Professional vs Contingent Workers

It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of monetary resources in order to reach the level to become a professional. Individuals work day and night to work towards a career goal, and once they have reached that goal than they have a strong and a long-term commitment to their field of expertise. In most cases they tend to take their job very seriously, and are more intrinsically motivated. They like what they do and like to tackle problems and solve them. For example Lawyers put all their efforts to win a case.

They do research and study many cases in order to prove their point. The driving force for professionals is self-gratification, which they get from working at their highest level. Money is the hygiene factor for professionals but it is low on the priority list. According to the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, professionals have more high-order needs. High order needs are satisfied internally; social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. If an individual is a professional then in most cases the lower-order needs are already met. For example the physiological needs that includes hunger, thirst, shelter are met because professionals make enough money to afford these needs very easily.

The demand for professionals in a steady economy is always high, that provides them job security, which fulfills their safety needs. Professionals’ work towards social, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Professionals esteem needs are very high, and they value support. They need to feel good about themselves and their competence. They want their work to be respected, and require attention from others.

Professionals like to have autonomy in their work, and like to structure their work in ways that they find productive. The need to realize one’s potential as a human being is one of the most important motivation tools for professionals. They are high achievers and they use their skills and abilities to a full extent to achieve their goals. If we link Herzberg two factor theory to professionals we can determine that professionals are hardly dissatisfied with their jobs, because the hygiene factors are adequate. Money, working conditions, status, security, personal life, etc, is available to the professionals to a certain level.

As far as the motivational factors are concerned the challenging work is one of the most important factor. Professionals like challenging work environment, so they can prove their competencies to themselves and others. The job responsibility, recognition, and achievement needs force the professionals to work towards their goals. Victor Vroom’s expectancy theory can also be linked to the professionals. It is the theory that explains the linkage between effort, performance, rewards and goal attainment.

When we think of rewards the first thought that comes in our mind is monetary rewards. Money is ranked low on the priority list for professionals. Professionals view rewards as recognition. Victor Vroom theory fits the professional profile because in order to achieve their goals they need to put their effort and perform at their highest level. Performance leads to rewards (recognition) and that help them achieve their goals. Professionals’ goals are different than non-professionals. Instead of focusing on basic needs, they tend to work towards self-actualization.

On the other hand contingent workers are different from professionals at a certain level. Contingent or temporary workers have little or no job security as their employment is based on a temporary, as needed basis. Contingent workers are not committed to the organization for a long run, as they know that they will be out of there in very short period of time. As far as the hygiene and motivational factors are concerned there is hardly anything which contingent workers can count on.

There are not too many companies that provide benefits to the new employees. Contingent workers are different from professionals because they are working towards their lower-order needs. Contingent workers are at the bottom of Maslow hierarchy of needs. They are trying to fulfill their basic needs, and it is hard for them to work towards higher-order needs. For example if a temporary worker is not sure that whether he will have a job in a short period of time; then his focus will be on finding another job. He will be spending time looking for another job when he gets off from work. He will hardly have any time to fulfill his social needs. Even at work he will not fell belongingness, as his assignment is on temporary basis, and he will not get any time to develop relationship with other workers.

Sometimes it is hard for contingent workers to find work, as they don’t have the skills necessary to perform the job. In those cases the contingent worker is hardly able to fulfill his physiological needs as he hardly have enough money to support himself. When we link the Herzberg two factor theory to contingent workers we can determine that contingent workers are dissatisfied with their jobs because the hygiene factors are not sufficient. Job security is one of the major hygiene factor which forces the contingent workers to be dissatisfied with their jobs. Contingent workers get little or no health care benefits, vacations, sick leave, and other benefits.

All these factors contribute to the dissatisfied attitude of the workers, and they tend to offer their least or no commitment to the organization. Victor Vroom expectancy theory defines a lot about contingent workers. It clearly explains that why contingent workers exert low level of effort in carrying out job responsibilities. There are barely any rewards available for the contingent workers. There are little or no advancement opportunities, and recognition and promotion is at minimal level. In this kind of work environment it is hard for the temporary employee to be loyal and committed to the organization. The employee goals are different than the organization goals and in most cases the outcome is not satisfactory. The employee will not exert maximum effort as the effort is linked to performance, but the performance is not linked to rewards or goals attainment.

There are different steps a manager can take to reduce turnover and increase performance in the organization. As far as the professionals are concerned they should be given full autonomy in the jobs and allow them to structure their jobs in ways that they find productive. They need to feel free to make decisions and should be provided with recognition and feedback during the whole project. As far as the rewards are concerned money is not an issue with the professionals. They are more intrinsically motivated and the work itself is a motivator. Professionals should be rewarded in a different manner, for example; they should be provided with full resources in their field.

All kind of information technology should be readily available to these professionals. They should be recognize over and over again for their work, and other should value their work as important. Rewarding the professionals with educational opportunities is one of the best motivational tools. Learning the new technology, attending conferences and seminars are the things which professionals enjoys a lot, and they value education.

In order to motivate contingent worker we need to take a different approach. The above discussion has made it clear that the top ranked priority for contingent workers is permanent job status. If the managers make it clear from the beginning that the temporary employees will be given permanent status, if they perform well during the temporary period and are able to achieve their goals effectively and efficiently. The company should offer some kind of benefits to the temporary employees. This will provide some of the hygiene factors for the contingent workers. The temporary employees should also be involved in the decision-making programs, and their efforts should be recognized as well as rewarded.

It is a good idea to pay the contingent workers with variable-pay or skill-based pay plan. Contingent employees will exert more effort if they know that they will get pay on their performance. Skill-base pay will encourage the employees to develop more skills, which will help the companies to have job enlargement in their organizations.