Comments on: No more employees (or employers)

By: another article « this gun is for hire

another article « this gun is for hire — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:42:47 +0000

[...] No more employees (or employers), by Eric Karjaluoto [...]

By: Thomson Dawson

Thomson Dawson — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:13:02 +0000

You write about an interesting and on-going trend in design business.

As you know, the "graphic design" business is mostly comprised of small firms of 3- 4 people. (By the way, the 50 largest US firms, comprise less than 20 percent of the total market fee revenue.)

So it's an industry comprised of mostly little enterprises. Primarily an owner and his/her minions... in larger firms, the "work" gets more compartmentalized and people are mere cogs in the big wheel of design process.

For nearly twenty years, my own firm ran with a dozen or so people... that business owned me, I didn't own it. Now I am a solo consulting professional. I work with other solo professionals in various dicsiplines scaling up or down as the client requires. It works, yet it is not always perfect.

I choose my current structure 10 years ago, because I believe it allows me to provide a deeper level of relationship with only a few clients whose business I find interesting. I don't have to schlep to bring in work that feeds the machine. I only work on what matters to me and serves the business objectives of my clients.

The issue you discuss in your post did not focus on what's really important in running a design business (of any size) and that is how your business structure brings value to your client's business.

Designers are such nerds these days... always tweaking on stuff that matters little to clients. Plus the fact remains that graphic designers are in abundant supply and the "service" most preform has been so marginalized that it really matters very little if you run a virtual firm, or one with lots of bodies and infrastructure. Clients have abundant choice and POWER in the relationship!

Regardless of size or business model, there are two types of firms in our profession:

1) order-takers
2) knowledge and insight providers

My suggestion is to become the latter of the two. It is the only method by which you can elevate your value in the hearts and minds of your clients.

This has very little to do with decorating content... from my experience most graphic designers just want to be cool, design stuff they think is cool, and have their work win "awards"...

As designers, we need to be putting our energy into designing ways to be remarkably useful in helping our clients solve their business problems with design thinking... not grinding away on photoshop files, or stealing shapes out of CA magazine.

Regardless of how you structure the form and process of delivery, the truly remarkable firms, teams or individual professionals elevate their perceived value in the eyes of their clients through knowledge and insight on the issues client's deem important to their growth and success.

Think deeper!

Thomson Dawson
Managing Partner
PULL Inc.
http://www.pullinc.com

By: Erika Rathje

Erika Rathje — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:12:05 +0000

Thanks for this great post, Eric. This is well-timd for me as I reflect on what I liked and didn't like at past studio jobs, what I love about my current job and what I'm looking for later. Job satisfaction may be influenced by how well we've figured ourselves out in terms of wants and needs and understanding/shaping our behaviours. I don't work in a studio anymore; I'm on a small creative team within a large NGO and it's the best job I've ever had. My "boss" admitted he doesn't feel like a boss, he feels like another team member and I feel like the playing field is level. I feel respected and am given a lot of creative freedom, neither of which seemed to exist at my studio jobs. My work is appreciated and praised. I don't feel like I have to work toward impressing anybody (like a studio owner), and because it isn't the lifeblood of one or two people, nobody's going to panic if I screw up (just, sometimes, me). I'm enjoying the not-for-profit world even though it doesn't pay as well because I know I'm doing fantastic work I'm proud of. Studio life sucked the life out of me and yeah, after a few months at one f them, it wasn't great anymore. You nailed that one, Eric. I think if the team is good to start with, team-building activities are positive, fun things that operate more organically. We do them regularly, often scheduled, during and outside the workday. Someone outside the organization at a party with some of our staff remarked how wonderful it is that we're friends, not just colleagues. I'd like to think our situation is not unique. Personally I prefer to have an office to come to, people to work with closely, and somebody to have lunch with. I don't want to manage my own business. So as much as I like what I earn doing freelance, it's lonely. We might harp on the virtual thing a lot but ultimately human interaction carries a lot of weight. I haven't met half my clients but I love having likeminded colleagues to banter with every day. In the end I'm convinced I get more done and with more passion, and that we work together better.

By: Danny Halarewich

Danny Halarewich — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 19:22:36 +0000

I think that the problem resides in personality traits common with designers.

Designers typically are independent by nature. Our industry has so many freelancers and consultants that it's clear many simply don't fit in a typical, structured environment with standard hierarchy.

We have all seen it work. Likewise, we have all seen it not work. And I think it comes down to employee personality/character and the skills and character of the leadership.

Going from designer to leader is VERY difficult. Designers are detail people and their vision is comprised of various small things that come together to create perfect harmony. Giving someone else control of the orchestra is downright gut wrenching for some, myself included.

But if you can find the right person. Someone who cares about the goals of the company and wants to be inline with them. Someone who respects all the team members and wants to make a difference. Someone who appreciates that the 'boring' aspects of business are taken care of for them so they can do what they love.

If you find the right person, direct them properly and have the guts to let go of some control, it can be a good thing and work very well. I have seen it work.

By: Eric Karjaluoto

Eric Karjaluoto — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:27:24 +0000

I agree--the comments people make here are amazing. I'm very happy that so many take the time to add such insightful and substantial remarks. :-)

I think your approach to working with designers is a reasonable one, and not all that different from how we worked when we had others on staff. It's important for people to have room to grow and explore ideas. Actually, I always encouraged designers to create work that was unique to them--the only caveats were that they had to be able to rationalize their decisions, and it had to meet the needs outlined in the brief.

My position isn't that it's impossible to have a productive and happy studio with a number of people on staff. It can certainly happen, and it sounds like yours is an example of that. Meanwhile, I argue that the employer/employee model is ever-present not because it's superior, but rather because it's what we're used to.

The freedom of working without the barriers of an employer (or employee) is incredibly liberating. Not that many people are doing so yet, but those who do tend to be much happier than their salaried-counterparts; and that's often in spite of the fact that many make less money than they would if employed. (Incidentally, this observation is purely anecdotal, informed by my discussions with others. I don't have any actual data to support this argument.)

By: Glenn Hilton

Glenn Hilton — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:32:21 +0000

Hi Eric, I've been reading your blog for 6 months or so and really enjoy your storytelling ability, keen wit, and how well you articulate yourself. I find the comment threads to be just as interesting to the posts themselves and I think that attests to the depth that people engage with your posts. It's a time commitment to write a comment and I've consistently noticed that many of your readers comments are like mini blog posts themselves. I think you've made some good points in this post and it sounds like you've come to realization that it's best for you to not have any more employees. I too run a creative firm and know that I often frustrate my employees in many ways, but where you and I are different is that I've never come to the place where I've felt like it just can't work. Usually when a designer and I disagree on a direction, I have him mock up two versions. One the way I want it and one with his take and we present both to the client. At times this can cost a bit more in terms of our time, but really helps our designers not feel quashed by my strong opinions. I'm sure if you sat down with each of our employees and probed deeper on their "real" experience, you'd probably hear about some areas of dissatisfaction and what they felt they're lacking in their job. However, should they move out on their own, I'm sure they'd admit, that they'd probably encounter all sorts of things that could bring equal or more dissatisfaction. Thus many of them have chosen employment because the benefits outweigh the downsides. I feel my role as an employer is to work on diminishing the downsides by listening to them and then doing my best to provide what they need to flourish in their roles. I'm not writing this to try and change your mind on how you run your company, but do want you to consider that there are others out there similar to yourself who are utilizing the employer/employee model and are finding it to work quite well. :)

By: Eric Karjaluoto

Eric Karjaluoto — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:21:40 +0000

No, I'm "transferring ownership" of that part to you. :-)

By: Alastair

Alastair — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:11:54 +0000

Eric, thanks for the new car. It's awesome. But you're still paying for gas and insurance right?

By: tomasu

tomasu — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 06:40:46 +0000

can i suggest a book -

Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In - http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Yes-Negotiating-Agreement-Without/dp/0140157352

By: Michael Badger » Creative microbusiness

Michael Badger » Creative microbusiness — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 03:06:26 +0000

[...] advice for creative people from Eric Karjaluoto at the ideas on ideas blog. When speaking about creative employees: I say that almost every creative-worker out there needs to quit today and become a 100% owner in [...]