Category: Work Behaviour
Work Behaviour – Hitavada Future – By Rita Aggarwal
Sense of self efficacy – 26 Jan 2010
Mahesh decided to become an entrepreneur at 22 years of age. He had practically nothing in his pocket and no place to stay in the new city where he had decided to make his mark. All he had was immense confidence in himself and his capabilities. It was a steep climb as he had set a high goal for himself but he was determined. He had never been afraid of hard work and never been afraid to learn new things and face challenges. He was ready to work twenty hours per day to meet his goals. As he gradually began to master newer experiences his sense of self efficacy went up like never before. Earlier he had a high self image but now he had a high sense of self efficacy too. It did not come easily- it gradually developed as he learnt new tasks and mastered them. The positive experiences of handling the tasks effectively gave him the sense of self efficacy. The successful outcomes of the goals achieved were responsible further for enhancing the sense.
Swami Vivekananda’s mantra – 29 Dec 2009
“No man can long occupy a position for which he is not fit. By doing well the duty which is nearest to us, which is in our hands now, we make ourselves stronger, and improving our strength in this manner, we may reach a state in which it shall be our privilege to do the most coveted duties…”
The Hindu monk who said this was Swami Vivekananda. He further adds that “We find ourselves in the position for which we are fit, and if one has some capacity above another, the world will find that out, too…” He reminds us that “We are all apt to think too highly of ourselves”.
Of personal happiness at work – 08 Dec 2009
There is a little difficulty with a lot of people’s understanding of what they achieve at work. For Dilip, a 40-year-old executive in a marketing firm, work meant a route to earning livelihood. his is, of course, true for most people. Yet, Dilip’s younger brother Sandeep, fresh from college, started working in another firm and would come home almost rejoicing that he had a great day at work. Dilip often wondered why his kid brother was so happy about his work that fetched him only a small sum as a trainee in a ramshackle office of a firm whose name was not so great in the marketplace.
Battle with the Bottle – 10 Nov 2009
One of the major mental health concerns is substance abuse which includes all types of addictive drugs besides alcohol. It is a serious psychological issue for its ramifications spread far and wide. It does not remain restricted to the individual and his family but impacts the workplace and the work productivity as well. Since everyone goes to work all workplaces would have a few or quite a few alcoholics hidden or known to other employees. The worker next to you could be drunk or hung-over. One figure says that 70 percent of drug abusers go to work. They are everywhere and can vitiate the atmosphere in many ways by initiating others into the habit of drinking or disturbing the work atmosphere by their low quality of work performance. They burden the other colleagues by their poor contribution. In short they are a pain to all.
Innovating at work – 27 Oct 2009
Some organizations may systematically encourage innovations at work and create a culture of creativity on the job. They may encourage employees to innovate and look for different solutions to day to day tasks and problems. But a lot depends upon the individual employee and his own capacities to create and innovate. It depends on his attitudes and his values towards work. We observe that some people very effectively use the work place as an opportunity to learn and grow. They would be willing to find newer ways to perform their daily tasks and to think of newer ways to solve their day to day problems. Comparatively we see many other persons only grumbling about this and that deficiency in the work situation and punching bigger holes into the already existing structure. The problems of innovation could be external to the individual as well as internal to the individual.
Job pride – 29 Sep 2009
There are two aspects here- one is being proud of your profession and second is being proud of the organisation that you work for. A professional in the health sector suffered from a massive inferiority feeling as she was not a medical doctor but what they call a paramedic. ‘We are looked down upon as secondary citizens of the hospital staff as doctors are treated as ‘Gods’. ‘We cannot take decisions on issues that we are competent with and there are many more bindings that we are subjected to unnecessarily’ she complained. The point was that if she had thought so much less of this particular profession why did she opt for it at all? Of course the expected reply that I received was that ‘she missed her medical entrance by a few marks’. She made a gross mistake here- she should have left the medical and the paramedical field entirely and opted for another field which would have established her sense of self esteem. If she has chosen this field consciously as a second choice then she should change her attitudes towards her job and begin to love it and respect it. If she herself degraded her profession how does she expect people to respect her as well as her qualification?