Falling in love with work

In times of downsizing we somehow never feel that 'our' company will ever need to worry since "we are all family!" The bonding is so complete that the organisation is viewed as an unassailable edifice holding out against the whole world. People are in love...with their work.

BEING laid off is traumatic and deeply upsetting. People build relationships and begin to depend for emotional support on their jobs. When that job suddenly goes up in smoke, the impact is numbing and incomprehensible.

The fact is that we all make the mistake of getting too wrapped up with our organisation and the degree of trust we have in it is immense. In times of downsizing we somehow never feel that 'our' company will ever need to worry since "we are all family!" Actually, this is the result of an over-successful HR policy that has suddenly doubled back on itself and blown up in the faces of everybody.

Largely, it is really the fault of an over-enthusiastic HR department. Every stone on the way has not merely been turned; it has been carefully examined and indoctrinated.

The result? A workforce that is devoted to their boss, their teams, their departments and the organisation as a whole. The bonding is so complete that the organisation is viewed as an unassailable edifice holding out against the whole world.

People have fallen in love and the object of their devotion stands tall in the firmament of their psyche.

Unfortunately, this is not a fairy tale and everything does not end happily ever after. Economies collapse, organisational priorities change and employees suddenly find that they don't have anything to do any more.

People, who have been joyfully setting forth, every morning from their homes to friends and familiar surroundings at their places of work, suddenly start worrying about whether they will have a job when they get there!

It may not be them today, it could be another department to get the axe, but once it starts, the axe never stops falling. The insecurity and the sense of betrayal is acute and individuals have been known to have nervous breakdowns or worse.

Downsizing is happening everywhere, and large offices with over a hundred employees are imploding to a skeleton staff of fifteen!

It is interesting that most employees are not as concerned with their layoff. What affects them the most is when a close colleague is asked to leave.

The worst, most demoralising feeling is when one's boss is retrenched. The loss is akin to the passing away of a dearly loved parent.

This is where the problem lies. It is an emotional bond being severed and it is this that causes the sense of emptiness.

Most 'happy' employees look at their boss as an avuncular, kind figure of authority in their lives that tells them what to do and how to do it.

He is the person who sits with you and comforts you when you are in distress, and he is the one who helps you across the hurdles you face in your work. He tells you where you are going wrong and he pats you on the back when you get it right.

Then suddenly, one day the dependent employees discover that he will not be there for them any more and a kind of death-panic sets in which ruins productivity. What results is actually a medical condition called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Falling in love with the workplace can sometimes happen when associates start enjoying the company of each other more than they enjoy the company of those they are "contracted" to enjoy, such as spouses/parents/

live-in partners and relatives.

Just because one's colleagues live through the same stresses and probably understand your concerns better, nobody should feel that only they care. The fact is that there is a life after work and a good support system away from the workplace will help toward a quick return to normalcy after a downsizing exercise.

To recognise this companies need to ensure that their employees have sufficient time to spend an enriching portion of their time every day with their familial support groups. An employee will never be able to turn back to his family if he has been neglecting them for a long time.

Work is not unlike an Internet addiction, only its been around much longer and people have not realised the dangers of over- involvement.

Previously, jobs were considered permanent; today they are viewed as stepping-stones to other banks. It is for this reason that organisational HR initiates bonding exercises that weld teams together.

They encourage togetherness and proximal relations that help to retain people. This works beautifully when times are good. It causes dreadful outcomes in downturn situations.

Companies will try their best to extract the best from employees, quite rightly too. It is important for employees to keep their eyes open to the realities of the market situation.

A case in example is that of an e-Call centre (name withheld on request) that had many clients in the United States.

Since the call centres were located in India, they hired well and trained well to meet the stringent quality norms expected by their clients.

The teams were bonded together and they worked like an oiled machine. Members began to socialise to an extent that they became inured to everything that was happening around them.

They spent all their time together, forever talking shop and ignoring their family and former friends. When their neglected families enquired about the effects of the prevailing downturns, the employees returned flippant answers, the purport of which was "...it won't happen to us."

This was despite the fact that their own clients were shying away from contract renewal due to the downturn in their own economies. Very soon, there were no clients left and all the employees had nothing to do.

The management told them that this was nothing to worry about and the employees believed in this without question. Despite other call centres biting the dust across the country, employees of this company remained welded to their jobs even though they had nothing to do.

After ten months of bench squatting, the company finally told them that they needed to find themselves new jobs. The result was tragic. Some fainted. Others went about in a stunned daze. The bottom had fallen out from under their feet. They had fallen in love and their beloved had deserted them.

Being committed is wonderful for both employee and employer, but giving too much of yourself is worse than giving too little.

In both cases you may lose your job but giving too much may mean trauma, stress and breakdown. Besides, you may lose your backup system of family and friends if you fall too much in love with work!

S.RAMANUJACHARYA

professor1@sify.com