Friday, September 7, 2007

(Dis) orientation

Its confirmed. The whole concept of scaring bosses away. Two jobs, 18 months, 5 bosses. phew. Which effectively means no boss has done my review more than once. Or been around for longer than 3 months. Could come up with a whole bunch of statistics which proves my bosses quit too soon. Ive been lucky though, with NO exception, i would LOVE to work with any of them again.

Its a pattern for me. At my previous company too, i worked with one boss for 3 months, she quit, we shifted floors, he quit, I quit (else would've shifted floors again). Here i am, job # 2, I work for 3 months, he quits, she quits, we shift floors, he quits, we shift floors again. YIKES. i feel like a yo yo. i wonder IF this boss quits too, will we shift floors again?! maybe I should just quit and end the cycle eh?

Ive spoken about this before too, this degree of comfort which is required to get me to go somewhere for a min of 8 hrs a day, nearly 320 days a year. I need to orient myself to the smallest things - for eg my previous floor had incandescent light and nicely painted yellow pillars which mad3 it very lively. this floor (which i was on in the 1st place) has tube lights and a dull white and dark blue setting. GAH. even things like direction of seating, computer, leg space are big on importance.

Its just very unsettling, every one's either quit, quitting or wanting to quit! Everyone complains of complacency, frustration, low pay etc. But to be honest, I have friends who are senior position wise, who are earning much more (and commensurate with their post/experience etc) and still complaining about their pay. While i think reaching a point where your satisfied with your job and life is dangerous (i think there should ALWAYS be a little wind space between completely content and where you are currently) i also think that there are certain things that will just not change - People will ALWAYS complain about money, and the fact that the company does very little for them, and that they work too much for too little etc.

Honestly I'm sick of it. Ive been in two companies i know its not much, but the grass is always greener! My first company is the "aspirational" company - i.e. people generally tend to move from here to there not the other way round like Ive done. Its supposed to be bigger better and cooler. Hogwash. while it is bigger market wise, everyone there complains about quality of work life, low pay and company nonchalance. the same problems everywhere!

I think somewhere, we need to look at ourselves, and what we are doing for the company rather than the other way round every time, maybe life will be a little better. I know mine is.

5 comments:

Ashwin said...

I think the real reason why people complain is because they're doing something they don't really want to do. Most people work as Docs, Engineers, Mkt Research guys, etc because they've been told to do so, right from the begining, or somewhere along the way (school, college, etc). They probably dont know what they're unhappy about, and complain about things that are easier to complain about.

Is that too many "about"s in one sentence?

Abhishek said...

I guess the chain will break when you become the biggest boss in the company...I hope you wouldnt wanna quit then ;)

ToOothlEss WOndeR! said...

hey i love my job, and i think shifting a floor upwards is a nice idea, atleast level 4 has more chicks and less chicken. :)

The Nomad said...

That's true, if you are doing something you really like, you don't have to worry about the motivation.I like what I do and will do it only till I like it.I don't think I can give it all if I'm not excited about it.

The only problem is the sense of responsbility and ownership and attachment etc., that screws it up.Can't get up and leave today if I want because I feel responsbile. i know, I'm sure its not even old, its ancient school or something.

But you are who you are and that's where you operate from. So just need to figure how to balance the two.

Serendipity said...

@ Everyone - yep, the common sentiment that you ought to like what you do is agreed to. what im tyring to say is that for me, although i like what i do et all, other factors like people coming and going, bosses shifting, reviews not hapening with the people ive actually worked with, are things that are unsettling to me. After all, one doesnt merely go to work, do their work and come back right? Interpersonal intercations and envoirnment makes a big difference to work life!

Much as change etc excites me, somewhere i need some stability i feel. everytime i develop a good working relation with someone, that person GOES. and these are people i would love to learn from, and deal with more. no doubt the other people who come along are as nice but still, i yearn to have a boss for longer then 3 months, colleagues whose conversation talks of things other than quitting/wanting to quit or how many people (in doubel digits) quit this month or what not. :(