Being Paid based On Performance Or Working Hours?

The working landscape has not always been the same. The first job a human being first did was to cultivate the land. After hunting, which was hardly ever considered a job since it only secured the individual’s or family’s survival, agriculture was the first ever invented. People would work now to enjoy later. They would take care of their yields to use the products later. At this point, trading has not been invented.

Every person cultivates a piece of land that they do not owe. Everyone works for themselves, and no one is hired to provide a service another person will enjoy. The land they cultivate does not belong to them. However, the products that come from this work should be consumed according to their wishes. If someone else takes them without asking, this is considered stealing and can be a source of great trouble.

The next job appears in the landscape right after this situation is established. The seeds and fruits being produced must be stored so that people will consume them in the future. As long as food is produced and stored already, it is obvious that other people will try to take it. At this point, farmers will, for the first time in the history of humanity, hire a person to do a particular task. They will hire people to watch their products while working or resting in the fields.

Different ways of payment

The payment is, of course, a part of the yield. The huge difference between the job of the farmer in the first case and the job of the guard in the second case is that the first one will have to work until they see a particular result coming back. In contrast, the second one will only have to work for a specific time to get paid. Therefore, we can detect the difference between the work that is paid based on the result and the performance of the work that is paid based on the amount of time the person had to spend. These two types of payment will follow humanity for years, depending on the market’s needs and the nature of the job.

Working based on the clock

People who work on a settled schedule are usually more stress-free and do not have to treat their jobs as if they mean everything to them. However, even if they complete a task sooner than expected, they will not be free to leave their workplace. On the contrary, they must move on to the next task until their 8-hour shift ends. Their job is often dull, but it is generally a fair way to pay an employee. Nowadays, big companies will try to apply a combined payment method to tempt employees to become more productive. A person who works in sales will be paid according to the working hours, but their manager will offer a bonus if they attract more clients. This may be the most profitable deal for the company since it combines benefits from both cases.

Working based on the performance

Usually, it is the employees that will have to be paid based on the hours they spend working. You will hardly ever see any boss stopping work just because the clock turned 5. A person who runs a business will be constantly devoted to the results that must be achieved to make their business profitable. Also, people in higher positions, like CEOs and CFOs, are usually doing their best. They will not settle for mediocracy or give up. Instead, they will work until they achieve the desired goal. Just like in the case of the farmer and the guard, the farmer, who was the ”boss” of this undefined business, would base their work on the result. The guard, who was a hired person, was only expected to work for specific hours.

Payment is the motivation, which is why some people get excited about being evaluated based on their performance. Being productive keeps them going, which is why we always talk about the more ambitious part of the working force.

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