It was late evening. The otherwise thriving office block was silent, for the hum of the air con. The darkness interspersed with a few lit cubicles, where as the HR head of the company pointed out, the bang on achievers and the super dedicated were literally burning the midnight oil. Curious, I wanted to enquire – why are these people still toiling on, when it is way past normal office hours? What is it that is egging these young people to chug along when their colleagues have long gone?
The answers were startling. They were not there reinventing the wheel. They were there, ensconced in the air conditioned comfort of the office with free coffee, unlimited band width et all, as they had nothing better to do back home! Besides, staying late on a regular basis earned the brownies – boss’ admiration as a hard worker, the fat bonuses, the booster dose for the rat race, even in some cases, the taxi fare back!
The Indian mentality of rewarding the hard worker, the stoic was at play with some smart cookies utilizing it to their benefit. Just imagine the cost to the company – keeping the system on for no apparent reason and paying for it. Now look at it from the other perspective, these same “super workers”, when they get married undergo a shift in the priorities. Then, even after putting in the same amount of work, when they try and leave at normal hours, they attract the attention of the Bosses, who in turn commit the mistake of wrong evaluation.
What then is the way out? Simple, encourage people to leave on time. Discourage the act of lounging in the office for no reason and encourage such people to spend their time gainfully. The Pressures of work, the tension of relocation, the fragmenting family structures, the lack of true friends is forcing many a young man and woman into isolation and extreme loneliness. It is our duty to channelize these youngsters into proper areas – take up a hobby, keep a pet, learn a language, join some art class … the possibilities are endless. Why not take your partner and explore the city instead of wiling away the valuable years of youth?
Young workers are increasingly becoming more and more glued to their jobs which is not only making them feel increasingly claustrophobic but is also leading to a greater number of early burn out’s. Add to it the unhealthy practice of some bosses who do not recognize merit but are wont to reward the so called hard worker. They consider the one putting in extra hours as a value for money employee as opposed to the one who performs the tasks at hand well within the stipulated time and is seen as one wasting time. It is wrong notions like these that are quietly creating havoc amongst the lives of many a young achiever apart from leading to huge unnecessary wastages in terms of the cost to the company to keep the support systems on to pander to the folly.
Bang on achievers and super dedicated. The terms sound so damn good. But have you calculated the cost that the company has to bear for their so called dedication? Are the bosses hearing? I can still see the dropped jaw of my colleague in the company when I narrated the tale of the after workers … the guy just couldn’t believe what he had just heard.