Imagine a world where the ticking clock no longer dictates your pay. A world where your value isn’t measured by the hours you log but by the impact you create. For the creative and tech industries—sectors fueled by innovation, adaptability, and results—this vision isn’t just a pipe dream. It’s the future. And it’s time we shift all pay from hours to deliverables.

Bloom et al. (2015)¹ demonstrate that remote work can lead to measurable performance gains, suggesting that creative and tech professionals thrive when trusted to deliver outcomes rather than clock hours. This counters anxieties about accountability in Work From Anywhere (WFA) setups.

Golden and Veiga (2018)² highlight how flexibility in work arrangements enhances satisfaction, which is especially relevant for creatives who need freedom to innovate—reinforcing the case for deliverable-based job descriptions over rigid hourly structures.

At Being Guided we are launching XCELD on 01 March 2025 - a Salesforce-powered app that will enable creative and tech firms to increase employee and contractor performance and loyalty in an irresistable move to Work From Anyware (WFA) as the norm for all creative and tech firms.

Think of this as Talent and Project Management converged. So 'TPM', powered by the trusted, scalable and AI-enabled Salesforce Lightning Platform. XCELD has the same User Interface as the market-leading Salesforce Sales Cloud CRM solution.

The Old Way: Hours as a Relic of Rigidity

In the traditional work model, compensation hinges on time. Punch in, punch out, and hope your productivity aligns with the hours you’re billing. But for creatives designing groundbreaking campaigns or tech wizards coding the next big app, this structure feels like a straitjacket. It assumes effort is linear and inspiration adheres to a 9-to-5 schedule—neither of which holds true in industries where brilliance often strikes at midnight or during a walk in the park.

Add the rise of Work From Anywhere (WFA) into the mix, and the cracks widen. Remote work has unshackled talent from office desks, but it’s also sparked anxieties. Employers worry about accountability: Are they really working? Employees fret over scrutiny: Am I being judged by my screen time rather than my output? The hourly pay model fuels these tensions, tethering trust to presence rather than performance.

The New Way: Pay for Deliverables

What if we flipped the script? Imagine paying a graphic designer not for 40 hours of “design time” but for a completed logo suite. Or compensating a developer not for days spent coding but for a fully functional feature. By shifting pay to deliverables, we redefine success around outcomes—not effort, not time, not location.

This transition offers a triple win:

For Employers: Clarity and accountability. You pay for tangible results, not vague promises of productivity. No more guessing if remote workers are 'on task' - the deliverable speaks for itself.

For Talent: Freedom and fairness. Creatives and tech pros can work when and where they’re most inspired, without the nagging fear that a shorter workday means a smaller paycheck.

For Industries: Innovation unleashed. When the focus shifts to outcomes, teams prioritize creativity and efficiency over busywork, driving bolder ideas and faster execution.

Converting Job Descriptions to Deliverables

To make this shift, we need to rethink the foundation of work: the Job Description (JD). Today’s JDs are often laundry lists of tasks tied to hourly expectations. Instead, let’s craft them around deliverables. A marketer’s JD might move from 'manage social media for 20 hours a week' to 'deliver a monthly campaign that boosts engagement by 15%.' A software engineer’s role could shift from 'code for 8 hours a day' to 'build and deploy three API endpoints per sprint.'

This isn’t just semantics—it’s a cultural overhaul. Deliverable-based JDs set clear goals, align expectations, and empower talent to own their work. And with Work From Anywhere here to stay, they erase location-based anxieties, proving value isn’t tied to a desk or a timezone.

Integrated Project Management: The Backbone of Deliverables

Paying for deliverables only works if you can plan, track, and measure them effectively. That’s where Integrated Project Management (IPM) comes in. Picture a system where every project is broken into clear, actionable deliverables—each with deadlines, owners, and success metrics. Progress isn’t a mystery; it’s documented, transparent, and tied directly to compensation.

This isn’t about micromanaging—it’s about enabling. Teams collaborate seamlessly, whether they’re in New York, Nairobi, or a beachside villa. Managers see real-time updates on deliverable status. And talent gets paid for what they produce, not where or when they produce it.

Enter XCELD: The Talent & Project Management Platform

At the heart of this revolution is XCELD, our Salesforce-powered app designed to make deliverable-based work a reality. XCELD isn’t just another tool—it’s a combined Talent & Project Management (TPM) platform that bridges the gap between creativity, technology, and results.

Here’s how XCELD delivers:

Talent Management:
Profiles showcase skills and past deliverables, not just résumés. Hire based on proven outcomes, not hourly rates.

Project Management:
Plan deliverables, assign ownership, and track progress—all within a single, intuitive interface. Integration with Salesforce ensures data flows effortlessly between teams and tools.

Pay Integration:
Link compensation directly to completed deliverables, automating payouts and eliminating disputes.

WFA Enablement:
Support distributed teams with real-time collaboration, ensuring location never hinders impact.

XCELD turns the deliverable-based vision into a practical, scalable system. It’s the engine that powers a workforce where creatives and tech pros thrive, anxieties about remote work evaporate, and industries innovate without constraint.

The Future Is Outcome-Driven

The creative and tech sectors have always been about pushing boundaries. Now, it’s time to break free from the outdated hourly pay model and embrace a system that rewards results. By shifting pay to deliverables, rewriting job descriptions, and leaning on integrated tools like XCELD, we can build a future where talent is judged by what they create—not where or how long they sit to create it.

Let’s stop counting hours and start celebrating outcomes. The revolution starts now.

This post sets the scene for the transition you described, weaving in the benefits for creative and tech industries, the practical steps and the role of XCELD as the enabling platform—all while keeping the tone forward-looking and engaging.

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Reference

1. Bloom, N., Liang, J., Roberts, J., & Ying, Z. J. (2015). Does working from home work? Evidence from a Chinese experiment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 130(1), 165–218. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qju032
2. Golden, T. D., & Veiga, J. F. (2018). The impact of extent of telecommuting on job satisfaction: Resolving inconsistent findings. Journal of Management, 44(7), 3011–3036. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206316675410