We’re all contributing to our organizations every day, right? With the pressures we face to continuously perform more with less, to constantly learn and to adapt to ongoing changes, we can never get too comfortable being “just” an employee. For the Millennials entering the workforce, for the X-ers who’ve been casualties of mass layoffs and for the Boomers who’ve seen life before and after downsizing, I doubt that will ever happen again.

But, how we go about contributing to our organizations is different today than even a few years ago. In our advertising/marketing industry, we’re experiencing and defining the changes. We’re not just (FTE) full-time employees or equivalents (got to love the human touch there), or (PTE) part-time employees or equivalents. We’re contractors, freelancers, vendors, temporary employees, etc.

Source: from you flowers

To deal with this wide array of classifications, I’ve coined a new term – CTM (contributing team members). Again, back to my first line…we’re all contributing or we’re not going to be around for long and we’re part of the greater whole – the team. We just come to the team playing different positions, sometimes on different fields. But our team uniforms, the rules we follow and the ultimate score we want to see posted is the same.

The key to this is not about specific words or definitions, rather it is about getting those CTM’s to share their skills and talents in a way that makes sense for the organization and the individual player. You accomplish this, by:

1. Clearly defining the organizational needs upfront. Is the gap or need you have for additional skills temporary (project oriented) or ongoing (organizational oriented)?
2. Looking within your organization (I always recommend this first) to see if these skills can be developed within your current CTM’s.
3. Looking outside of your organization with your expectations included in the recruitment process.
4. Fitting the person or CTM that is looking for the same type of relationship. Or a current CTM who is willing to change their position.

Just as organizations have been forced to become more creative with their solutions, so should job-seekers. If job seekers aren’t willing to think differently or try a new approach to the way they work or what they are called, then they just don’t get it. Flexibility has to happen on both ends of the relationship, otherwise it’s not a viable one today or tomorrow.

I see another opportunity here…if we’re not all FTE’s or PTE’s anymore, than we’re not just job-seekers, either.