“LOVE YOUR JOB BUT NEVER LOVE YOUR COMPANY (because you never know

when it stops loving you)”.

This is closing note of a speech given by Infosys' Chairman and Chief Mentor Officer
(CMO) - Mr. Narayana Murthy. I came across it while looking for some material on
people giving extra hours to their work place. Surprisingly, there is not much on this topic
available online. This article is an effort to discuss an issue which haunts professionals on
daily basis. Unfortunately, this cannot be done without being a skunk in a garden party
for which I apologize in advance.

Institutionalization
It seems that this phenomenon of late sitting
has been institutionalized deep enough in
organizational culture such that it is not viewed as an
anomaly anymore. In fact, things are other way
around and people not willing to sit late are viewed as
the odd ones. Here, definition of an “institution” is
also worth mentioning. Institutions are defined as
“stable patterns of behavior that are recognized and
valued by society". We have evidence that outcry
about corporate culture being overwhelmingly
supportive to this institute of “Late Sitting”.

Costs for an individual attached to late sitting

In this era of the corporate rise, the "white
collar" jobs expect longer hours for less pay and
increasingly people are expected to "volunteer" time.
Work-life balance is something they are really
struggling with and the issue is not under control by
any means. People are putting in longer hours on the
job and taking fewer vacation days. Whether such
phenomenon reflects their anxiety or a stronger work
ethic, one should worry about the physical and
psychological ramifications. First of all one has to
establish if there really is some cost attached to
putting in extra hours at work.
Studies on job stress and health have suggested
that chronic stress, particularly among those workers
with high demands but little decision-making power
(that sounds familiar) can double the risk of heart
disease. Another study equates stress with high level of a protein that can lead to
ailments such as type 2 diabetes. Some psychiatrists fear that such culture has created a
situation where people build their whole identities around their jobs. 'These days,
people belong to nothing.... Work is the one thing they do.' They are irresistibly right.
Professionals DO NOT seem to have a life at all these days.
Is there a flaw in the system?
It just shouldn't be like that. The problem is that
employers want workers who'll always be there. They're
like those awful college professors who believe their
class is the only one you're taking and assign more
reading/papers than it is humanly possible to complete.
Equally, employers want workers to spend all their time
on work. An ideal employee in their eyes would be the
one who pops into office and come back when his wife
divorces him, his children are grown up and don't care
about him anymore, and his weight is up around 290...
Lucky for the employers and thanks to the so called free
market dynamics and its unchecked supply and demand principles that people with such
generally accepted professional behavior come in abundant supplies whether they like it
or not.
Problem arises when people don't work really hard because they want to, but
because they feel pressured to, especially when they feel pressured to work unpaid
overtime because their bosses tell them that it's "very important", and don't take vacation
because their bosses tell them that it's "not a good time". This phenomenon is just a
simple observation of the mere facts. Most of the people go to work daily dreaming that
the day to be a simple 8 hours working day which turns into a nightmare when they are
asked yet another day to sit late. Most of the times, they face “my way or the highway”
attitude from their superiors at the wok place. How can one be in love with such job???
Ironically, we still find people doing such jobs with lowest possible levels of motivation.
They feel like selling themselves short and getting exploited which is right in a way. The
institution of late sitting is a profound channel to rob employees’ time, dignity, even their
identities as human beings. No wonder people are now called human “resources” which
objectifies them and makes them vulnerable to the corporations as any other resource. So
we are living in an era where artificial juridical persons (corporations) are able to treat
real persons as objects by labeling them as resources.

Is there an element of reciprocity??

This kind of problem might also contain an element
of reciprocity from the people being affected by this
phenomenon. Bertrand Russell felt that a lack of leisure time,
because of the morality of work, which he calls the
"morality of slaves", stripped people of the best things in
life, namely the opportunity to develop themselves as
humans and to participate beneficially in society. In his
well-known essay “In Praise of Idleness” he notes:
“Leisure is essential to civilization, and in former times
leisure for the few was only rendered possible by the labors of the many. But their labors
were valuable, not because work is good, but because leisure is good. And with modern
techniques it would be possible to distribute leisure justly without injury to
civilization....”
Though Russell's essay is somewhat outdated, his principles are still valid, especially in
light of computer and internet technologies which he could scarcely have imagined in
1932. What he presented here are demerits, from a very secular point of view, of having
less time to relax and reflect on whatever a person does for a living. One gets
desensitized gradually due to this ramping exposure to an extremely materialistic
approach. So here starts a chain reaction. People who are themselves exploited, robbed
and objectified by the system reciprocate by providing raw materials for this system by
adopting it, running it and even enhancing it to unconceivable limits.

Cure
So what are the solutions to this problem? The answer is that no one knows the
exact answer. One can just suggest some diversions from the stable patterns on which this
institution of late sitting has been formed.
The most important thing is to get a person out of a complete desensitized
emotional state and to get intact with the human aspect of life once again. There are
certain factors such as peer pressure, the cutthroat competition and a worldly,
materialistic approach that play an important part in getting a person desensitized to the
level of extreme apathy.
Mr. Murthy, in his speech suggests encouraging people to put some balance in
their lives. He suggests following guidelines as well:
“
1) Wake up, eat a good breakfast, and go to work.
2) Work hard and smart for eight or nine hours.
3) Go home.
4) Read the comics, watch a funny movie, dig in the dirt, play with your kids, etc.
5) Eat well and sleep well.

This is called recreating. Doing steps 1, 3, 4, and 5 enable step 2. Working regular hours
and recreating daily are simple concepts. They are hard for some of us because that
requires personal change. They are possible since we all have the power to choose to do
them.”

These things suggested by Mr. Narayana Murthy can be regarded as a good start. People
are in desperate need of reminding themselves and their superiors to go “GET A LIFE”
and to value things that life has to offer other that their jobs, especially the things they
will be worried about on our death beds.

References:
http://www.whereincity.com/articles/self-improvement/5063.html

http://www.ouchh.com/Articles/articles/27/1/Late-Sitting/Page1.html