Fouzia Tua Alhassan || Featured Article
When you find yourself in a country where people jubilate over free services rather than quality services, it becomes habitual for people to expect free services including from individuals who rely on their expertise and services to survive. For some people, the mention of free brings some level of excitement even if the “free” poses danger to their lives. This concept of free can be traced back as one of the harmful cultural practices and norms of some Ghanaian communities.
A typical Ghanaian child is trained to be respectful and humble and this is sadly interpreted as prioritizing other peoples’ interests and feelings over yours. The humility gets to another level when it has to do with a child and an elderly person. I mean, you just have to say yes to everything and when you take a step away, you then murmur about all the things you could have corrected or demanded. This norm, unfortunately, has found its way in the formal and business sector with people sometimes leveraging on these practices and demanding quality services without willing to commit financial resources to it.
In a country where the unemployment rate is skyrocketing and young people are struggling to survive, it is important to create a supportive environment for their inventions. The innovation and ideas young people of today are introducing will to a large extent address their financial and social challenges as well as create employment for others. Unfortunately, for many young people, they still have to deal with the society of free and “humility” which occasionally finds its way into their entrepreneurial life and in some cases, ruins their idea of generating income from their businesses.
For instance, a young person who is highly skilled in designing software programs, artistic pieces, excellent presentation skills is invited to lecture an audience or a group about this skill. The first thing the organizers will likely propose is; “it’s just an hour or two and we will be grateful if you can do it on a pro-bono basis.” Now, the reality of this scenario is that the young person is struggling to develop his/her business idea and to build himself. By requesting for free service, you deny the person their daily bread.
It takes commitment and energy for an individual to acquire a particular skill and that energy must be compensated at all levels. When you invite a young person to a meeting where you solicit their ideas, you should think of compensating them for sharing their knowledge to improve your business or concept. If the idea is solid enough and has value, please pay for it and motivate the person to think critically and suggest more innovative ideas. Every single human being on earth has a brain, some choose to use theirs to study, criticize the daily interventions and end up being experts in a particular field but for others, it’s just to qualify as a human being.
For this reason, it is important and fair that the efforts/time used in acquiring the skills and knowledge in the case of the former, be compensated. Organizations and individuals must stop taking advantage of this toxic practice of “humility” and pay experts particularly young people for the services they render.
It is even more disturbing when we package this approach as an “internship” and use young people for years without any reward for their services. You may be giving the person an opportunity to learn but you must be considerate about the financial burden it puts on the person.
This is not to say don’t volunteer your time and resources, I volunteer on daily basis and I find joy in doing this but when you feel the knowledge and skill you’re volunteering has a value and will serve as a source of income, brand yourself to generate income and you must do it with confidence. I understand there are instances in which the individual in question fully agrees to render the service at no cost, it becomes a mutual understanding and no one gets affected negatively.
To the many young people experiencing this pain in silence, the world is revolving and personal branding is crucial in developing one’s self. Don’t assume you’re taking a bribe or demanding too much if you request to be paid and definitely don’t feel you’re a “disrespectful” child. Consider the service you’re offering a critical and essential skill that can change the life of another person or society at large and for that, you must be compensated. You can either charge for the services or demand that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) be used to regulate the use of that idea. It’s time the African child takes ownership of their ideas and interventions with pride. The philanthropists we know have brands and that’s why they are able to make an impact in other people’s lives.
It is not a crime to demand compensation for your idea or work and young people must stop feeling guilty for using their knowledge, skill and time to contribute to other people’s goals and objectives. “Thank you” appeases the soul but it does not pay bills.
