Academic on how employers can turn second jobs into a win-win through psychological safety, clear expectations, pay assessments
More employees will be turning to extra jobs or side gigs to make ends meet during the coming holiday break. According to a recent survey, two-thirds are planning to take on additional work to cover costs extra costs.
For HR professionals, this trend raises important questions about how to manage and support staff who are moonlighting—especially as economic pressures mount.
While some employers may see a second job as a problem to be managed, Leda Stawnychko, associate professor of strategy and organizational theory at Mount Royal University’s Bissett School of Business, suggests a reframe.
“This is an opportunity for people who are ambitious to go do things that are different,” she says.
“For them, it feels very energizing. They gain meaning and autonomy. They increase their portfolio. They get to be entrepreneurs. And those things have benefits in the workplace. As an employer, we need to consider the possibility that this is not a bad thing; it actually may support retention and job satisfaction.”
Positive effects and potential risks
Nearly 40 per cent of workers said taking on more work has or will likely hurt their productivity at their full-time job; while moonlighting can be a source of engagement and skill-building for some, when employees are working excessive hours or their side work is physically demanding, there are also safety risks, says Stawnychko.
She recommends creating psychologically safe workplaces so employees feel comfortable disclosing outside work instead of hiding it. This way, rather than creating a disjointed and potentially unsafe workplace, by proactively working with employees, organizations can leverage the skills employees gain with the side gigs.
That way, together, they can strategize “to make sure that I'm protecting the organization, I'm protecting the safety of my employee, I'm protecting their performance, and keep trust at the forefront,” says Stawnychko.
Practical steps for employers managing moonlighting
The challenge for HR is to move from policing moonlighting to protecting employee wellbeing and organizational trust, says Stawnychko.
“We have to look at the role of HR,” she says. “How do we move from policing to actually protecting the performance and the safety and the trust of the employee?”
Stawnychko outlines three practical steps for employers when approaching employee interest in moonlighting:
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Set clear expectations in the letter of employment, outlining rules around other employment including prioritizing responsibilities and how the employer will respond: “We want to make sure that people are not going to go underground if they're going to do this.”
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Implement clear workplace policies, including what will qualify as misconduct and the consequences: “Then, if something goes sideways … you have the basis for a conversation that may lead to a letter in the file that the employee broke expectations or performance management processes.”
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Foster psychological safety and open communication so employees feel comfortable disclosing side jobs. This is especially relevant for Canadian SMBs, Stawnychko points out, that may have fewer financial incentives for retention: “Maybe what they want is something you can give them, and they don't have to go anywhere.”
Employers who take the time to understand employee motivations behind moonlighting could uncover ways to redirect them to internal opportunities, Stawnychko adds – such as additional hours, new responsibilities, or professional development within the organization.
“Maybe they want new skills, they're getting super bored, it's been the same job for a long time, they don't feel that there's any growth opportunity.”
Compensation and the future of work
According to the ResumeTemplates.com survey, 36 per cent of full-time workers are earning extra income to help pay for holiday-related costs, while another 29 per cent plan to do so.
Stawnychko says employers may need to reassess pay as this is also the group of employees who are most at risk of working dangerous levels of overtime: 10 or more hours per week.
“That is a segment that is getting overworked, those are the employees that actually get sicker, those are the employees who tend to leave organizations,” she says.
She also stresses that gig work, moonlighting and other forms of alternative income are not going anywhere.
“We're not going to have the type of loyalty that we used to have,” Stawnychko says.
“We are in a new era. So I think we can get ahead by setting in place the conditions that would allow us an ‘in’ into the conversation with the employee so that things are not happening behind closed doors that we don't know, and then it's going to lead to problems that are harder to solve later.”
