"Your boss/company would like you to work on assignments that make him/them happy" came the tongue in cheek reply. Its one of the big ironies of life that things that make us happy usually do not make economic sense to our organisations. Most of us would like to be paid for doing the work that we love but this is not usually aligned to our organisation goals (or so we are told).
Is that the reason we admire a Chetan Bhagat or Harsha Bhogle? The entire country fell in love with Rancho of 3 idiots because he followed his heart. Would the movie be so popular had the character played by Aamir Khan ended up as a destitute scientist struggling to eke a living instead of the fairy tale situation of corporate honchos running after him?
What is it that we admire in people like these? The courage to follow their dreams or the fact that they succeeded while doing so. Though most of us do not usually select extreme options like giving up our jobs to be a writer or a commentator, we like to pick up assignments in our organisations that make us happy to come to work and yet contribute to the organisation.
Yet, most managers or bosses would like to convince us that we need to do what is best for the organisation and the common goal etc etc. My only argument against this is "how will the organisation be "okay" if the people who make it are "not okay". In the last century, businesses have shown a remarkable capability to build organisations with thousands of people and make them work towards a common commercial objective. The work ethics of the employees is driven by a strict code of conduct and organisational policies and rule book. Then there is a long list of behavioral patterns that a employee is supposed to follow to demonstrate his positive attitude towards the companies goals and objectives.
Is this the reason why employees leave the organisation to look for better options or simply leave their jobs to pursue interests that really make them happy? Food for thought for managers of the new generation.
Deepak Bhatia
1 comment:
A couple of points:
1. Unfortunately, people aware of the fact that the grass is always greener on the other side, leave their jobs thinking that they have inched closer to that perfect job. Unless you are very lucky, it rarely happens and the reality does not take very long to sink in.
2. That does not mean that people should not leave their jobs. They should because unless they taste the dust, they'd never realize how to do things better the next time. It is a kind of professional evolution that takes place and that is also required to an extent.
3. Going back to your discussion about companies not aligning their end objectives with the employees (not always i.e.). There are but a few companies that have done so, albeit, in a very different but smart manner. Google is a perfect example of such a company. Every week, each employee is asked to take out some time to experiment with whatever they think is value adding for them.
In my opinion the great companies are those that are smart enough to leverage the potential of their employees, in order to broaden their revenue inflow, alongside leaving them enough space to think like an entrepreneur. This is exactly the opportunity one wants and if he can get that opportunity without the usual risks of going the real entrepreneur way (leaving his job and starting on his own), companies may finally have that deadly cocktail permanently on their menu.
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