WORK CULTURE

We talk much about work culture these days; at best, focusing on how much ‘importance’ a worker attaches to the work in hand. There had been many talks about the enjoyment from work; but that often related to the satisfaction of some emotional needs that may vary in unmanageable ways. Similarly, in the modern materialistic society when, generally, the money is valued more than anything else, talking of devotion to work is a kind of wishful thinking. However, thanks to the traditional values retained by the man and the needs of the society in general, paying a little more emphasis to a few things relating to our work can build a good work culture for the benefit of the all.

There is nothing new in what is being given here except that one’s indulgence is being sought with specific ways of thinking to become more involved with his work. Here, work means any work one undertakes in his course of life, not merely a professional work.

The first and foremost thing is that one must constantly have in mind the one he is working or is supposed to work. Most of us tend to become more influenced by our own benefits and conveniences or the environment and lose sight of the one in whose interest we work. A teacher, not having much command over the subject he teaches, if is concerned about the benefits he can provide to his students as a teacher, is a far better teacher than the one expert in his field, if he concentrates on making a great presentation of the knowledge he possesses. Perhaps, it is a little difficult demand in some cases. For example, a worker performing his duties in an assembly line of luxury cars may not think of the one riding the car whose manufacture he is associated with. But, if the workshop administration keeps on explaining and emphasizing to everyone working there as to how each operation being carried out at the factory is of vital importance for the safety of the men on the road, there is no reason why the human bond would get overlooked.

Then comes, how can we enjoy the work we do? Undoubtedly, work is a duty for us. It is a collective responsibility that we must perform to the best of our ability. All of us enjoy our growth; therefore, improvement in our ability to perform a job must also be a source of enjoyment. Each day, whatever we do must be better than yesterday. That is the concept of quality. From designing a nuclear reactor to speaking a more communicative sentence, each time, we must do better than the previous time for the benefit of others and for ourselves. To do better, we have to think and to explore; they both are enjoyable ‘actions’ for us, because we are human beings.

For making any improvement, we must get rid of everything that is a waste, whether a habit that harms us or dust particles lying on our table. Neither the quality of work, nor that of the life can be improved unless and until we get rid of all kinds of wastes including, of course, the waste of time.

The right work culture must enhance the self-respect of the worker; if it does not, it only means lack of wisdom or lack of efforts or both.

 PROMOD KUMAR SHARMA

[The writer of this blog is also the author of “Mahatma A Scientist of the Intuitively Obvious” and “In Search of Our Wonderful Words”.]