V Pradeep Kumar
T
he last two decades
have been very
eventful for a
resurgent and strong
India, playing an
influencing role in
the world economy. The rise of
the IT and services sector have
led to an increase in GDP
growth, per capita income and
standard of living.
However, despite providing
increased remuneration and
benefits, employers continue to
be unhappy with productivity.
Ironically, even economic
development hasn’t led to
happiness in professional and
personal life for employees. On
the contrary, conflicts at work
place and high stress levels have
led to a decline in quality of
living, proving the futility of
materialistic comforts.
Conflicting views:
Employer & Employee
These aspects of Indian society
are intriguing for an observer
and a challenge for all
management thinkers, working
to set things right. The analysis
of feedback from several
managements indicates these
key trends:
people
actual work time
commitment
turnover
Significantly, these trends
persist despite an increased
people orientation in work
environment. Interestingly,
employees have a diametrically
opposite views:
& actual
As against these conflicting
views, the trends in urban
India’s family life are:
working couples
family members
maids and drivers
conflicts and domestic violence
extra-marital affairs and
divorces
Further, individuals are in
conflicts with their inner-self.
Employees admit in casual and
formal counselling, that they
have internal conflicts relating
to career, relationships,
children and material comforts.
These disturbing trends
imply that while as a nation we
are progressing, employees in
urban India are living in
continuous conflict with their
employers, family, society and
self. This explains the general
lack of enthusiasm and passion
for work in employees.
Lack of passion causes
inertia and is the main cause of
poor productivity at work. In a
recent lecture at a leading IT
company, I observed that
employees spend just about five
hours a day on actual work.
However, a senior manager
who was present quickly
countered saying it’s not more
than four hours per day. There
could be cases at the other
extreme in companies too.
Notwithstanding this,
employees complain of high
stress levels. To make things
worse, inadequate urban
infrastructure and social issues
have added to the stress levels
bringing it to a breaking point.
Nimhans Study: Disturbing
trends
A study conducted by Nimhans
in 2007 on the mental health of
professionals in IT and ITenabled
sectors confirms these
trends, with these observations:
felt, they were being edgy and
bad tempered
Passion at work is path to happiness in life
The only way
Lack of passion and dedication causes inertia, which is the main cause of poor productivity at work, say experts
felt being under constant strain
felt they were unable to enjoy
their daily activities
classified by Nimhans, as
probable psychiatric cases
Conflicts at work and home,
have reached alarming
proportions and consequently,
crimes by white collar people
is on the rise. When people find
it difficult to live together and
resort to heinous crimes, senior
officials and counselors
recommend as a last option,
separation of marriages. Our
society is moving towards
westernisation with these
dangerous trends and need
rectification. The benefits of a
flourishing economy should
reach all sectors and an
improvement in the happiness
and well being of employees,
while preserving our social
fabric is a must.
Bring passion at work
The process to bring back
passion at work for sparkle in
personal life is multidimensional
as below:
organisation defines its
objectives through a statement
of vision and mission,
employees must define what
they want in life. The ideal way
to define this is through a
personal vision and mission
statement. In simple terms, this
is what you want in life and how
you propose achieving that.
increasingly competitive world,
it’s difficult to
compartmentalise professional
and personal life. Material
comforts, children’s education,
family welfare and social status,
all require a strong professional
life. Therefore, a good personal
life hinges on our professional
success. Therefore focus on:
a.
Productivity: Productivity is
the reason for your
employment and hence, be
result oriented.
b.
Responsibility: Accept
additional responsibilities,
without insisting on additional
benefits. Understand and apply
the principle, ‘Give more than
you get, as eventually you would
get more than what you give.’
c.
Initiative: When things are
not right, take initiative to set
them right, instead of
complaining.
d.
Self-evaluation: Get
professional, evaluating your
performance frequently. The
frequency depends on your job
profile. For example, for sales
and marketing positions,
evaluate monthly and take
corrective steps.
e.
Valued employee: Similar to
ABC analysis, in organizations
only 20 per cent people are real
performers and hence highly
valued. In general, about 60%
may qualify as average and the
balance 20 per cent people,
might be redundant for
indiscipline, low performance
etc. For career growth, be in
the top 20 per cent and be
valued.
success is vital. In general, the
following key factors are
important.
a. The ‘bigger picture: Make
your dreams together, with
your spouse.
b. Think Win/Win: There’s no
philosophy better than win/win
in inter personal relationships.
c. Share responsibilities:
Sharing jobs/household chores
is in the spirit of being together.
d. Be empathetic: A simple way
to understand others is to be
empathetic.
e. Communicate well:
Inadequate communication
causes misunderstanding
leading to relationship failures.
Avoid frictions, by listening well,
turning arguments into
discussion. Have open mind
and use soft words to convince,
focusing on what is right and
not who is right.
competitive in professional life,
all round self development is
critical. All individuals deserve
quality time to themselves.
Utilise this time to:
a. Examine and have an
appropriate value system.
b. Evaluate your achievements
against plans. Keep updating
your plans.
c. Be active, balancing work and
personal life. .
d. Enjoy life without missing the
fun. Develop hobbies like
reading, writing, travel,
photography, music, etc. that’s
interesting for you.
e. Learn to forgive, getting rid of
emotional baggage.
Importantly, learn to live in the
present moment.
As American philosopher
Jim Rohn says: “You cannot
change your destination
overnight; but certainly you can
change your direction.”Choose
a profession you love; and work
with passion- the only way for
sparkle in life.
(The writer is a management
consultant based at Bangalore.
Email: info@promaxintl.com)
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