We should Enjoy our Work

People tend to approach work from three perspective. The first is looking on work as a 'job' to be performed for monetary gains. The second as a 'career', where attention is focused on status and power. The last is looking on work as a 'calling', where all attention is focused on the work, and for the satisfaction it brings. Oprah Winfrey rightly said,"If you do the you love, and the work fulfills you, the rest will come."

Unfortunately, the real trouble today is that we donot enjoy our work, for our perspective towards it is either as a 'job', or a 'career', and not as a 'calling'. It is because of this we find young people suffering from early burnouts, due to tension and stress and ultimately falling victim to deadly diseases. This trend is all pervasive, for our outlook towards life is highly materialistic.

We give too much importance to monetary gains, prestige, status, power and work only for achieving them. Thus we find the office worker more concerned about his emoluments and career, rather than loving his work. Similarly the farmer is more interested in increasing his produce rather than improving its quality. A major cause for this is the plethora of job opportunities available to the youth today. It is thus quite common to find young executives carrying appointment letters from two to three companies, while going to work. This may give them the flexibility of choice, but it makes them less committed to the work they are presently doing. Often making it uninteresting and boring. Their frequent job hopping, in search of greener pastures, may give them career advancement and monetary gain, but it also leads to greater mental stress, and tension. This is the primary reason for the increasing incidence of heart attacks and brain strokes among youth.

Organizations are also to blame for this malady. They fail to make work interesting for the employees, by removing monotony and by upgrading their skills through training and development. The work can also be enriched by increasing its scope, giving more responsibility and providing a conducive work environment. These are important factors that organizations fail to cater them, thus facing employee dissatisfaction and heavy turnover.

We often find people working in organizations, that remind us of a proverb "square pegs in round holes". Thus people who have no eye for detail are found working as quality control inspectors, while people who are by nature introvert and shy are found working in sales and marketing. Such mismatch of work and personality can never make the employee enjoy his work. This will neither be good for the workers nor for the organization.

The lack of enjoyment in our work is a very serious problem today. There is immediate need to view work in the proper perspective. We should choose one that meets our aspirations and not for extraneous factors like money, power and status. Organizations also need to take professional help in hiring people so that the work matches their personality. They also need to provide flexibility in the work, proper work environment and job enrichment, for the employees. This would be mutually beneficial to the workers and the organizations.