There is a lot of text on this page. This is deliberate so you do not have to copy and paste text from lots of smaller pages. Rather than attempt to read it all on-line, please copy and paste it all into your word processor and read the text that's most relevant to you - delete the rest. Chapter 5 Your Money And Your Life In this chapter we will take a close look at our complex (and often emotionally highly-charged) relationship with money. We’ve never earned so much – but never have we saved so little. The myriad ways we currently earn, spend and invest our hard-earned cash will be covered, as well as the likely impact new technology will have on the way we receive and spend money in the decades to come. If you want to be financially secure in the 21st century, spend less than you earn and learn to assume full responsibility for your own spending, saving and investments. This can only be achieved by "studying money". Get into the habit of asking lots of questions of people who really know about money. Listen to many people. You’ll probably discover that some of the ‘experts’ you listen to aren’t actually that knowledgeable. Ask around for recommendations of books on financial subjects of particular interest to you. The first book you should get on this subject is Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin. Does all this learning about money involve effort? You bet! – It’s certainly easier not to bother. And that’s precisely why most people don’t. Canadian futurist Richard Worzel describes 6 stages of adult life;
Live long and prosper How would you or your family cope if you end up living too long or die too soon? For the first time in history, with existing medicine, health care and technology, you are likely to live to a ripe old age if you look after yourself. According to official figures, our life expectancy is increasing by 2 years every decade. In 1900, a baby boy at birth could expect to live until the age of 45.5 years, a baby girl – 49. In just 20 years time, the average life expectancy for men could increase from the current 74 to 78, while women could increase from 79 to 83. When ‘baby boomers’ born in the late 1940’s and 50’s reach old age in the next 10 to 20 years, there will be too many of them for whatever government is in power to be able to afford to pay out their pensions. Today and in the years to come, there will be fewer young workers. This means that the pension money invested by these younger workers will not be enough to pay for the pensions of those reaching retirement. Millions could end up being cheated out of their state pensions because there isn’t enough cash in the ‘pot’. So just because your parents and grandparents didn’t save and invest is not a good enough excuse for you to ignore the subject. Many of our ancestors didn’t live long enough to worry about it! Those approaching old age today will probably get caught during the forthcoming transition period. Without adequate financial planning many are statistically more likely to run out of money before they run out of steam – so instead of your parents leaving you an inheritance, they are more likely to use it all up and look to you for financial help in their old age. How could you refuse? Where would the cash come from? No government can afford to pay pensions to individuals who live too long! Present state pensions are woefully inadequate, and the situation will continue to deteriorate. Anyone who expects to live off a state pension in their old age can expect to live out their final years in dire poverty. This is not the fault of government but a result of a healthier population. As the "baby boomers", who represent approximately 9 million Britons now aged between 32-52, start collecting their pensions over the next few decades, the costs of care for the elderly will also escalate significantly. It has already started to happen with a 20% increase in the number of social workers from 1990 to 1995 (794,000 to 964,000), mostly caring for the elderly. Extension of the retirement age to 70 is already being discussed. For women, it has already been increased from 60 to 65. Schemes to make saving or a secondary private pension compulsory are also being explored. Chile and Australia already have compulsory savings schemes. This would lighten the crippling costs of pension provision, but think for a moment about other consequences if old people have financial problems. When they cannot afford to ‘retire’ they will need to continue working. Older and more experienced (and therefore more expensive) workers are already being ‘let go’ by companies and replaced by sophisticated technology operated by less people, most of whom are younger and less experienced, and therefore cheaper. What will happen to those older people who are unable to keep their jobs, but who have to wait to qualify for the pension they have paid for all their working lives? And what about the young people who find it so difficult to find a job in the first place? With older individuals being forced to cling onto their jobs for longer, opportunities for younger workers will get more scarce. Unemployment benefit is being reduced, and whilst inexpensive health care is expected by an ageing population, the actual cost of providing it is increasing. There will be more old people in society, therefore they will have more influence over politicians. Young people will miss out – again. Money and emotion Money is one of the most important subjects in our lives. However, whenever there is talk about it, we respond as individuals in a wide variety of emotional ways. Most people do not understand enough about what money can, and should provide them with. Your parents’ views on money are likely to have influenced yours. Many people have a ‘bad’ relationship with money and feel uncomfortable about it. This often means that whenever anyone starts to discuss money in a detailed way, they switch off. They do not want to face a situation which makes them feel even worse about money. For anyone who is serious about surviving the twenty-first century, looking after yourself financially is a crucial topic; a subject which we tend to learn about by trial and error – if you are like most people, mainly by error! Learning the intricacies of what money can do is something which few of us are ever taught. Earning What we earn is perceived as important; to others and to ourselves. We believe it provides us with a clear signal about our ‘worth’. Countless women (and a tiny but growing number of men) do not receive any money, other than through State benefits for bringing up their families. Therefore it goes unrewarded. Merely telling a spouse that it is appreciated means nothing. Partners who really value their spouses tend to create saving plans which they put in the non-earner’s name. Less than 10% of women have pensions in their own right! With an increasing number of marriages ending in divorce, women who do not protect themselves financially risk potential hardship, even disaster. Women who work full or part time and spend most if not all of their earnings on ‘the family’ are making a grave, albeit well meant mistake. Dr JS Hughson once delivered a radio sermon on why he would choose to be an insurance salesman if he was not a minister. He said "Every time a young man comes before me at the altar to marry I feel like telling him of the many benefits to be derived from Life Insurance ownership. A young man has no right to take a girl from a position where she may be earning her own living and tie her down with a family that would make it difficult for her to earn a livelihood again – unless he can give her adequate protection and security if anything should happen to him."
Everything is paid for in ‘time’. What you receive for your ‘time’ is used to purchase the results of time from other product manufacturers and service providers. When you are persuaded to buy something you are effectively swapping the money you have received in return for your time. Survival in the twenty-first century for men and women requires a totally new way of thinking about the money which flows in and out of your life. Instead of constantly thinking and worrying about your income it is highly recommended that you shift your focus towards how you spend your income rather than what you earn. Obviously, this does not mean that your income is not important! To create a financial future – it is essential to be fully aware of how money flows into and out of your life. Think of the money you spend in a conscious way. Here are some points to get you thinking:
We have been fed on the myth that the more money we earn, the happier we will become. This is a vital lie. Think about the last time you were really happy, the chances are that money had little to do with it. It is only when you have enough can you be happy. But what is enough? If you do not know the answer, or are unable and unwilling to find out, you can never truly be happy. Many people will never earn ‘enough’ even though their salaries may be high. We lay great emphasis on the size of our salary, although in reality its size is not that important - it’s how much of your salary you retain which counts. Your Life as a Leaky Colander Perhaps you and certainly millions of others have lives like a huge leaking colander - constantly pouring money into the top to see so much of it pour out of the bottom into the buckets of everyone jostling for position below, making more for those who already have more than you do! The lives of millions of people are focused on earning the money to pour into the colander. A 21st century survivor will plug up many of those holes. It is easy to see how sensible this is - but it’s not so easy when it comes to doing something about it. We’ll look at simple and effective ways to do this in a moment. Conventional wisdom states: If you have a low salary you cannot be rich - if you have a high salary you cannot be poor. But this is not true. If you earn a great deal but are up to your ears in debt you can easily be worse off than someone whose earnings may be more meagre by comparison, but who lives within their means. Spending In the 1960’s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a series of behavioural experiments on the campus of Stanford University. Groups of 4 to 5 year olds were given a choice; if they were prepared to wait for up to 20 minutes (and we all know how long that is for someone so young), they would be given two biscuits. However, if they chose not to wait, they could have one biscuit immediately - but they wouldn’t receive a second one. These same kids were interviewed about 14 years later. There was a fascinating result. Those individuals who had been willing and able to wait for the second biscuit were more successful and had higher grades at school and college. They were generally happier and less stressed. How easy do you find it to delay gratification? Notice how many advertisements implore you to act immediately. If we spend our money on these material things and we do not feel happier or more fulfilled - it’s obvious what the problem is - we didn’t spend enough!! Get out your wallet! The birth of dissatisfied consumers In the 1920’s, for the first time, factory production in the United States outstripped real demand. The population had to be persuaded to buy more so those factories could operate at full capacity and make the most profit. What began was the development of the dissatisfied consumer. Until this time, home produced food, clothing and furniture was common place. A great deal of pride was attached to many of these products. A friend, Christine Johnston, remembers as a little girl wishing that their family could have ‘proper frozen peas’ like her friends, instead of those boring ones in pods that her dad grew in the garden! Manufacturers and advertisers deliberately set out to make people feel dissatisfied if they did not own factory produced articles. Advertisers have systematically conditioned people since into believing that unless they owned new, factory-made products they were, by definition, failures in life. No one who was successful would ever make something when it could be bought. They were taught through consistent advertising to ‘keep up with the Joneses’. If they didn’t, their standards of living would not be as good as their neighbours – and that would NEVER do! To pay for all these new consumer products everyone had to work longer hours, thereby minimising the time available to make their own goods - so even if they wanted to be frugal, they no longer had the time. So began a pattern of business around the world that still continues; use whatever it takes to persuade potential customers to hand over their money. Children are routinely targeted to demand the latest toys and fashionable clothes from their parents. It seems not to concern certain manufacturers that this creates untold stress and financial hardship for those they have identified as potential buyers. Youth culture in particular demands the latest fashionable clothes and ‘sports’ shoes. It is sad to see so many young inner city teenagers caught up in what I believe is the most vicious and cruel con by clothing manufacturers. Kids from poor families insist on wearing top designer brands - which inevitably involves paying well over the odds for the ‘privilege’ of wearing the manufacturer’s logos on any part of their body large enough to show it. This often leads to the theft of such articles, or stealing money to purchase them. Intense pressure within schools to ‘outperform’ classmates by what they wear often puts untold financial pressure on parents. This is further fuelled by callous manufacturers who hike the prices of their goods, or introduce specially created brand names for this market. In order to maintain their high profits and so-called ‘exclusivity’ of their top brands, they create cheaper, but still over-priced versions. Indeed, you can tell how exclusive a product is by the size of the logo. The larger it is - the less exclusive. One way you can create financial security for yourself is by refusing to buy any clothing which features a company logo. Incidentally, many of these clothes and shoes are manufactured in ‘sweat shop’ conditions in under-developed countries such as Indonesia where workers are abused, exploited and forced to work long hours for meagre pay. You, a cash crop Farmers prepare the ground, feeding and watering the land; investing their time and energy in order to reap their harvest. Responsible farmers ensure they never deplete the soil or harvest the crops too soon. But this is not always the case in the wider commercial world. Herculean efforts go into surrounding us with advertising (it is, after all some of the most expensive and carefully produced manure in the world and costs British consumers £10.9 billion a year). This advertising is drip fed to us through the complex and expensive irrigation system called ‘the media’. At the first signs of growth of our financial fleece - in other words as soon as we have some cash in our pockets - snip! snip! "We’ll have that, thank you very much!", they say. Throughout our lives we are cultivated like a cash crop. We are all ‘harvested’ of our cash on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis by those who claim to have a stake in our lives. If others choose to spend money on cultivating us with their ideas, products and services, irrespective of what we may feel about them, they will do what ever they can, for as long as they choose, to extract a return on what they consider is their ‘investment’. Ridiculous? How can you seriously think that we can be compared to a piece of fruit, an egg laying hen, a sheep or a vegetable? You are right - it is ridiculous. But it was the advertising industry which coined the phrase "couch potato" when describing habitual TV viewers! The advertising industry learned a long time ago, through its constant and expensive research, that people spend more when they feel unhappy. It therefore makes commercial sense for advertisers to make you feel bad about yourself. Advertising agencies know that if they bombard people for long enough with images of affluence and beauty, they’ll make people think about why they don’t have all those things or look as good as the flawless models used to promote such products. Making us feel bad, or helping us to realise that we do not feel good, is part of a tried and tested method of inducing us to spend more. Make the potential buyers feel bad about themselves and then provide them with the answer - the product. Sales people describe this technique as ‘hurt and rescue’. "Spend yourself to happiness," is the promise. It’s a lie. More and more people are regularly spending more than they earn. Here are some questions that should help you identify attitudes that encourage over-spending.
How We are Strangled by Debt Everyone encourages you to spend more. As far as the business community is concerned, you cannot spend enough. If you don’t have the cash – someone will almost certainly lend it to you. Getting into debt is easy – getting out of it is more difficult. Being offered a loan is a compliment, it makes you feel good about yourself – for a while at least! Do you owe money or do you own money? According to Ron Blue, author of Master Your Money, "80% of Americans owe more than they own… Repayment of debt consumes 25% of all incomes today, not including mortgage debt." Refusing to step onto the debt treadmill and eliminating debt from your life will have the most positive impact for your long term financial security. For many, the cost of debt is the single largest financial drain in their lives. It creates untold stress in millions of households throughout the so-called civilised world. Most credit cards charge about 20% in interest. Paying for such credit is the same as working for five days but allowing your employer to pay you for only four! If you use credit cards, clear the balance every month. Organise a monthly direct debit through your bank. Most credit card companies offer this option but don’t always tell you about it. By using your ‘plastic’ in this way, you retain your cash for slightly longer, thus earning something in interest if it’s held in an interest bearing account. The credit card company earns less from you, and you benefit from their ‘free’ insurance on goods you have bought. It’s worth pointing out the following myth "You don’t pay interest for a month from when you buy something using a credit card." In reality, this is only true if you always clear the credit balance on your card each month. If there is an outstanding balance owed and you buy something else, you pay interest from the date of the new purchase – on top of the other interest you are being charged. It is easy to get into a situation where you are still paying interest on money you borrowed up to two years after buying an item. Anyone who is in debt is not in control of their life. Their behaviour is dictated by the demands of creditors. Being in debt costs far more than merely the interest you have to pay back. Think about the extra time you must work to pay back this additional money and the interest your cash could be earning you if it were not being handed over to your creditors. Learning to use credit intelligently can have a huge impact on the sums of money you can save for the future. Sadly, instructions for controlling your inflexible fiend (sic) are not as easily obtained as the numerous opportunities for debt creation. Astonishingly, the education system does not regard it as part of its role to educate young people about money management. In any case, how can we expect poorly paid teachers to educate young people about something they almost certainly don't understand themselves!? Yes, I am being deliberately contentious. It does not seem in anyone’s best commercial interests to educate young people to spend less. The banks almost certainly want to continue their efforts to offer cash loans to young people as early as they can. They know that the sooner they can persuade people to go into debt, the more money they will extract from their largely unsuspecting quarry. Our education system itself is rapidly moving over to ‘education on credit’. The current proposals to charge tuition fees in higher education ‘outlets’, together with the ‘borrow as you learn’ methods of financing study, mean that it will be very easy for graduate students to end up starting their working lives with debts in excess of £20,000! Work out how much debt you repay each month. You may get an unpleasant surprise. For many readers, the risk of an unpleasant surprise will guarantee that they do not make this sort of calculation. Sadly, the level of debt will not go down if you do not investigate it! How We Live In One Home But Pay For Two Or Even Three Take our mortgages (- please!) as an example. An average 25 year mortgage for fifty thousand pounds will cost almost one hundred and fifty thousand pounds to repay. At 10% per annum, a £1,000 loan over 25 years costs £2,727 to repay without tax relief or insurance. The same loan over 15 years costs £1,935 to repay. In other words, when you buy one house you can end up paying enough in interest for three. Mortgage companies rarely point this out to their borrowers. I wonder why? Obviously, the longer the mortgage period, the more you pay – but we are seduced by the ‘good news’ of lower monthly repayments if we extend the mortgage for a few more years. How kind. A shorter term mortgage may cost a little more per month, but the total repayment figure for a twenty year mortgage can cost substantially less. No wonder we are rarely encouraged to go for the shorter option! Wherever possible, pay off any over-drafts, loans, outstanding balances on credit, and charge & department store cards, as well as hire purchase agreements. Stop using credit cards altogether unless you only use them for convenience and pay off the full amount each and every month - preferably by direct debit. Most credit card companies offer this facility but don’t promote it because they rely on a proportion of customers paying additional interest when they ‘forget’ to pay their bills on time. Department stores also increase their revenues when shoppers miss their ‘due by’ dates. By eliminating debt from your life,
you can free up more of your time and reduce your stress.
The confidence that comes from To survive the 21st century, your first priority must be to build up a sum of money which represents 3 to 6 months of your salary. Certainly save more than this if you wish. In my regular "Secrets of Successful Freelancing" seminars, delegates are shown how this approach can so dramatically improve the way they feel about their work. They can be confident in the knowledge that they do not have to accept every work assignment which is offered to them. This is sometimes referred to as an "FU Fund" (or more politely described as a ‘screw you’ fund). It ensures that the freelancer does not feel the need to accept poorly paid, and often time consuming work which they would not choose to accept if they were not desperate for the money. Building up one of these funds is invaluable in improving your self-esteem and reducing your stress and worry about money. No matter how young or old you are, or how much or how little you may earn, creating one of these funds is very highly recommended. Deposit some of this cash in the highest interest bearing, instant access account you can find. This fund should not be used to dip into to pay for holidays and other luxuries. The rest should be deposited into a ‘notice’ account so that it cannot be accessed on demand, perhaps to pay for ‘a whim’. From today, put aside at least 10% of your earnings. All financial experts agree that the secret of financial security is saving regularly and using that money to generate additional cash. "Canny investors watch the tide, not the waves." Anyone reaching old age in the twenty-first century without a pension and/ or a regular income other than from the state could find themselves in dire financial trouble. I meet a large number of
self-employed people. It is frightening how few have any
pension Chapter 6 TECHNOLOGY - threat or saviour? Q. What do you call a ‘nerd’ in 15 years time? A. The Boss. Nerds may become millionaires almost overnight but we like to reassure ourselves that most still can’t get a date! If anybody said at the turn of the last century that man would fly heavy mechanical contraptions, faster than the speed of sound in the 20th Century, or if Neil Armstrong’s grandparents had been told he would set foot on the moon in July 1969, who would not have laughed? What other examples of technology can you think of which didn’t even exist 50 years ago? Here are just a few :- personal, laptop and palmtop computers, audio cassette and CD players, colour TV, mobile phones, velcro, satellites, space ships, the internet, digital watches and cameras, photocopiers, bar codes, microwave ovens, camcorders, credit cards and ‘hole in the wall’ cash machines. The list is endless. Advances in technology are remarkably fast; Armstrong and his fellow astronauts used slide rules to get them to the moon. Today even many of the poorest people in society own or use the latest electric and electronic gizmos and gadgets. A hell of a lot has developed in just the last half of the 20th century, but we now take so much for granted. Caught up in the ever increasing pace of life, our attention span seems to grow shorter and shorter. As our expectations rise, it takes more and more to impress us. When we see reports of new discoveries and inventions, which seem to happen almost every day, we’re too busy to pay more than passing notice. When was the last time you devoted even a moment to truly marvel at the technology which seamlessly links our lives. Yes, as today’s "Sophisticated Skeptics" (as defined by Paul & Cox in Beyond Humanity) proclaim, technology does go wrong. Sometimes on a large scale. But most of the time our everyday lives are enhanced by increasingly powerful computers and electronics. I haven’t sworn at this PC for at least a couple of weeks! Whether used for business or leisure, technology continues to improve the quality of our lives in ways our ancestors could never even comprehend. As my 79 year old Great Uncle George Abbott declared at Sunday lunch recently "When I hear people talk about the ‘good old days’, I think, no they bloody weren’t. Life was hard. Work was very tough. We didn’t have enough food, and medical treatments weren’t that effective. And during the war, Gracie, my wife had to work with lesbians in the munitions factory!" Millions of VCRs around the world flashing 00:00hrs demonstrate the population’s true interest for technology. People are almost proud of the fact that they don’t know how to use things. We’re too busy to learn about what we perceive to be the overly complex features we are so keen to purchase. Equipment manufacturers, through extensive research have discovered that a high proportion of consumers don’t bother to read instruction manuals. They are too difficult to understand. Or is it we are too impatient to devote time in finding out what our ‘stuff’ can really do? At my Freelance Seminars, I often ask the audience how many own a computer. Invariably 90-95% shoot their hands in the air, proud of the fact that they own a PC. But when I add, "How many know how to get the most out of it?" Most hands go down. I tell them, "Anyone who uses a computer in their work and does not make money from it, isn’t using it properly". High powered, relatively low cost, sophisticated but simple-to-use computer technology is widely available in business today, allowing even the smallest business to compete against the largest corporations. However, only a small proportion of users devote enough time to discover how this technology can be used to its fullest capacity, streamlining their work, increasing their productivity and ultimately their employability. We allow our short-term frustrations and fears to undermine the longer-term benefits they can provide. Do you tend to use technology to perform simple functions? So many people use word processors in exactly the same way as they used manual or electronic typewriters. Learning even the most basic word processor functions radically improves a user’s effectiveness and confidence. If you want to survive in the 21st century, consciously decide to become proficient at operating a wide range of computer applications and learn to understand fully their many features. Techno kids: ‘zombies’ or intellectual athletes? Unimpeded by the slower paced, unstimulating environment they so often find at school, millions of children could be preparing themselves for the next century without even realising it. Far from wasting time, new evidence seems to indicate that a child’s computer proficiency leads to improved mental agility. Such kids develop their ability to think rapidly on many different levels simultaneously. It appears that linear thinking is just for old folks. Parents and teachers have for many years worried about the consequences of the prolonged use of computer games. Even though there are still some concerns (primarily relating to excessive cyber-violence), experts are starting to realise that, through computer games, kids are actually improving their concentration and memory, literacy, co-ordination, their information processing ability and they become better at solving complex problems; qualities of great importance for their future employability. Kids are rewarded for their computer game success by being set more daunting challenges, which stretch their concentration and ability even further. If you suspect you do not derive the maximum benefit from the technology you own today, dig out all the instruction books and manuals for every appliance (you did keep them didn’t you?). Over the next few weeks, take one manual or booklet to work with you each day. Dip into it on the train or during your coffee/lunch breaks – preferably wrap it in something like a popular newspaper or magazine to conceal your nerdlike behaviour! By learning something new each day and applying it, your knowledge will increase immeasurably. Alternatively, put them in the privacy of your bathroom to read in a ‘quiet moment’. I guarantee you will find yourself saying, "I didn’t realise it could do that." Greater familiarity begets increased confidence. Once you achieve confidence, you will find yourself becoming more adventurous with technology. This is exactly the same process we all go through when learning to read and write. Things you really SHOULD know even if technology bores you In the future, most if not all information will reach your home via a telephone cable rather than by an antiquated TV aerial mounted on your roof. Try to imagine what it could mean to be able to dial up any video programme or short snippet, in any language, on any subject, at any time. You could choose from just about every movie ever made from the earliest silent movies to the latest blockbusters, news from any country in any language, education programmes of every subject at any level, opportunities to view demonstrations of every product and service. This may sound like science fiction but companies like British Telecom are working to turn this into a reality. It’s what computer guru, Nicholas Negroponte calls ‘anything, anytime, anywhere television’. Once the formidable technical challenges are overcome, the provision of high quality video via telephone, to the entire population, will radically change the face of world communications and represents profit potential beyond belief to those who own the means of distribution – namely the ‘phone, electricity or cable companies. Hold on Tight for the Techno-Ride of Your Life Much of the technology we will be using in the next 5-10 years has already been invented and discovered. The time it takes for new technological developments to trickle down into our lives is shrinking. For example, fluorescent lighting was invented in 1852 and took 82 years to be implemented. Radar was invented in 1887 but took 46 years to be put into production. The ballpoint pen took 50 years since its invention in 1888. The helicopter took 32 years (far longer if you believe Leonardo da Vinci had the idea first). TV took 29 years since John Logie Baird developed it in 1907. Most, if not all technological advances are now driven by purely commercial motives. Research and development has become hideously expensive and the results must be brought to market as quickly as possible, if its developers can ever expect to see a return on their investment. New technology therefore commands a high price. You can be sure that as the price for such technology falls, it is an indication that soon it will be replaced by something radically better. This technological merry go round is constantly speeding up as corporations try to keep ahead of their equally well-resourced competition. The race is on. For the first time in history, each new discovery is recorded in the tiniest detail and stored on computer databases. Recorded knowledge is therefore growing exponentially. Research findings are often published electronically and shared amongst scientists throughout the world, further speeding up the development process of countless seemingly unrelated research projects. Another reason for the rapid acceleration in technology is how each new discovery is combined and applied to other technologies. These technology hybrids speed up developments even further. Already we live among cyborgs, part human and part machine; Uncle Fred and Auntie Ethel are fitted with artificial hips, teeth, voice boxes and pacemakers, and held together with metal, plastic and synthetic fibre pins. Advanced research is underway to create artificial blood, hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers, pancreas’, legs, eyes, ears and even brain cells. Artificial senses and sensors will be able to stimulate nerves directly. This could lead to all sorts of ‘direct pleasure’ products. And we all know which business sectors will embrace that technology! Our brains work at speeds measured in thousandths of a second – not bad - but computers today already operate in billionths of a second. "Parallel" computers dramatically increase the calculation speed even further. The importance of computer speed cannot be over-emphasised. Each leap in processing speed makes it possible to perform even more complex functions and further helps eliminate humans from the process. This can mean less work for people in the future and the increased likelihood that computers will make many of the decisions affecting the lives of millions without people having a chance to intervene simply because nobody can ever think and respond quicker than the computers. There are real fears that the world global financial markets could collapse because of this. We are entering a new era in computer technology. In the future, computers will probably emulate biological principles instead of those from the world of physics. Extensive research is developing ‘neural networks’ which re-create the functions of the human brain. Our brains are constantly sending and receiving tiny electrical impulses via trillions of neurons. These advanced neural computers copy this process by connecting artificial neurons embedded in silicon chips. Biotech tampering and its tasty future For ten thousand years farmers have improved the quality and yield from the plants and animals they grow by selective breeding. For the latter half of the 20th century, science has been the main driving force in agriculture. It looks set to dominate it in the 21st century. Today, the largest farms are run by computers linked to sensors which monitor every aspect of the soil, its moisture and chemical balance, and the crops themselves. For millions, science and technology governs the food they eat; its growth, harvesting, storage, processing, distribution and cooking. Again, commercialisation is dictating future developments. Modern biotechnology is defined by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council as "the application of our advancing understanding of living organisms and their components to create industrial products and processes." Biotechnology is not new and has been used in the manufacture of beer, wine, cheese and yoghurt for hundreds of years. But modern biotechnology and genetic engineering are set to revolutionise agriculture and industry. Selective breeding in the past was only used to improve our food and drink, but genetic engineering will also affect the drug and chemical industries with far-reaching ethical implications for life as we know it. Scientists understand better than they have ever done before how plants, animals and micro-organisms function. By studying them at their individual cell level, science has made massive leaps in advanced animal breeding, understanding how the body heals itself, how pesticides work against crop-eating insects and has provided the knowledge to create new animals and plants, as well as new pharmaceuticals and industrial raw materials. On a recent flight to Vancouver I sat next to a transgenicist (no, he wasn't wearing women's clothing!) who worked for the US Government in Washington DC. He told me how high value crops such as soya bean, maize, rapeseed, sugar beet, tobacco and cotton were being modified genetically by transferring particular genes from one plant into another, to make them resistant to a wide variety of insect pests, many of which have become immune to existing pesticides. Ecologists and many clinical geneticists fear that even the humble bumble bee will be wiped out. This means that honey producers could suffer and natural pollination in nature would decline. The consequences for this and the effects of cross pollination from genetically modified crops to surrounding weeds could be catastrophic. Genetically modified corn has an added gene to protect it against the appetite of the corn budworm which eats about 5% of the world's corn crop, while bollworm resistant cotton was one of the first genetically modified crops. Up to 60% of processed foods use soya - it is included in chocolate, biscuits and cakes. The potential profit is staggering, although there are some major issues concerning its safety. No one knows what impact it will have on consumers in (say) 15 years. Think of all the profit the biotechnolgy companies would miss out on if they tested it for that period first! Mr. Transgenicist was surprised when I asked "If these pests are now resistant to the pesticides, how long will it be before they mutate in order to combat the genetic modifications?" "That won't be for a while." "Then what?" said I. It was obvious, he believed it would then be an SEP (Someone Else's Problem). Critics claim that biotechnology interferes with nature and poses real economic threats to farmers, many of whom live and work in under-developed countries and rely on the export of their valuable crops. But it’s not just limited to peasant farmers. Using biotechnology it will be possible to grow large quantities of individual cells from many different plants. It will be possible to genetically grow millions of litres of orange juice in any country without the peel, pith and pips or the worry of crop failure, weather damage and insect infestation. This new biotechnology will certainly not be limited to orange juice. Entire economies could get wiped out. The US is one of the world's largest consumers of costly (and therefore high profit potential) vanilla pods. Madagascar's economy relies on its vanilla exports to countries all around the world. Afterall what would ice cream be without vanilla? Growing it genetically will remove those workers from the equation. But what will then happen to those workers who pick and process these crops? No one seems to care enough to avert their impending demise or the social and economic consequences for the countries which will be affected. Other applications for genetically modified plants include the creation of "accumulator plants" which ‘eat’ pollutants such as heavy metals and oil spillages, thus offering a biological solution to a chemical problem. Technological progress may have been rapid in the past 30 years, but it is nothing compared with what is in store for us in the future. By making the most of today’s available technology, you will be better prepared to benefit from what is already being developed in research laboratories all over the world today. Chapter 9 I work therefore I am "…where men are subjected to over-guidance and over-government, the inevitable tendency is to render them comparatively helpless." Samuel Smiles, 1866. Losing your job ranks as the biggest fear amongst today’s workforce. Job security has gone. The future holds many changes in the world of work as we shall explore in the next three chapters. As you will read, there are many serious challenges ahead in the workplace, but there are also lucrative opportunities for the most flexible and knowledgeable workers. This chapter focuses on how work and the workplace is changing so radically in Britain and the rest of the world. The next looks at the options available to improve your job security and income generating potential. Finally, the third chapter in this section outlines proven steps that you can take to increase your influence and market yourself more effectively within your organisation, or your industry sector. Anyone who naively believes that ‘loyalty’, hard work and competence will be enough to guarantee their job in the future could receive a nasty and costly shock. For many people this is a hard idea to accept. A few decades ago, only self-employed people were thought to lead insecure lives. Today and in the future, experienced self-employed individuals are far more secure than their employed counterparts. The self-employed seldom allow themselves to become reliant on just one customer or client. It’s too risky – but that’s exactly the situation most employees are in. Even the most competent employees are at the whim of their employer and their ever demanding customers. You, and you alone, are responsible for your future employability. It is sad to see so many workers laid off in their late forties and early fifties who face the prospect of long-term unemployment - possibly for the rest of their lives. Their feelings of anger, frustration and bitterness are understandable. They often feel badly let down by their employer. However, their thinking is based on the belief that somebody else is responsible for their lives. In the past, an employer may have taken on the role of paternal benefactor - but times have changed. Any employer who promises security is either foolish or dishonest. The charity TV show Comic Relief included a report on young orphans in Ethiopia. It told the story of how a seven year old looked after his five year old brother. The film included a "drop in centre" where these children could purchase inexpensive food. No one was given anything for free. Those who ran the centre realised that free handouts are not the answer because it creates a dependence culture. If a child did not earn enough money from collecting and selling coffee beans or useful rubbish from the local tip, they did not eat that day. Yes, it is harsh. It could even be described as cruel. But it works. It is more cruel and potentially more harmful to give help when you suspect that you will not be able to sustain it. These children learn a valuable lesson which stays with them – they have the power to influence their own lives. Similarly, in the global economy, no employer, however paternalistic they may be, can guarantee employment to their work force. Ultimately, employers are responsible only for their company’s survival and growth. That’s their job. Many corporations certainly take their roles as employers very seriously, doing everything in their power to look after and nurture their employees as their way of saying ‘thank you’ for years of loyalty and hard work. In the 19th century there were a number of family owned companies, such as Lever Brothers and Kelloggs, whose owners took it upon themselves to instigate welfare programmes for their staff. In the case of Lever Brothers, the company went to the expense of building Port Sunlight, a small town in Cheshire, for its workers to live near its factory. In its day, this was seen by other industrialists as nonsensical, even a waste of money. But at Lever Brothers, the business owners cared about their employees and realised that if they looked after them, they would develop a happier and therefore more efficient and productive workforce. The industrial revolution took place only about 200 years ago - a mere blink of an eye if taken in the wider context of life on this planet. At that time, society as we know it today was created for the first time - a massive migration of people from the countryside into what have become today’s cities. Imagine how difficult it must have been for so many people, who were used to working in conjunction with nature’s seasons, to suffer the culture shock of turning up for work at precisely pre-determined times, day in, day out for 50 or 51 weeks every year (perhaps you have inherited the same symptoms!). But before the Industrial Revolution, for generation after generation, our ancestors lives changed very little from year to year, decade to decade from century to century. That’s all changed! There has been more change in the 20th Century than in any other period in the past. It is continuing and accelerating. Just as society has grown accustomed to such unnatural ways of spending our time - everything is changing again - and in some profound ways. Just because we cannot always see the changes - it doesn’t mean that nothing is happening. It is often very difficult to decipher the changes clearly, amongst the constant fast-moving advances around us. Trends In The Workplace Technology is becoming capable of performing ever-more complex tasks and is eradicating jobs higher and higher up the organisational tree. The tide is rising and will envelop more and more workers who have traditionally felt ‘safe’ on higher ground. It is estimated that most European corporations are still over-staffed by up to 20%. A high proportion of these are in administrative and management positions. As competition intensifies, anyone who does not ‘add value’ by increasing sales revenues, or cutting costs for their organisation, will have to be shed. What will happen to them all? Will you be one? Conversely, owners and employees at micro and small firms who already rely on technology, will have less ‘fat to trim’ and are more likely to thrive. More and more medium and large companies will join those corporations which have already flattened their management structures. If you are currently working in middle management, or are dependent on the income of someone who is a middle manager - you are almost certainly an endangered species. Clinging on to a ‘sunset’ job is often very painful and misguided. In the decades to come, more and more industries and jobs will be eliminated. The temptation is to do something, anything, to hold on to the past. Many individuals understandably feel powerless and insecure about how to reposition themselves. Conversely, the mistaken belief held by so many individuals and organisations, is that they have the power and ability to stop the un-stoppable. It’s almost as if some businessmen (and they are predominantly men) feel they are invincible, and capable of dealing with the problem. How sure are you that you are not part of a sunset industry? Knowing when to accept the inevitable is a key survival skill in the workplace. If you suspect your medium- or long-term position could be in jeopardy – do something about it NOW. Don’t wait until it’s too late. Acquire the new skills you need to move into a sunrise industry, if that is appropriate. The secret is to do it before you get caught in the rush! Governments all over the Western world are throwing millions of dollars at industries which are dying. They will die. Prolonging the agony will probably not help, but, for government, being seen to help is sometimes more important. More important than accepting the reality and futility of the situation, and offering those affected the real help they need, such as opportunities to acquire valuable training in skills that are in demand. This should not be provided by government whose skills-based courses have been shown to be ineffective, but it would take a brave politician to stand up against the ever-critical media to say what needs to be said, and do what needs to be done. Let’s take a look at other industries and job functions which could be on the ‘endangered species’ lists;
This list is not comprehensive, nor is it in any particular order. What if you are part of this list? You have a number of choices. Firstly, you can do nothing (there’s nothing like a bit of ‘denial’ to make you feel better!) or you can give some serious thought to creating an ‘exit’ strategy. Unemployment: ‘It’s Only Just Begun’ Whenever you hear political parties carping on about the opposition’s inability to lower the unemployment figures, they are being conveniently unrealistic for party political purposes. Unemployment is a global issue. It is rising all over the world, and will continue to do so whether the country is run by socialists, communists, or a right wing dictatorship. The reasons may differ slightly but it is one of the symptoms of our times. The idea that unemployment is an internal, political issue, helps further perpetuate the myth that a single government has the power to control the employment or unemployment of a nation. This is no longer the case. It also implies that government is actually responsible for the population’s employment. But can it be? Society may be structured around work, but no responsible government can assume this role any longer. Government MUST catalyse society into recognising the situation for what it is and find ways to deal with the inevitable. Simply shedding existing responsibilities and allowing the status quo to appear to continue, because it is politically expedient, is guilt through inaction of the worst kind. Analysis featured in the Times in 1996 suggested that unions could be part of the problem by showing a clear link between areas of union strength and lower employment growth. Foreign competition is often cited as the scapegoat, because it gives people (especially those in the media) somebody to blame. A bit of nationalistic fervour never does any harm to the ratings or newspaper sales. But the truth is that the situation is not the ‘fault’ of the unions, or foreigners, or anyone else. If the 19th century belonged to Great Britain, the 20th to the United States - then the 21st century will certainly belong to Asia, as it did a thousand years ago. This doesn’t mean that getting or keeping a job or career will become impossible - there will be many, many exciting opportunities for those individuals who have a clear understanding of the trends affecting them, and who create effective survival strategies to deal with the future. The secret is to plan for such eventualities well before they arise. We will go into the details of how you can do this later. No matter who you work for, no matter how seriously they take their role as an employer, and no matter how committed you may be towards your employer - no corporation can afford to insulate its staff from the harsh realities of the global marketplace. Even in recent history, companies had some degree of certainty about their position in their marketplace - but not any more. Companies no longer have the power to make such decisions. Any employee who assumes their employer will look after them is gambling dangerously with their own future. Avoiding Exploitation in the workplace Doing more for less is here to stay. Longer hours, less pay, fewer bonuses and no job security is becoming the lot of a growing number of workers - and they’re the lucky ones! More workers are resigned to the fact that keeping a job is more important than any benefits likely to accrue from putting it into jeopardy. Make too many demands of an employer and there may not be a job for you for much longer. The role of trade unions has declined in the past 20 years. Membership numbers are shrinking as more and more workers become too afraid to strike for better pay and conditions (and lose faith in their union’s ability to do anything about it). It seems that any job is better than no job. However, there is a disturbing increase in the outsourcing of internal services such as security, catering and cleaning. To secure a contract, a growing number of rogue service companies are prepared to pitch for such contracts at almost any cost, in order to win the business. Those who do the actual work tend to suffer. The contractor blames the client for being unwilling to pay, thus justifying their exploitation. Expect this to increase as a business practice in the decades to come. Unions can serve an invaluable service to such workers by lobbying contractors and employers who behave in this way. But it’s not all bad news. As workers become more knowledgeable, working on complex problems as part of closely knit teams, they also become more difficult to replace. Employers need to work harder in order to keep these high grade individuals. The costs of recruiting and training new people can rise rapidly. Consequently, knowledge workers are the most secure in the workplace. Clients and employers cannot afford to treat such workers poorly – if they do, they run the risk that the worker will walk. For many of these working elite, union membership is not seen as necessary, they have what they need to look after themselves, situated between their ears. Could you develop as someone like that? There will be fewer structured career progressions - you have to carve one out for yourself . You may not like it, but inflexibility within the workplace is most likely to help you jump the queue to oblivion. How do you, or your employer, know what will need to be done in 5 years? If you aren't able to, or refuse to perform the tasks which your company requires - you cannot blame any employer for finding someone else, who will do those tasks. This is a painful realisation for many. The jobs will remain with those who accept the inevitable trends in the workplace. No one will tell you what to do, although the most forward-thinking companies know that they must play an active role in helping staff to move around within their organisations. They encourage staff to work out their own medium- and long-term goals and, where ever possible, facilitate an environment which takes them towards those goals. However, the employee has to make it happen. Employers know that if they don't provide this type of environment, they risk losing their best people as they become frustrated working in a flat hierarchy. Self-employment to Self-employment; the circle is complete Every worker is self-employed. But some entrust their lives to just one client, "the employer" while others work with many. When you look at life in this way, anyone who wants to earn more money has the following choices;
Few successful self-employed people would accept working for people they despised or who abused them. It is only when a person feels someone else is responsible for their future, that they accept the unacceptable. If we do not accept the need to offer the best possible quality and value to our clients, ‘market forces’ might push us out. If the customer does not offer ‘good value’ back to you, they are responsible for your defection. Self-employment is growing, returning to pre-Industrial Revolution times, when the very concept of a ‘job’ did not even exist. (self-employment is explored in more detail in the next chapter). 300 years ago, workers performed many functions, depending on what needed to be done. Being multi-skilled was essential in those days. In the earliest factories, complex products were produced by breaking down each stage of the manufacturing process into simple, easily repeatable tasks. Highly skilled crafts people were replaced by large machines operated by an army of relatively unskilled, cheap labour. Each person was taught to perform a small number of dull and repetitive tasks. This required extensive supervision to ensure workers kept working. The wage slave was born. In the past century, hundreds of thousands of lowly paid, unskilled workers have been replaced, first by unsophisticated mechanical equipment, such as tractors and earth moving equipment, and then by more complex harvesters and crop-picking machines. In the United States, the introduction of cotton picking machines wiped out employment for millions of black workers, who were only just getting used to the idea of freedom from slavery. In the 1920’s, about 5 million black people migrated to the industrial cities of the North. There they worked as low paid workers in the steel works and factories. Technology evolved and machinery became increasingly complex. Over the next 3 decades, this, combined with increasing industrial unrest, led to the widespread relocation of large factories, especially those in the motor manufacturing industry. Un-needed, unskilled workers were left behind. Today, millions of these unskilled and unemployed people remain in the urban ghettos – too poor to commute or move to the modern and sophisticated industrial parks in suburban America. Afro-Americans had been shafted again. Mechanical technology first replaced human and animal muscle. Computer technology is, and will continue, to substitute the human brain. As systems continue to become more automated, using increasingly sophisticated software-based technology, in some industries we have already reached a situation where people just get in the way and become the source of mistakes. Tests have been conducted in technical industries where people have been brought in to solve problems of a technical nature. Invariably they make the situation worse (and take a long time to do so!), therefore high quality, and high speed diagnostics software is used to minimise human error. It’s reassuring to believe that technology is unreliable. But this is yet another myth. Today’s airliners have been described as flying robots, it’s human error which is the cause of most collisions, crashes and fatalities! On the subject of errors, old style industries went to great pains to eliminate errors altogether. This approach stifles creativity and innovation – the very qualities successful companies need to encourage if they are to thrive in the next century. If you are going to be punished or ridiculed for making mistakes, take the safe route, don’t rock the boat and only do as you are told. Unfortunately you could also contribute to the demise of your employer and ultimately your job. Within the foreseeable future, more people on the largest salaries will no longer be required to make certain business decisions. They too will be ‘let go’. Machines will make those decisions, far faster, more accurately and less expensively. This is not science fiction; much of the technology already exists and is being used. Add to this the fact that as more and more workers are empowered to take day to day decisions, the need for ‘expensive’ supervision has already been eliminated in many industry sectors. This is spreading, not just in Britain, but all over the world. If, as you read this, you are tempted to think that this will (or may) only affect other people, please think again. Believing we are safe can be our most dangerous strategy, as this true story illustrates. A police officer visited a classroom to talk to a group of 12 year olds about road safety. One of the children, who lived in a particularly quite crescent said that there was little likelihood of being run down, as few cars ever drove down her road. The police officer replied that more children get killed on these quiet roads where little if any traffic is expected –simply because they get too complacent about playing in the road. Children who live next to busy roads learn to stay and wait on the curb. Downshifting; the growing trend Hundreds of millions of people all over the world battle through traffic in the daily ritual of ‘commuting’. Is it all worth it? More and more individuals are coming to the realisation that there is far more to life than doing this 5 days a week. There is little to recommend being stressed all day and then battling through tens of thousands of commuters to reach home exhausted, where you eat a ‘convenience’ processed meal because you don’t have the time or energy to prepare a cheaper and healthier alternative. You slump down in front of the television for a couple of hours to ‘veg out’, only to repeat the whole process a few hours later, when you drag yourself out of that warm and comfortable bed once more. A survey in 1995 for the Merck Family Foundation found that 66% of respondents believed they would be more satisfied with their life if they could spend more time with their family and friends. So how would you like to hand in the keys to your company car, hand back their company charge card and work in an environment which may pay significantly less, but where the quality of life is far superior? More people are doing this. Parents with young children want to see their children grow up. When you are on the corporate treadmill this can be difficult. People want their lives back. "Don’t give me a bonus, give me more time off." Male employee talking to female boss in a Vancouver restaurant How many individuals do you know who are deeply unhappy in their work. Many are in high paying jobs and feel trapped with golden handcuffs. They have sentenced themselves to a life of misery in return for money. But it takes supreme bravery to ‘down shift’ or achieve ‘voluntary simplicity’; to step off the treadmill in order to pursue less well paid, but infinitely more satisfying and rewarding work. Would your life be more meaningful if you accepted a lower paid job, with more time to yourself with fewer responsibilities? These and many other work related questions are being asked by more and more workers who have a nagging feeling that they no longer have a life. Are you one of those people? Battle Fatigue Some of the largest global businesses offer foreign travel as an inducement to attract young, well-educated graduates. The promise of extensive foreign travel is often used successfully to attract graduates to high quality global corporations, but a few years later these ‘road and air warriors’ as they are so often dubbed, start to suffer ‘battle fatigue’ - they become increasingly fed up with all the travelling, especially those workers with young families at home. They miss their partners and their kids. More and more individuals are becoming dissatisfied with their lifestyles; pay and responsibility may be impressive, but at what cost? Stress levels in business appear to be at an all time high - and getting higher - as businesses constantly try to squeeze more out of those staff lucky enough to survive the latest round of ‘downsizing’ and restructuring .... I work with many large organisations, and I find that staff are constantly being pushed into achieving more, generating higher sales, increasing their market share, cutting unnecessary and wasteful costs from their businesses. Staff in these organisations work at an increasingly hectic pace. But time and again I experience situations in which these same over-worked staff are rarely given the acknowledgement that they are producing extraordinary results. Too often they merely suffer from "moving of the goalposts". It is almost as if no one can ever do enough. This in time will take its toll of people who have literally burned themselves out. The most forward-thinking organisations have begun to realise that doing so is counter-productive and that they must take steps to help their staff work smarter rather than harder. Working Men In the last few years, the traditional junior ‘entry’ jobs have become more elusive to school leavers and graduates. Getting a toe-hold in the job market will become more difficult - not easier. But it’s not just the young who are under increasing pressures – men, those bastions of the British workforce, are beginning to feel the squeeze too. The Equal Opportunities Commission have encountered numerous cases in which men were competing in the workplace with well qualified, lower paid women. More men are having to come to terms with the fact that if they want a particular job badly enough, they will have to accept the lower rate which would be offered to a suitable woman candidate. It looks as though the employment playing field is finally being levelled – by excavation. Poorly educated individuals, predominantly male, tend to gravitate towards physical work. Young men from steel-making or coal-mining regions still believe, based on their fathers’ past that this is where they should work, despite the fact that many steel works and coal mines have closed down. In many industrial, or former industrial regions, it is the young women who are now being offered the better paid jobs. Unlike boys, they study harder and use their brains rather than their brawn. A BBC TV documentary, Panorama, looked at the career progress of a group of young men and women from a particular northern England secondary school. Many of these young men were already living in the past - unaware that they were heading directly from adolescence to obsolescence. Equally ‘bright’ young women were going to university to train themselves for knowledge based work. One young man inadvertently pinpointed the problem when he talked about how good it made him feel to have done a hard day’s physical work. Described by his teacher as a bright kid - in an area of mass unemployment he had been ‘lucky’ to land a job in a local factory loading refrigerators onto trucks. His future, and that of many men like him, is bleak. They fail (or refuse) to see how the world is changing around them. Many more men in the workforce will experience a similar fate in the decades to come. Uneducated men of all races will be the hardest hit. Muscle based work will decline even further. Mind and knowledge work will increase. Much of this will be taken over by women who can compete with men on a more equal footing. Men who find difficulty working as part of collaborative teams and dealing with others in a less autocratic way, will be replaced by women. Women tend to be hard-working, more insightful, perceptive, creative and empathetic. These are the very qualities needed by a growing number of employees. Inequality within the workplace will continue for some time yet, but as more of the old male guard are made redundant or reach the end of their working lives, companies will be less able to afford the luxury of ignoring the contribution of women. Poorly trained men will experience many more of the injustices that women have endured for so long. And men will make it clear that they are not happy about it. Their protests will be ignored for the most part, leading to anger and resentment among less adequate men. Men are experiencing another fundamental change in the workplace: As business continues to lay off more workers, those left are having to work longer hours. Afraid of losing their job, most people accept the longer hours as a symptom of our times, but a growing proportion of men are becoming dissatisfied with the fact that their lives are too work orientated. In Balanced Lives:Changing Work Patterns For Men, a report by the charity New Ways to Work, men are seeking ways to spend more time with their families. In some cases, they are even arranging to work part-time, sharing their jobs with others. Not only do these men improve the quality of their lives by sharing family commitments and responsibilities, but it frees up ‘stay at home’ partners to go back into the workforce. This provides them with mental stimulation, and a sense that they too are contributing to the family unit, in a society which still under-values parenting as a skill or a contribution to society. More personnel departments are coming to realise that flexible working need not be confined to the women on the payroll. Research has shown that workers’ productivity declines rapidly if they consistently work long hours. Stressed-out workers are bad for business. They are more prone to sickness and absenteeism. While those who work more flexibly bring more energy, enthusiasm and motivation to their work. For some workers they invest this ‘free’ time studying or working within the community. A happier, more fulfilled worker is also more productive. This option is probably not worth serious consideration unless you enjoy a relatively healthy salary. If this is you, how could you benefit by working less hours for less pay? By sharing elements of your role with someone else, could your employer also benefit? In the past, work was nearly always defined as hard, physical labour - as we have seen, machines have, and will continue to replace ‘brawn’ meaning that fewer and fewer men will be needed to ‘get things done’. A 'career' for a middle class, white man was characterised by ‘getting a good job’ when he left school or higher education, preferably in a large multi-national company, staying there for the duration of his working life, climbing the corporate ladder within a clearly defined hierarchical structure. This may have been true for your father or grandfather, it certainly isn’t the case for you or your children. "The weakness of man is the facade of strength, the strength of woman is the facade of weakness" Warren Farrell PhD Working Women: A Brighter Picture Because I am a man, this section will inevitably cause some women readers to take exception to my interpretation of what is, without doubt, an unfair, male dominated society. There is not enough room here to explore why the system is unfair. Suffice to say, society and the workplace is littered with dysfunctional men; from the downright obnoxious, to the men who genuinely believe they are doing women a favour by not inviting them to business 'networking events', in order to protect them from potentially embarrassing advances by men. Those men who take on a 'caring' role fail to realise that their behaviour actually disempowers women and hinders their careers and influence amongst other men. Women will continue to be abused and exploited in the workplace, the home and in society. In some societies, women will continue to be regarded as second- or third-class citizens, but businesses and countries which exploit and discriminate against women, will be increasingly boycotted by women as well as men. For my part I have chosen never to buy another product manufactured by a particular running shoe manufacturer. This is a personal choice based on my belief that the company's manufacturing policy of using low-paid and predominantly women workers in countries such as Indonesia is immoral. I believe their products are over-priced and refuse to become a walking advertising site for the company. I am not suggesting that you should not buy their products. The need for women to accept full responsibility for their own financial security has never been greater. More middle-aged men are being made redundant as companies continue to lay off staff. As the financial and emotional pressures build, divorce rates soar; countless women find themselves with a young family to raise, no income, no savings and little or no pension provision. Oh, the price of love and devotion! Pensions are still based on the antiquated assumption that men support women and women raise children in a stable, long-term marriage. Therefore women don’t need their own pensions. Official statistics show a very different story. Over 1 in 3 marriages end in divorce. Many of the women from these marriages suffer real financial hardship as a result. What would you do if this happened to you? Perhaps it won't, but for many women it already has. As you grow older you MUST insure yourself against financial disaster. Many women still tend to feel guilty about deserting their families to pursue a career. A personal desire for mental stimulation and interaction with other 'grown ups' is often forsaken. Many women compromise by taking part-time work. Much of this is relatively low paid, thus perpetuating the existence of discrimination against women workers. However, there are early indications to suggest that more British employers are introducing more flexible working hours in order to attract higher qualified and better paid female workers. This means that many more women will be able to work in better-paid jobs or careers whilst also being able to fulfil their other commitments. This increased flexibility also allows men to take a more active role as parents, thus freeing up more women to pursue a career. This increased flexibility in the workplace will allow women to be more independent, accepting more challenging and therefore better-paid work. Everyone wins. Surviving 'the male system'. Feminists such as Germaine Greer have a lot to answer for. But not in the way you might suspect. In the 1960's they raised the expectations of millions of women. Poised to break through the 'glass ceiling', they waited and waited for it to happen. Progress has been made, but young women entering the workplace in the 60's, 70's and 80's were misled into believing that they would now be rewarded and recognised for their hard work. Promotions would be given based on merit, rather than gender and their voice would be heard. Feminism is often based on a female's sense of fairness. This ignores a man's sense of combat. As Frankie my wife has correctly noticed, women who want to get on in their careers 'play the game' according to men's rules believing that this is the way forward. Unfortunately, most men say one thing, and do something totally different - too often they don't realise they do this or wouldn’t ever admit to it. There's no point playing by the rules of cricket, when most men are playing by the rules of rugby! No matter how good you become at cricket, believing you will be rewarded for it, you are unlikely to be rewarded for those skills you have worked so hard to acquire, if male colleagues are judged by their rugby prowess and the connections they make in the locker room. And not everybody is interested in sport (or sporting metaphors!). But what can a woman do to survive? For a start, men tend to define ‘hard work’, ‘talent’ and ‘skill’ rather differently to women. Jinx Melia in Breaking Into The Boardroom says ‘used by women [hard work] usually applies to the amount of effort, time and energy expended in accomplishing the tasks assigned by superiors. Executive males on the other hand, most often relate "hard work" to decisions that are made, to perceptions of others that are changed, and to risks that are taken .. naïve underlings commonly misperceive "hard work" as overtime; ambitious fast trackers may well do their "hard work" on the golf course." Male executives pay for results, results, results – they are rarely interested in the process – "just give me the bottom line" is the male business mantra. If you want to get on in business – think strategically, and don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in the detail. Yes, the devil is in the detail, but whenever possible, get others to do it – just like men. Eileen C Shapiro in her thought provoking, and witty book Fad Surfing in the Boardroom, describes the 'internal game' as what really drives a company's culture. She recommends that everyone should "start by identifying the factors that most closely influence actual behaviour: what is permitted and what is rewarded, versus what is prohibited and what is punished, and what is funded and supported versus what is starved and ignored." Despite the best intentions, if staff hear executives say one thing, but see evidence which undermines those words - it will limit the potential success of the business. Too many women de-select themselves from the best jobs. They wait to be offered an opportunity, rather than putting themselves forward. If they feel a job is ‘too good’ for them, they will say so. Men often feel the same way, but never say so. A superb example of the difference between men and women in business is the well known story about Anita Roddick of The Body Shop. She has been ridiculed by some men for her biggest business ‘mistake’; relinquishing half the equity in her company against her husband’s wishes in return for a loan. That wasn’t her mistake. Telling anybody about it was. It’s typical of a woman’s sense of openness and fairness! Men realise being seen to do well is often more important than getting on with the work and hoping they get noticed. Forget that you have to be brilliant at everything to qualify for the best posts. Men will apply for a senior post if they have any of the qualities being sought, women tend to apply only if they have all the qualities in the recruitment ad. Large firms often require international experience, male executives routinely believe that women are not as interested in foreign assignments. If you can’t get a board appointment with your employer, build up experience on the boards of voluntary organisations. Too many highly competent women accept the mistaken belief that they don’t ‘have what it takes’ to run their own enterprise. Low self-esteem and a lack of self-confidence are their impediments, not the fact that they are women. Ask any successful business person (male or female) and they will tell you there is never the ‘right’ time to strike out on your own. If the prospect of entrepreneurship has its appeal, systematically acquire the skills you will need until you are ready for that time. Go out of your way to attend as many training courses as possible within your organisation - especially those which provide ‘transferable skills’. Some employers discriminate against women by limiting their training opportunities. If your employer is not prepared to train you, pay for courses yourself or get out. And while you are embarking on such training, join and become active in male-dominated business networks as well as women's business groups. Spread your ‘connections’. In so many respects the far reaching changes in society in the 21st century represent the best news for women - but only those who choose to seize the forthcoming opportunities. Yes, women suffer from the ‘glass ceiling’ (being told that they have equal opportunity whilst being unable to progress further than their male superiors will allow them) - but this is already starting to change. It will change much more in the next decades. No company in the future will be able to afford to ignore, or discriminate against, any sector of their workforce. I am not suggesting that businessmen will suddenly get attacks of conscience and start helping women altruistically. The demands of business will dictate these changes. As competition intensifies in the business sector, the more forward-thinking organisations will actively seek to harness the intellect and the ‘softer’ qualities of women. As we have shown in this chapter, the workplace continues to change. How we respond to these and future changes will determine our employability. This requires a totally different mindset and behaviour from millions of workers and business owners. Many companies and executives have demonstrated the necessary courage to prepare themselves for the new millennium. The next chapter outlines the many alternatives available to you to safeguard your employability. Back to the previous page |
