We all work for many reasons mostly because we have to.
This has always remained a perennial question for every generation. What pushes
you to work? It is a foregone conclusion that to sustain ourselves we work but
apart from that there can be a few kicks which make you go to office every day.
For some people money takes them to their work place while for many others something
else gives them the tonic needed to work.
It is my hypothesis that the generation which worked
during the course of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s worked more for recognition than
anything else but now with the changing dynamics of economy the priorities have
taken a paradigm shift too. The bank balances and pay cheques have assumed
greater importance in today’s India grappling with the ever rising inflation.
Life is not a bed of roses and in these times living
expenses have burnt hole in pockets of many people. In this case the financial
rewards help. Money can bring motivation especially for the sales people. For
the people with meagre salary money is everything and as gradually we move up
the ladder of management structure in an organization the reasons for working
change. It is important for any employer to reward his employees suitably for
the extra effort which he always demands from them. Granted, many people go to
work every day to bring that all important pay cheque. But that amount alone is
worth the effort of grinding away for more than 45 hours a week? Is that
everything? No.
People strive to better themselves to gain recognition
in the workplace. Be it anyone-Boss, co-worker every person wants to be recognized
for the work that they have been putting in. It is deeply rooted in the fabric
of humans to crave for attention, recognition or even appreciation. But over
and above all this, recognition gives us a kind of satisfaction which no amount
of money could ever provide. A few weeks back, I read in a newspaper that many
companies have now started ‘employee recognition’ program; some way of trying
to motivate its employees to work harder. Sometimes ‘employee of the month’ are
all the titles on signs and plaques that can be seen in the lounge of many
offices. Employees will remember that moment. It is just that feeling of
appreciation makes any job bearable. Also it cannot be ruled out that
recognition wins loyalty.
But the thing which can provide endless motivation to
do any work is passion. When any person becomes ‘passionate’ about the work he
is doing then rest assured that he doesn’t require any other thing for
motivation. Passion brings out the dedication, grit, determination and what
not. It is the passion to play cricket which makes Sachin Tendulkar the
greatest of them all. Nothing seems impossible when you are in that sort of frame
of mind. A person, full of passion will not stop even after achieving heights. And
in the process you achieve a certain degree of satisfaction that you did your
best irrespective of anything else. However, for an average person to suddenly
infuse passion for his work is simply asking way too much. It is important for
anyone to not let that passion taper off. Only some of the enlightened souls (read
Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar) maintain that for a long
time.
For any individual it is important to find the right
reason which makes you work or even study. That reason should stay with you for
preferably a longer duration of time which would help in achieving excellence. In
the end it all depends on how a person perceives work. For some of them work is
their ‘dharma.’ And for some it is no less than irritation.
To be honest, this is your first article that I've read. I am impressed the way you wrote about What makes the an individual work? . We all engage in our day to day activities. The basic motivation is that we all want to earn enough money to suffice our needs. I always wondered, why some of them are not able to do that? Why people starve?
ReplyDeleteThe answer I always got was "poor people don't earn because they are not educated and they don't believe in doing hard work". But the real answer was always in front of me. It is in front of all of us. I won't be able to explain it here. I suggest you to find the facts about the working of the MONETARY SYSTEM. How money is printed and circulated. How money creates debt and makes people starve. I may be wrong but it would be worth reading the facts of the system in which we live.
Agree to your view that poor people don't earn because they are not educated. But some of them tend to indulge in some addiction instead of working hard. I concur with your view that Money creates debt. Monetary system doesn't help in this case. Any way Thanks for sharing your views.
ReplyDeleteThat is not my view point. That is the answer we always get. But have you ever imagined that only principal amount gets printed in the system and whereas no Interest amount exists. It creates deficit and scarcity. Even If we dream about the world "the Utopian world", it can never come into existence. There will be always a class of people starving. Sorry I diverted the topic but I felt like sharing it.
ReplyDelete