#390 Does performance at work pay off?
Does performance at work pay off?
Facts, figures and data on the controversial topic
Delivering performance at work should be worthwhile.
This principle is repeatedly called into question in discussions. As is often the case in political discussions, it quickly ends in an ideological debate in which population groups are called out against each other. We are not having this kind of discussion here. The debate here is about figures, data and facts. If we look at different locations, different levels of education, and the average net income to be assumed here, is it worth working or do people who do not work receive more financial benefits?
Is performance worthwhile?
Performance
A performance contribution takes place on different levels. There is the performance contribution in terms of content, the qualitative contribution. This aspect is about contributing the highest possible quality regarding the result. However, the highest quality alone is not enough. A certain amount of work must also be completed. This aspect is referred to as the quantitative part of the performance contribution. In addition, the personal contribution is becoming increasingly important. Interpersonal aspects are important here. Soft skills are becoming increasingly important, especially when working in teams.
Comparison
When comparing performance, we look at a person who is 21 years old, single, has no children and no other financial obligations, a person who is fully capable of working and has a full-time job. We compare the cities of Berlin (BER) in Germany, Zurich (ZRH) in Switzerland, London (LON) in the United Kingdom and New York City (NYC) in the United States of America. Cities are always abbreviated when referring to dates. All amounts are stated in local currency, for Berlin in Euros, for Zurich in Swiss francs, for London in Pounds Sterling and for New York City in US Dollars. In the above-mentioned comparison of education, a completed apprenticeship in an office job was used as a comparative value. The data comes from the respective countries' Federal Statistical Office or the Office for National Statistics. An average was used for financial spectra. All incomes mentioned are net monthly incomes.
The facts:
Benefit receipt without work: BER: 1502 / ZRH: 1900 / LON: 592 / NYC: 1600
Net income vocational qualification: BER: 1625 / ZRH: 3750 / LON: 1650 / NYC: 2750
Net income Bachelor: BER: 2250 / ZRH: 5250 / LON: 2300 / NYC: 3750
Net income Master: BER: 3000 / ZRH: 6500 / LON: 3150 / NYC: 5000
Net income doctorate: BER: 3600 / ZRH: 7500 / LON: 4000 / NYC: 6250
More detailed spectra and further aspects are mentioned in the current podcast; see the links below.
Conclusion
Is performance worth it? Yes. The figures do not allow any other conclusion. Even if we look for cases where people without work receive more than those with work, the cases are mostly statistically minimal to entirely theoretical. One could say that in certain countries, performance is worthwhile but not worth enough. This aspect is a sensible and certainly worthwhile discussion. It is noticeable that in Germany, the difference between working and receiving benefits is the smallest, especially regarding non-academic qualifications. However, it should also be noted that lower incomes in all countries go hand in hand with more social security systems. Everyone is glad to have this safeguarding aspect as soon as they fall on hard times. Unfortunately, the trend towards rewarding mediocrity and fiscally penalising excellence and outstanding performance is not new in Germany. It should also be noted that people in Switzerland, for example, work significantly more hours. We can assume 42 to 45 per week with 22 days of holiday and only a few public holidays yearly. More work, more money. An understandable correlation. In every country, elections are due in the future, and decisive decisions can be made to shape the situation according to one's own ideas.
Work also has more value than just net income. Work structures the day. To this day, most people who enter into relationships get to know each other at work. Work also has the side effect that money is earned, and none is spent. Work can provide a sense of purpose by contributing to an excellent product or service.
On the other hand, leisure time primarily costs money, which, in the best case, has been earned beforehand. If you are still saying that performance is not worthwhile enough, you need to make a choice, get actively involved or change your own environment, be it at work, personally or in terms of where you live. The year 2025 offers you every opportunity.
Conclusion: performance is worthwhile, albeit to a greater or lesser financial extent, depending on the context.
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More on this topic in this week's podcast: Apple Podcasts / Spotify
See below for the podcast transcript.
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Niels Brabandt is an expert in sustainable leadership with more than 20 years of experience in practice and science.
Niels Brabandt: Professional Training, Speaking, Coaching, Consulting, Mentoring, Project & Interim Management. Event host, MC, moderator.
Podcast Transcript
Niels Brabandt
Here we are in the new year, and I am now talking about a topic which was controversial and is controversial still . I hope you had a good start to the new year, and we're going straight into the topic of does performance pay off . I I received an enormous amount of email during the last couple of months . Why didn't I talk about the topic during last year ? Very very easy because this is a topic which had a lot of need a lot of effort for research, getting the numbers, the data, the facts together . And as you all wanted it fact based, which I appreciate, here we are when you now wonder what did Niels Bohr do during the festive seasons, research, and data . I hope you had a good time getting into the new year 2025 . We're talking about, does it actually pay off to work more, work harder, does it pay off deliver performance to either your organization, your company, your organization, whatever entity you work for ? Because you probably heard the ever ongoing phrase that people say, sometimes it is just better not to work because you get so much from the state . Let's check if this is true . If you're not sitting here and saying, I'm actually hesitating to think of either putting focus on my job, focus on my career because I'm not sure if it actually pays off . This topic of delete often becomes a topic of politics . It's often instrumentalized, but this instrumentalization only focuses on putting a divide in society and then playing one group against another . And that's not what I am going to do here . I strongly distance myself from any kind of this behavior . We are going to talk about facts, evidence, and data . Thus, performance pay off . We compare and deliver the data . First, of course, we have to talk about what are we what are we talking about if we talk about performance . So first, of course, you need to deliver the quality of aspects . So, for example, when you have a certain piece of work that you have to deliver and you can either do it quicker or you can put a bit more hours and then deliver on a better level, that is the amount of quality you have to deliver . Every single service, every single piece of work that gets delivered somewhere has a certain standard it needs to be met . That is the reason why you also have departments such as quality management in many department in many organizations . So that is one part of what you do working on a very high level . Often working on the highest level is strongly connected to having the best at your at least very good education because otherwise, you are unable to do so . The second aspect is the quantitative aspect . When you produce something, let's say you want to produce a certain number of pieces that need to be delivered to the client, that is the quantitative aspect of your performance . So we need to look at both . You have to deliver highest quality, but also a good quantity . In addition to that, it's the personal contribution you give to the organization, the entity, the company . This is the soft skill aspect . This is the soft skill aspect of your work . In recent years, soft skills became more and more important . You hardly find any company that does not provide soft skill training . If if there are any organizations out there not doing soft skill training, you're so far behind of what the market expected to deliver . You probably need to catch up significantly and doing so very quickly . Talking about what are we comparing now, because now we have to get to the data . We compared, does it pay off to work or not to work for a person that is 21 years old, single, has no kids, is able to work fully, and therefore, goes to work full time or doesn't work at all . And we're going to compare full time work versus what do you receive when you do not work at all . And, of course, as you live listening from different place in the world, we had requests from many different areas . So we took 4 cities that are representative, and these are Berlin in Germany, Zurich in Switzerland, London in the United Kingdom, and New York City in the United States of America . The data we gathered is from the so called Bundesamfuhrst statistic in Germany and Switzerland, which is the office for national statistics in the UK or its equivalent in the US . We're looking at 4 different levels of qualification schemes . Either you have qualified professional training, meaning vocational training here, or you have a bachelor's degree, master's degree, or even a PhD, a doctorate degree . Very important here, we also describe what kind of services do you receive when you are in different states to put things into perspective because sometimes you might wonder why is the number higher or lower compared, to other countries or skill levels . And then you always have to consider what are the services you receive . Starting with what is the amount of money you receive when you do not work . So the so called minimum level, minimum income benefits handout, universal credits, name it as you like . There are many different term for that in different countries, and it's very different from country to country . So in Berlin, Germany, you receive roughly €500 a month, whereas in Zurich, you receive 12 to 1400 . That depends on the Canton you live in, but Zurich is 12 to 1400 depending on different different aspects . That's more than double, however, as we all know when you go to Nambeo, maybe you know this platform . It's a website where you can compare cost of living between different cities . Zurich, again, is the most expensive city in the world . 5 4 out of the 5 most expensive cities on this planet now are in Switzerland . In London, you receive £292.11 . That is very, very low, and I hardly wonder how that's that's basically a tenner per day in long life . No idea how people make a living on that, but it somehow is what they get paid . In New York City, based on different criteria, you receive $500 to $700 . As we all know, in New York City, that's not much . Of course, we also have to talk about what kind of place to live . Do they give you where you can then live rent free ? In Germany, this roughly have us around €500 to €700 . That's the usual average rent there . In Switzerland, it's more than double . It's 1200 Swiss franc . However, when you look into the rental market in in in Switzerland, especially in Zurich, you very quickly have you very quickly have rent of set up to 70 Swiss franc per square meter while that is, 1 5th in Germany . So you get a lot more space because you have the right to get a 45 square meter flat in Germany . And in Switzerland, that's very different . So you have to live a lot smaller in Switzerland . In London, you either get one of the social housing places or you live somewhere in the area of 250 to £350 a month, which is very, very small in any place in the country . In New York City, it's the Housing Assistance Act that helps you . You roughly get a $1,000 per month, which is not much . You also live in a very small place . So compare of the compared to the space, Germany pays more . You get more space in Germany . Health insurance is paid in Germany as as well as well as in Zurich . The NHS in London and the UK is free anyway by a percentage that anyone has to pay into . Not a single person can get away from the NHS payment . That's how the UK likes to keep it . Well, health insurance in the US, I don't think we have to discuss it especially after recent events . Huge, huge issues here . Medicaid is going to cover certain aspect, but there's a huge debate about what is going to be paid there . Pensions, by the way, there are no pension payments in any of the place we check, Berlin, Zurich, London, New York City . No one pays into your pension . The only difference is in Germany, they take the they take the time you do not work into account when it comes to meeting minimum number of years to qualify for certain pensions . No other country does that, only Germany . But that's a tiny difference here . But it can have a quite huge impact in Germany when you want get the minimum pension . For example, you suddenly qualify even by not working compared to working . Now we come to the additional services that you receive, and, of course, they are quite hard to compare . So we just looked at what do you get . Basically, in Zurich, you hardly get anything, almost nothing . You have to justify anything and why do you wanna have it and why do you need that . So specific situations of emergencies, then you get some pay, but very, very little and it's very hard to get . In London, you, for example, get training programs, but only focused on which job you get when we get when we pay for this training . Same in the US . There are food stamp programs and training pro program are very, very limited . Very different to Germany where you have a massive amount of qualifications available . Qualifications available . There's a huge there . There's a whole industry sector for state funded training . You may or may not like that . I'm I'm just describing that here . So there's a huge education, integration, participation, package name, and as you like that's the different terms they use in Germany . Looking at the overall package when you take all of that together, in Germany, you roughly receive 1450 up to €1650 . In Zurich, up to 2,000 Swiss franc, which compared to the cost of living is way lower than in Germany . In London, you receive 550 to £650, which is very, very low to make it anywhere in, London, UK . It's really an emergency pay for for for bare minimum survival . And in New York City, 1500 to $1700 is not where you where where where you get rich . So compared to that and compared to the cost of living again, it is Germany that pays the most . So when we now look into what is the net income for someone with vocational training, and then, of course, the main part here is what is the difference in pay compared to compared to what you what you have as an income when you go to work . The difference in income when you have vocational training completed in Germany so answering the most important question first here, does it pay off to work ? And the answer is yes . Even in the lowest pay scale where we looked at compared to all of the different levels, on the very, very lowest end, even then, the case is and please now listen closely . When you go to work compared to receiving services and not working, the difference is you you you get you get up to €400 more in Germany, Berlin Germany, or you have up to €200 less . And, of course, I know it is shocking that in certain situations, people have less when they go to work compared to when they do not go to work . However, even in that spectrum, from minus 200 to plus 400, 2 thirds of that spectrum are on the side of, yes, it pays off to work . Now, you, of course, you can say, well, it doesn't pay off enough . That's a completely different story to talk about . And I agree, sometimes it doesn't pay off enough . However, when we look at the money side, you are always statistically better off working compared to not working . When you have vocational training completed, you €400 more in Germany, Switzerland pays off way more to up to 2,000 Swiss franc more in your pocket net income . And then London up to 1200 pound, and New York City up to $1500 . So this pays off way, way, way more, and it goes up from there . When you go for a bachelor's degree between 800 to 1500 in Berlin, 3 to 4000 Switzerland . So here's massive jump in Switzerland . And 1600 to 2,100 in London, and 2000 to 3000 New York City . So you see, as soon as you go into academic qualification, it really pays off, which is why we commend so many people today to get academic qualification . It doesn't need to be a bachelor's degree . There are many ways there from courses to certificates to whatnot else . But having the understanding of academic knowledge is so much appreciated by today's working market . Be aware of that when you make choices about your additional and future qualifications . It really pays off to have more knowledge than others because you work better and get better results done in most cases afterwards . Master's degree even more, 1100 to 1500 in Berlin, 4 to 5000 in Zurich . So you see Switzerland is far far ahead . 2,200 to 2,800 in London . So again, far far ahead in 2,800 to 3,000 and also in New York City . So you see it really pays off massively from the master's degree . And, of course, a PhD isn't for everyone . Not everyone can have a doctor's degree . Not everyone wants to do that, but then it really goes straight up straight up from there . 1500 to 2,300 more in your pocket per month in Germany . 5 to 6 a half 1000 in Switzerland, a massive jump . In London, it's 2,800 to 3,800 every single month in your pocket . And in New York City, it's 4 to 5000, sometimes even more . So you see qualification pays off . Looking at that, you can, of course, now say, well, when I look at that, I don't like what's happening in Germany . And I think that in London compared to, for example, New York City, it is not fair . The US pays way more . And, yes, that is the case . However, then please see the full picture . In Zurich, for example, you, of course, get paid more . And you know why ? Because they work more . You work 45 hours per week . No . Not 35, not 38, 45 hours a week, 22 days of paid vacation, paid holidays . There are 3 public holidays a year . So you work way more, which way you get paid more . The focus is more on work, and although the stigma of not working is way stronger . Society is pointing pointing its finger at you . And also certain things are not covered, which I covered in other countries . For example, in Berlin, having a child sent into kindergarten, it's free . It's free of very low pay, very very low pay in most countries, but free in many place . For example, in Berlin, kindergarten completely for free . In Zurich, this can cost you easily a 100 to a 150 Swiss franc per day . I didn't mispronounce that . I didn't choose the wrong word . I said per day, not per week, not per month, per day . So when you have 6,000 Swiss franc more in your pocket, suddenly 3,000 out of that or 2 and a half 1000 might easily be gone for children in a kindergarten . So you you see there is no magic money tree anywhere . As soon as you have more net income, you can, of course, always say put taxes lower, and I can tell that that in my opinion, especially in Germany, any kind of deductions that bureaucracy need to be lowered, but that's a different story . As soon as you see something where someone says you have more net income, it usually means that another system which is in place somewhere isn't there in this country . And Germany is the place where no matter how hard things go, it's not always great how they take care of you, but they somehow take care of you . It's a bit of a mass system, which is a bit chaotic and bureaucracy is over is a is a massive burden . But somehow, it's always taken care of you, which in London in in the US, health care in the US, or social benefits in London, it's not taken care of . And in Zurich, at a very different level than you probably think it is . So it is very important that, yes, performance pays off just on different levels . So when we look at how do we move on from here ? After we answered the question, yes, performance pays off . So first things first . Let let's get to a conclusion here . Performance pays off, however, on different levels depending on the context . So very important is take care of the context, which way of a career do you want to go . 2nd, work has more meaning than just the money on the account . The feeling of being needed . The structure the the the structure you your your your day gets . By the way, the vast majority of people who later get into relationships or marriages still meet at work . And also, besides all that, when you work, you do not spend money . That's a double effect . You make money and you do not spend any . So these aspects all play into why performance pays off . And, of course, when you now say, hey . But I I I want less deductions . Well, hint to the Germans here . We have a general election incoming, and you can now decide if you want to vote for a party that put performance first or benefits first . That's your choice . But please stay within the democratic spectrum, and don't vote for any wildly ravaging Nazi party or some wild communist organization that's running in the elections . Hard work, by the way, also was how I build my career . I studied teaching, didn't decide then not go into teaching, worked for a pharmaceutical company, put enormous hours in . It was recognized, and I was promoted, had a career there, then went into tech, then had an international tech career based on performance . And I like to work and I like to work a lot . You do not you do not need to know that . You do not sorry . You do not need to appreciate that . That's my choice . That's why why I become self employed . When when I now started time tracking because it is now this EU regulation thing that's better to track your time rather than than not having it . Probably, when you look at my time, tracking, which started in May, between May December, I worked almost 3000 hours . So when you do a bit of math, you end up with probably 4 and a half 1000 working hours a year . When you now say that's sick, maybe it is for you . It's not for me . I just like to do it . I like to work a lot . You don't have to do that . However, when you work more, it pays off more . Very important . However, here, there is always a way when you don't like where your career goes to change something about that, and that is your task . Getting to the conclusion here, performance pays off . However, the context becomes more and more crucial in which your performance needs to be seen, needs to happen, and needs to be appreciated . So when you say my performance is not seen, move on . When you see my performance not appreciated financially, it's only a thank you every single time, but there is nothing financially going on, move on somewhere . And when you think you are in the wrong place, think of changing your careers . It might be hard work for a limited amount of time, but it might be the move that pays off for the rest of your life . And maybe this year, 2025, is the starting point where you start to get your career done . Think about that, draw the right conclusions, and then go for it . I wish you all the best . And when you now say, well, I have quite a number of, things that I'd like to talk about, feel free to contact me anytime . Nb@nbhyphennetworks.com is my email address . I put this in the show notes of this podcast . I put also my my LinkedIn in there . So feel free to contact me, feel free to connect with me, feel free to chat with me . And when you want to have something very specific for your organization, training, speaking, coaching, feel free to talk about with me as well, but we can also just chat about your questions here . Also, feel free to go to nbhyphenetworks.biz . That's my website where you also find the transcript of this podcast available right there . And please also consider we have live sessions where you can talk about all that and more the leadership q and a sessions that we have . When you go to expert.nbhyphennetworks.com, then you could enter your email address there . You receive only one email every Wednesday morning . It's a 100% content . Add free guarantee . What you receive every Wednesday morning is, first, full access to the whole podcast library that we have . 2nd, full as full access to all the articles I wrote because some people prefer reading and forwarding articles over forwarding podcast . And the third thing is free access to all the live sessions we have . We have once a live session usually every month, so I'm looking forward to seeing you there . However, the most important aspect again is the third one . Apply, apply, apply what you heard in this podcast because only when you apply what you heard, you will see the positive aspect that will happen in your life, your organization, your job life, your surroundings, and you obviously want to see that change happening because otherwise you wouldn't sit here at the podcast and listening 20 minutes to me talking . Feel free to contact me anytime and now get into action because at the end of this podcast, there's only one thing left for me to say . Thank you very much for your time .