Building teams either as a small or established company is not an easy task. These companies are faced with creating services and products that will impact people and communities. But the real challenge most times isn’t capital but the human resource. The big question of whom to employ arises. In every company there are two types of employees;

1. Paycheque Employees (PE)

2. Vision-Driven Employees (VDE)

Discovering which one you are is very easy. Though some people can be both, most people are just one of the two.

Disclaimer:I am not a Human Resource expert. Just sharing my thoughts based on my experience in the workplace.

Who is a Paycheque Employee?

We often term employees that don’t play with their salaries as Paycheque Employees. This superficial classification though seems true isn’t an objective way to describe a Paycheque Employee. This type of employee is an individual whose priority isn’t in making sure the company’s vision is realised but rather he/she is focused on achieving their job specification and recording safe or excellent KPIs. The primary reason a Paycheque Employee will switch jobs is that the new company offers better employee benefits. Paycheque Employees sometimes consider the quality of employee engagement available at the new company but aren’t deterred by it.

Who is a Vision Driven Employee?

This classification of employees is most needed in start-ups. For them, it is all about the vision and the moment the company’s leadership isn’t consistent with the company’s vision or changes the vision to something that the employee doesn’t strongly believe in, they are already one leg out of the door. Often times we mix ‘passion driven employees’ with ‘vision driven employees’ because being passionate about your work doesn’t mean you believe in the overall reason why the company exists. Assuming a company with lower or higher job benefit tries to recruit a passion-driven person, the level of career impact the new company brings will determine if he/she will consider leaving the current employer. While a vision-driven employee will first consider the company’s vision with respect to his/her career vision before looking at other factors like the quality of employee engagement offered by the new company.

Employee engagement varies in different companies and it is no news that salary structure also varies. It is wrong to equate an employee’s paycheque to employee engagement. Read more

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A proper understanding of the type of employee you are will help you a lot in your career endeavour. A Paycheque Employee and a Vision-Driven Employee are both needed to build sustainable organisations.

Start-ups while recruiting need to focus on building a team of Vision Driven Employees. These individuals will become the company’s internal resource and help to properly manage the company’s burn rate. There’s a thin line between Vision Driven Employees and most individuals that prefer working for non-profits. This doesn’t mean Vision Driven Employees don’t exist in profit-driven organisations.

Established companies, on the other hand, will require more Paycheque Employees than Vision Driven Employees. This most times is due to the fact that these companies have a lot of projects being executed at the same time. The focus of the recruiter is often on getting a candidate that has an excellent track record in a certain discipline rather than getting a candidate whose career path suites the company’s portfolio. Immediate needs most times overshadows the recruiter’s judgement and we most times end up with career driven professionals who will deliver but aren’t good team players.

As an individual understanding these two — PE and VDE — will help you know how you will need to work with an organisation. Some individuals are working full-time at a job they should be doing part-time thereby undergoing career stress. There’s no crime in working full time as a VDE and taking contract jobs as a PE or vice versa.

Your career can either be a burden that you carry just to pay bills or an avenue to express yourself. It is important you understand and develop your career vision and see how organisations you plan to work among align with your goals using the concept of PE and VDE.