Corporate suicide: Self destructing on the job

The unstable job market is something that holds back both employees as well as corporations. And the recent spate of downsizing on a mass scale across many industries has resulted in increased insecurity for those who have been spared so far.

But there are ways in which employees can ensure that they make themselves as indispensable for their company as possible. In the first part of this article we spoke about core values that differentiate corporations. Continuing from where we left off last week, in the concluding part of this article, let’s take a look at some more traits which should be avoided by employees who are concerned about their future and should follow them as their own values.

Enjoying a comfort zone

To be excellent in something, someone has to work repeatedly and creatively. Creativity brings innovation and repetition brings excellence. Organisations need and encourage both -- however they are more into innovation since this brings business. Also repeating the same job for many years actually does not help. Tenure-based promotion policies force the organisation to promote some employees but often their productivity does not meet the expectations of the organisation or its objectives. The employees actually start enjoying the skills that they have been practicing for many years and do not learn new things to avoid being overworked. Learning a new technology or skill has always been a painful and time-consuming process; employees may have to stay in the office for late hours. Those who are not open to change and are in a comfort zone with their existing job do not accept any technology, do not welcome any change in their job description and may even resist to any internal rotation to other departments. Organisations need dynamic individuals and the “comfort zone employees” are never beneficial for them.

Resisting promotion

There are few who resist their own promotion, only because of the expected workload. They do not enjoy any additional task. Promotion does not mean additional salary, it brings additional responsibility as well, something an employee will be made to answer for. If you are a dynamic individual then you must take responsibility (organisations pay for that). If you are capable of handling complex situations and the organisation is willing to groom you as well but you are not ready to take the responsibility, you are resisting to your promotion to the next level then sooner or later, you will be history.

Not my job

This statement has become a phrase heard in almost every organisation irrespective of the sector that it belongs to. Employees need to understand the sensitivity of this phrase. This can cause a serious damage to their careers.

Every employee has his role and responsibility within his domain but that does not mean that he is not expected to do things which are beneficial for the organisation but were not the part of their domain.

Thinking out-of-the-box is introduced for those who do not think beyond their job description. “Not my job” means you are not interested in your job. If something is not your job but somehow reached you, it is always wise to do that and then to escalate to the higher management to introduce a process to get things done in an organised way.

Not my area of interest:

Not doing something because we do not have interest and thus do not know how to do it is not a justification for most employers. They will insist that an employee learn and implement it without any delay. While doing a job, one thing must be kept in mind that you can give 200 per cent to the task you like to do but you have to give at least a hundred per cent to the job you are not interested in. “If you do not have interest in that, develop your interest or leave the job” will be the answer. It is never a good idea to restrict ourselves to one department and keep doing the same job for years. The corporate sector has a habit of following a rotation (to different departments) policy. It is one of the best inventions of modern business since exposure to different worlds enhances people’s skills and handling of tasks, and it improves your overall performance. No employee should resist being rotated even if it takes him or her to a department which is not of your interest. Such resistance can close the doors of further promotions initially and, in the longer run, can be a threat to one’s job.

Diverse experience is one of the best traits of the highly professional people of the modern business world and this should be practiced by those who want to be a role model for the coming generations.

the writer works as a training specialist in mobilink pakistan

Published in The Express Tribune, March 21^st, 2011.