​Embracing the Side Hustler

Irish professionals are taking their career beyond the limits of the 9-5 contract with the side hustle and improving their quality of life in the process.

Known as ‘slashies’ because their job title contains more than one occupation, these workers create a secondary job for themselves by turning a hobby into a second source of income. 

With Generations Y and Z entering the world of work, this multi-faceted professional lifestyle is here to stay as today’s worker becomes more and more professionally multi-faceted.

Employers may think ‘Why should I risk hiring a side hustler?’. Anyone not 100% dedicated to the company is a liability, right?

Wrong.

Having a passion outside of the business doesn’t make workers any less dedicated within the business, it allows them a creative outlet which speaks to who they are.

Against the background of high competition for talented staff, it is vital that employees’ hobbies are accepted and supported especially when they turn it into a side business!

While there are no official Irish statistics, the Independent revealed that almost two-fifths of UK employees have a side hustle and this figure is expected to continue to grow.

Are you ready to find out why these individuals are key to your workplace’s future? 
 
Here are the HR Department’s top 5 reasons why you should encourage your workers get in on the hustle…

1. Passion

Your employees’ passions come in all different forms so it’s important to encourage them to pursue them. Support for their personal interests outside of work will upkeep their passion for their job with you. This zeal will add a quality to employees’ work which is otherwise difficult to manufacture.

Encouraging new lifestyles for your workers to accommodate their outside interests whether through remote working or some other method will drive employee motivation during working hours because their personal needs are being met.

1. Security For You and For Them

With multiple sources of income, your employees will have improved job security and therefore, an improved sense of wellbeing. With less stress about paying for their expenses, employees will be more content with their salary.

This is not to suggest that you shouldn’t promote employees who deserve it but for SMEs who have less to spend on wages, it can be a great way of building profits until you can properly afford raises and other accolades for team members.

1. Highly Employable

One fear of employers is that the side hustle will detract from their primary job which is vastly untrue. In fact, a Forbes study revealed that 48% of side hustlers spend less than five hours a week on their external projects.  

Why are we put off by those who have start-ups or other businesses and yet we ask for self-starters on our job advertisements?

Those who are personally motivated to generate success in their spare time are often the types of individuals who take initiative and are very organised and it is these individuals who bring multiple types of experience which are invaluable to your SME!  

1. A Chance to Infuse Meaning 

Many employers focus on how their employees find meaning from their job but what about the meaning they find in their personal endeavours?

Helping employees find meaning in their life helps employees get into a forward-thinking mindset in which they feel able to create their future.

This boost in personal agency will help them feel more empowered to provide high-quality customer service and to be an integral contributor to the team.

A commitment to your employees’ meaning of life outside of work is going the extra mile for them, a gesture which will likely breed loyalty and emotional connection to your workplace.

1. The Opportunity for a Healthy Employer-Employee Relationship

One of the negative stereotypes about side hustlers is that their daily performance becomes drained by moonlighting.

It’s important to remember that a part-time passion doesn’t mean that their productivity during their full-time hours is necessarily in jeopardy.

Often while their side hustle brings them extra money and fulfilment, employees will want to stay in their fulltime job for the salary, stability and benefits it offers.

Building a give-and-take relationship with those who do other forms of work could unexpectedly boost the health of your business processes.  

An example of how this could be done would be to communicate that their other work can’t be completed during working hours but respect that you have no sway over what they work on in their own time. Boundaries and respect from both parties breed a stronger relationship.
 
Side Hustle in a Nutshell
We need to rewrite the narrative of the fickle side hustler as making passions a reality is key to your employees’ self-actualisation.

Side hustlers who are supported in their passions will feel more fulfilled and can therefore bring something extra to your business as positive company representatives, people with greater job security and unique skills from their wealth of experience.

While multi-faceted careers bring more to think about, it also gives you a greater opportunity to build a meaningful relationship with your employees, one that will last the test of time.

​So, how are you going to show your support of the side hustler today to embrace your workplace’s future?