Creating conducive environments

It’s very refreshing to come across people who say, "I am having fun doing what I am doing. And guess what…I also get paid for it." Chances are that such a person is not only doing well but is also respected for what he or she does. Above all, the person is enjoying what she is doing. She may be putting in long hours but may not feel that she is ‘working’.

When we enjoy our work, the quantum of effort seems inconsequential compared to the sense of joy and accomplishment, rather than fatigue at the end of the day. But if one digs deep into such experiences, the linkage between work and the supportive environment in which work is accomplished becomes clear. If one could replicate that experience several times over in one’s career, it would be fun rather than work. The mission of school and corporate managements is to create supportive environments which encourage teachers and employees to enjoy their work and give their best to their schools or corporates.

In the business management sub-discipline that is HRD (human resource development), we regard ourselves as mentors of employees of our firms and corporations. As HRD professionals our objective is to encourage continuous learning and nurture the vital human capital of our companies — much the same as school and university teachers.

In my interaction with people, I invariably ask them what they enjoy doing most. Recently, I met a bright student who had completed a course in human resource management. But her eyes really shone as she recounted her experiences of writing on issues, putting facts together cohesively, while culling significant data. Upon further enquiry it became quite obvious that she would have made a great internal communications manager, which is an important aspect of HRD, neglected more often than not. She seemed to agree with this suggestion, but chose not to pursue it after she discussed this career option with her friends. The reason: they felt it was a risky option — largely untried and untested.

There are many such people who discover the vocation they are interested in, but end up in wrong jobs, and often in unsuitable organisations. The reality is that everyone gives of their best in environments which are conducive. Some people like a well-structured work environment, others prefer a more free-wheeling framework that allows them to experiment. Therefore matching student aptitudes with career choice and organisation environments is of critical importance, and teachers can play a pivotal role in guiding their students towards suitable career choices so that they have fun-filled professional lives.

The example of an acquaintance who chose business journalism as his career is illustrative. He signed up with a publication which wanted him to write regular beat reports, whereas he was keen on writing about the new economy. Initially he stuck it out, hoping things would change. However, every day was becoming painful and the quality of his output declined. Things eventually reached a stage when he started doubting whether business journalism was the right vocation for him. Fortunately, he found a job in another publication which gave him the freedom to continuously write about new and emerging sectors of the economy. The joie de vivre which his new job inspired improved his productivity manifold, and brought him fame and money far beyond what he would have achieved in his previous job.

So what factors influence people — especially students just out of academic institutions — from choosing aptitudinally appropriate and joyful careers for themselves, and what can teachers do in helping them pursue their path to professional fulfillment? The social reality is that most middle class households are very risk averse. The thinking is that job security is in tried and tested industries and vocations. Therefore, despite the many new career options available today, an engineering or medical degree is typically regarded as the route to a secure future. But the result of such conservatism is often a mismatch between aptitude and vocation. That’s one of the reasons why many in the BPO sector may be qualified engineers wondering why they studied engineering in the first place.

In the newly emergent globalised world, parents and teachers need to start paying greater attention to student aptitudes and preferences. Students need to be encouraged to think on these lines so that in later years they choose aptitudinally suitable study programmes and vocations, rather than be driven by mass sentiment.

Similarly, the education system needs to be modified to permit greater choice of subjects to students. It is perhaps time that syllabus developers work with educationists and psychologists to design curriculums which help identify the strengths of individuals early in their academic careers — maybe before completion of primary education. Perhaps courses could be designed to help teachers discern students’ aptitudes in their early years. Such initiatives would create a society in which career choices would be made consciously, rather than left to chance.