Entitlement… A term we hear a lot. The usage of which is global, and not limited to culture, industry, and whatever other reason you can think of. One definition is “the right to a particular privilege or benefit, granted by law or custom”. Another definition is “the belief that one is inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment.” But the one referred to here is “a sense of deservingness or being owed a favour when little or nothing has been done to deserve special treatment. It’s the ‘you owe me’ attitude”.
We blame the schooling system for not delivering entrepreneurs. Yet, entrepreneurs existed long before schooling systems existed.
We blame banks for not giving funding to so-called entrepreneurs, but entrepreneurs existed long before any formal or informal banking systems existed.
“Believe it or not, the first entrepreneurs can be traced back to nearly 20,000 years ago. The first known trading between humans took place in New Guinea around 17,000 BCE”.[1]
Entrepreneurs don’t “pop-up” in good times, and neither do they in bad times. Entrepreneurs are people that are willing to take risks knowing very well that those decisions could ruin them.
No business that exists today was not started by at least one entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurs are people that create jobs, employment.
No business that exists today did not create employment.
In any good economy there must be willing buyers and willing sellers. Entrepreneurs and Employees are willing buyers and willing sellers.
Entrepreneurs are willing to pay for skills.
Employees, job seekers, are willing to sell their skills.
At the beginning, and heart of every employer/employee relationship is a contract of employment.
The heart is…
Employer –
Employs an Employee to do something;
For a period of time;
For an agreed upon fee.
At the end of the period, if the Employee did the something correctly, the Entrepreneur would pay the Employee the agreed upon fee.
So, at the end of each period, the Employer owes the Employee nothing and the Employee owes the Employer nothing.
And now the next period starts again, and the above repeats.
Employee –
The Employee agrees to work at the business of the Employer and to do something;
For a period of time;
For an agreed upon fee.
At the end of the period, if the Employee did the something correctly, the Employer would pay the Employee the agreed upon fee.
At the end of each period, the Employer owes the Employee nothing and the Employee owes the Employer nothing.
And the next period starts again, and the above repeats.
What then gives Employees the idea, even belief that they deserve anything else or more, than what was agreed upon at the very outset of the employer/employee relationship?
I was an Employee for 32 years.
[1] https://bebusinessed.com/history/history-of-entrepreneurship/