As a Recruiter we talk to our candidates and clients about compensation, financial incentives, stock options, bonuses, and it goes on. What about barter or gift exchange? Marina Gorbis, Futurist from the Institute of the Future just released a new book called, The Nature of the Future: Dispatches from the Socialstructed World.” She has fascinating chapters on how the new economy is emerging right now and we can open our minds to new models that support meaningful work.
One topic is about money. Why are so many people spending their time doing something for free? There are more of us, even us boomers that are putting our beliefs into action. We see this in a volunteer rate in this country that is doubling. Candidates are opting for meaningful philanthropy time in their new jobs as one example. (Google, Jamba and others)
Marina says, in a gift economy, the most important technology is the technology of social relations. There is a natural orientation towards encouraging exchanges, learning from others and establishing processes that allows for the right people with the right resources to facilitate exchanges easily. There are new kinds of currency that are not new really. She shares some fascinating examples of this relationship to money in the past and now what that means in our emerging new economy.
Daniel Ariely, a behavioral economist, also writes about this. In his book, “Predictably Irrational,” he says, “People will work more for a cause than for cash. I am not recommending we do away with money in exchange for performance and results. I am suggesting a new way of looking at motivation and the importance of social exchange and how this will change work. What are you doing to bring passion, self direction and connectivity with others inside and outside the company into your work?
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