By Pratik Mantri:
We all work for many reasons mostly because we have to. This has always remained a perennial question for every generation. What pushes you to work? It is a foregone conclusion that to sustain ourselves we work but apart from that there can be a few kicks which make you go to office every day. For some people, money takes them to their work place while for many others something else gives them the tonic needed to work.
It is my hypothesis that the generation which worked during the course of 70’s, 80’s and 90’s worked more for recognition than anything else but now with the changing dynamics of economy, the priorities have taken a paradigm shift too. The bank balances and pay cheques have assumed greater importance in today’s India grappling with the ever rising inflation.
Life is not a bed of roses and in these times, living expenses have burnt a hole in the pockets of many people. In this case, the financial rewards help. Money can bring motivation especially for the people working in the sales division. For the people with a meager salary, money is everything and as we gradually move up the ladder of management structure in an organization, the reasons for working change. It is important for any employer to reward his employees suitably for the extra effort which he always demands from them. Granted, many people go to work every day to bring that all important pay cheque. But that amount alone is worth the effort of tirelessly sweating it out for more than 45 hours a week? Is that everything? NO!
People strive to better themselves to gain recognition in the workplace. Be it anyone- the boss or a co-worker, every person wants to be recognized for the work that they have been putting in. It is deeply rooted in the fabric of humans to crave for attention, recognition or even appreciation. But over and above all this, recognition gives us a kind of satisfaction which no amount of money could ever provide. A few weeks back, I read in a newspaper that many companies have now started ‘employee recognition’ program; some way of trying to motivate its employees to work harder. Sometimes ‘employee of the month’ can be seen everywhere on signs and plaques that can be seen in the lounge of many offices. Employees will remember that moment. It is just that feeling of appreciation that makes any job bearable. Also, it cannot be ruled out that recognition wins loyalty.
The thing which can provide endless motivation to do any work is passion. When any person becomes ‘passionate’ about the work he is doing then that he doesn’t require any other thing for motivation. Passion brings out the dedication, grit, determination and what not. It is the passion to play cricket which makes Sachin Tendulkar the greatest of them all. Nothing seems impossible when you are in that sort of frame of mind. A person, full of passion will not stop even after achieving heights and in the process, they achieve a certain degree of satisfaction that they did their best irrespective of anything else. However, for an average person to suddenly infuse passion into his work is simply asking way too much. It is important for anyone to not let that passion taper off. Only some of the enlightened souls (read Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan and Lata Mangeshkar) maintain that for a long time.
For any individual, it is important to find the right reason which makes you work or even study. That reason should stay with you for preferably a longer duration of time which would help in achieving excellence. In the end, it all depends on how a person perceives work. For some of them, work is their ‘dharma’ and for some it is no less than irritation.