. Some of them want me to fix all the issues and inefficiencies they had in life so far. Only a few tell me how they are going to make it worthy. We ask them to break-it-down to pieces they can measure in first 90 days. We know there’s no correct answer. But interest to find and prove their worth, makes the game more interesting. That’s the good-will they build. We then work our way to agree a tag post 90 days review if they cut-it. Else, they get paid whatever they ask for for the 90 days of work. Only when they cut-it, they become the CEOs of the enterprise they will lead in performance.

We tried this method of allowing people to put a price-tag and proving their worth across levels. Works wonders at middle-to-senior-level. Those who don’t fit the bill, will anyways find their worth where they can or settle-in. But we have seen how serious contributors up their game and improve everyone.

What do you think? Isn’t this a nice talent to have – finding and living a worthy work life?