SURVIVING ON THE JOB part 2

No work environment is 100% perfect but things can get better. How can someone spend their active years somewhere and still not feel a lilt sense of human dignity? Playing favourites and using unofficial yardstick to measure how the job is done fosters eye-service and creates unnecessary tension in the work place. Some people do not know how to separate their personal lives from their jobs simply because most of them do not have life outside their jobs. What that means is that they tend to expect people around them to be that workaholic, their job dictates their lives and when people act otherwise, it becomes a problem for their subordinates. You find such people coming to work as early as 7am and still working at 8pm. They are the type of people who will find ways to use up other people’s weekends with things that are unnecessary. People are fired or queried for the least mistakes or something that is totally unofficial. Even when the job suffers, some people refuse to take another person’s opinion because they feel threatened.

People have understood their job functions so that sometimes, work does not suffer. If a person knows that the progress of the job depends on him/her, perhaps it will change their approach to work, instead of roaming around and letting a file lie fallow on their desk.

Our system is still paperwork driven. A lot of people so love hard copies, when they can have soft copies, reduce paperwork and clutter in the office. Our system is plagued with report writing that nobody is reading or even using, seminars and meeting that nobody uses the deliberations and talks that does not go beyond the lips. We are so taken by procedures, talks that yield no result. The pursue of money and profit is at all cost even when people who work to bring the money suffer. Those at the top are huge spenders and when those in the engine room complain of any need, they are swept under the carpet. We need to pay attention to operations, listen to those who actually do the work…let us not be quick to jump at profit. Don’t put people working under conditions; you would never let yourself be in.

It is a shame that sometimes, people flipping burgers have a better sense of human dignity and respect than some big salary-corporate staff. We know these things are not right but it continues. All these things have a way of affecting us generally and who we are as a nation. There are some things that money cannot buy…a little kindness and treating others better can make a whole lot of difference. Treat people with respect; let them know that their input is important. Don’t use your power to suppress others…..remember nobody is perfect. It is all to get the job done. Don’t trample others down because of your ambition to climb; you will meet them on your way down. It is only a job, just one phase in the cycle of life. There is always more to life.

The cycle continues, who knows, it could be your child working tomorrow under someone who has become hardened by this same system.