Working long hours == Working hard ??
Lately, I have been getting involved in too many discussions about working long hours. It is the mentality of a common Indian employee that if he/she works for long hours, it would be appreciated by the bosses and seniors. He/she would be looked upon in the work place as an ideal example of a hard working person.
In the very little time I have spent in the corporate culture in India, I have somewhat witnessed this phenomenon. Today, I was discussing with my friends about this topic. Niki was quite worked up by her recent experience at her work place when she had to stay back at work just because her colleagues and seniors did. The work was all done. My friends agreed to it when we both said that people here consider working long hours as working hard.
Doesn't matter if they are surfing the internet or orkutting or taking endless tea/coffee breaks and spending time on the phone talking to their friends about the latest office gossip. But they stay at work way past the normal working hours and thats what makes them great. Now thats plain stupid.
The latest corporate culture in India doesn't seem at all to encourage work-life balance. It is merely a sub section in the HR manual given to you on the first day of joining. After that, it's all about working long and working hard. People don't realise that all work and no play makes Tom a dull boy!
Another important point that I would like to bring up here is the idea of working hard versus working smart. People in India should be taught that by just spending endless hours in the office, they are just exhibiting their inefficiency. I don't think there's more than 5% work collectively that people do in this world (professionally) requires employees to strech and work past office hours. That's my point of view - good chances of being biased!
But the bottom line remains - If the work's done, go home and have fun!
In the very little time I have spent in the corporate culture in India, I have somewhat witnessed this phenomenon. Today, I was discussing with my friends about this topic. Niki was quite worked up by her recent experience at her work place when she had to stay back at work just because her colleagues and seniors did. The work was all done. My friends agreed to it when we both said that people here consider working long hours as working hard.
Doesn't matter if they are surfing the internet or orkutting or taking endless tea/coffee breaks and spending time on the phone talking to their friends about the latest office gossip. But they stay at work way past the normal working hours and thats what makes them great. Now thats plain stupid.
The latest corporate culture in India doesn't seem at all to encourage work-life balance. It is merely a sub section in the HR manual given to you on the first day of joining. After that, it's all about working long and working hard. People don't realise that all work and no play makes Tom a dull boy!
Another important point that I would like to bring up here is the idea of working hard versus working smart. People in India should be taught that by just spending endless hours in the office, they are just exhibiting their inefficiency. I don't think there's more than 5% work collectively that people do in this world (professionally) requires employees to strech and work past office hours. That's my point of view - good chances of being biased!
But the bottom line remains - If the work's done, go home and have fun!
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