Who Provides a Job

 I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.

---- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

In society, some people work for other people; we can simply call this relationship as employment – the employees work for the employers. In this section, let us look at the “employer” in detail.

 

Who is the employer

Generally speaking, an employer is the owner of a business who provides work opportunities for others.

There are many types of business units. You have the government service department, big enterprises like public-listed corporations and small businesses like a retail store in the shopping center.

For convenience, we will just use “company” as a general business unit, meaning that when we say “employer”, they can be government officers to the civil servants, the human resource department of a corporation, or the shop owner to the salesperson.

 

Know your first employer

When you take up your first job, you are switching from the learning phase to the career phase. For most people, the first job does not last for long. This may be because you may not be comfortable when entering the career phase – you are still exploring the job market and trying to adapt to the new environment. However, you still need to take this opportunity to get to know your first employer. By doing this, you will be able to better adapt to your future employers and work with greater freedom later in your career phase. This is a necessary step you need to take, even if you may not want to create your own business to become an employer.

You need to find out the answer to the following questions:

● What is this business? What is the future of the business (in 5 years, 10 years, etc.)?

● What is the market for this company? What comparative advantage does this company have that differentiates it from the others?

● What is the culture of this company?

● Is the boss trying to boost employees’ morale to promote productivity or just to make use of the staff?

Bear these questions in mind as you work and try to answer them within 2-3 months after you have joined the company. These 2-3 months are normally the probation period in the employment contract, during which you can terminate the job with immediate notice without receiving a penalty.

From the answers, you will decide if you want to stay there or not.

My first job was working as a technician to develop a road light control system. Four fresh graduates worked under the boss who had just quit university one year before. It was a project-based development and we did not have a marketing staff. We were free most of the time, and playing computer games became routine when the boss was absent. If you check the above question list, you would find that there was little reason to stay in such a company for long.

 

What is the most important factor to confirm a job

Is there a perfect job? There may be but these are often difficult to find. A job needs your attention, your effort, your concentration, and your cooperation with your colleagues. This means you have to make a commitment and contribute to the job first, only then will you be able to harvest the fruits of your labor.

So there is no easy job, but when you consider a job, what is the most important factor?

Unfortunately, there is no definite answer to this. One man’s meat is another’s poison. If we look at some specific angles, however, there is something we may have a clearer answer to.

If you have chosen an industry, you can consider finding a “good” company to work for in the short term (e.g. for the next 1-3 years). In this context, I would say your direct boss (i.e. your supervisor) is the most important factor.

Focus on your supervisor during the probation period to see if you want to continue the job after that. Observe his or her attitude to your fellow colleagues – how he or she interacts with and promotes cooperation among the team, how he or she handles customers’ complaints… Consider these, and if you feel like your supervisor is good to work with, then you can confirm your stay with the company after the probation period.

If the company is big, you may consider looking to your supervisor’s boss for answers as well.

 

There's more than one way to skin a cat

If you never write, a pen is nothing to you. When you write, a pen is a tool for you to use; if the pen runs out of ink or is not comfortable to write with, you can throw it away and buy a new one.

The same relationship applies to you and your employer. Without employment, you don’t care who or what the employer is. The employer only matters to you when you are employed. But you don’t have to stick to one company. You have the right to terminate a service according to the employment contract you signed.

Note the company is not a charity, as an employee you should contribute and dedicate yourself to its business. Apply for a job only after you have conducted sufficient research on the company – you will not waste time trying out a company you would not work for that way.

 

What should an employer do

Once upon a time, I was an employer myself. I was a co-founder for a blooming company – the market niche was there, what we had to find was potential customers to help sell our services. However, frequent business socializing and the constant pressure of the next payment of rentals and employees’ salaries deteriorated my health. The business is now obsolete today.

It is not easy for the employer. The employer should be able to look far into the future to make sure the business has a future. In simpler terms, the employer needs to have a vision. Only by creating one can he progressively re-organize the company to adapt to the business evolution while maintaining its core foundations.

The employer then has to be kind to the employees if he or she really wants to realize their vision. The employees determine the strength of the company and are essential to making the employer’s vision come true. The employer should understand that happiness breeds productivity – it is a virtuous cycle. The vicious cycle is contrary: when one feels bad, everything he or she does becomes inefficient and may even go wrong. Hence, a boss who knows how to motivate the employees will benefit far more than those who exploit employees as tools.

If you are a boss and not aware of this, stop and ask yourself: in retrospect, was there anything I’ve done wrong? Did any staff I had valued leave due to management problems? Will my ambitions be delayed without a productive and collaborative team?