Indian offices and ego, power, abuse, etc.
In India, the land of spirituality, it seems that the workplace is somewhat less than what I could consider to be spiritual. Of course, every workplace is different, and each human being is different too. But, in Indian culture, it is all too common to have managers who are on some type of ego trip. They think they are so great and powerful because they are managers, and they want to step on others who are lower than them to show off their power. It seems very primative to me when I see this type of behavior.
Relationships between managers and workers seem to involve a lot of yelling. Managers often behave like tyrants in some movie about Egypt when they had slaves building the pyramids. It all looks very abusive. Some workers are good for nothing and NEED to be yelled at often to keep them in check. But, as a policy for treating people in general, respect is a much better policy — at least for those who can handle giving and receiving it. Appreciation gets more mileage than beration as well.
My friend pointed out to me that workers are often very concerned only with what their salary and position is. They are often saving up for a dowery for their sister’s marriage. It is always good to be able to pay whatever the market rate for dowery is. However, if workers are only concerned with superficial things like their job title and salary, and managers are only concerned with finding new and creative ways to demean their underlings, then what do you think the future of companies with these types of maniacs would be? The answer is not very nice.
There needs to be a sense of commitment to the long range growth and health of the company you work for. There needs to be a sense of professionalism as well. Larger companies in Bangalore often have very professional managers — often NRI’s or Westerners are chosen to be managers to bring a more worldly sense of professionalism to these multinational offices. Owners need to find a way to create that loyalty and commitment.
Employees will never be 100% loyal to any company, because it is all about their immediate pay check, and about their personal desires. Very few employees can see the long term picture, or would care about that view in even the best case scenario. But, if employees are treated well, and see themselves at that company in the long term, there will be a natural bond between them and the company, and that bond is well worth creating and maintaining.
If you set an example, by keeping employees around forever as a matter of practice, the never employees might see themselves as having a realistic chance of staying at your company for life. Then, and only then will they care about the long term health of our company! Think about it!