Malapropism, misuse of words, call it what you may…

Sleek and good outlook, outlook fashion
Now what comes to your mind when you read that? A lot I am sure but I’m guessing that the usage of the word outlook would be something that would strike you as inappropriate. Well, last week I came across this word twice, one in a boutique’s tag line and the other time in a home appliances brochure. Both I’m assuming was suggested by a literate person.
What does the word outlook mean? When I checked dictionary.com this is what I found…

Outlook
–noun
1. The view or prospect from a particular place.
2. Mental attitude or view; point of view: one's outlook on life.
3. Prospect of the future: the political outlook.
4. The place from which an observer looks out; lookout.
5. The act or state of looking out.
6. A watch kept; vigilance; lookout: a careful outlook to prevent forest fires.

Origin:
1660–70; out- + look

Synonyms:
1, 3. Scene 2. Attitude, viewpoint, position, approach.


Interesting and I’m sure most people would already know what it means. Then how is it that this word appears in wrong context most of the time? Well, to tell the truth this is not the only word that is misused most of the time. A lot of us are guilty of this charge; don’t we all send out or receive emails that are proof of this? In a professional environment this misuse of word can have varying effect. Yes, you might not lose your job for using the wrong word but that doesn’t always mean it will go unnoticed. Imagine doing this in an interview. Yes, your mastery of the English language may not be minutely scrutinised, but that doesn’t mean you can get away with it easily either, especially when the word that you might use could have a completely unacceptable actual meaning. Though the chances for this might seem slim, it doesn’t really hurt to actually learn the language. After all that is another skill that you would be acquiring, and experience teaches that everything that you learn and acquire has something to teach and offer.
So what could be the right remedy for this very common problem that all of us non-native speakers seem to be trudging in everyday? Firstly all of acknowledge the fact that there is no end to learning and secondly don’t forget that today being able to converse fluently in English has become a necessity, so whether you like it or not, brush up your language skills, starting now. There are millions of books that can help you do that and all that you would need is interest. Accept your weakness and make it your agenda to work on your vocabulary and language and after you do that I don’t think it would be very difficult to start your self-tutoring sessions.

Is it really possible to be happy at work?

I’ve always wondered if it’s really possible to be happy at work. What are the factors that make going to work worthwhile, other than our work? I know all of us have different reasons for going to work. It could be for a living, for having something to do, to beat boredom, to not hang around at home all the time, well it could be just about anything. But how many of us actually go to work because we love what we do and want to keep on doing it everyday?
I’ve come to realise that when most of us take up a job, we assume it’s the right one. And if we don’t like it we have no qualms about changing the employer, while we decide to stick to the functional area we think is apt for us. But what happens if you do the same kind of job, maybe for different employers and not realise that it’s not the job that you will have to change but your career? A bad job can ruin your peace of mind. So what do you think would be the right thing to do? Stick around and rot or get proactive and move on and ahead?

There’s certainly an opportunity at every nook and cranny…

Opportunities at every click – that’s an old ClickJobs advt that has remained etched in my memory. I’ve always wondered if that is really possible when you take the larger picture of life into consideration—to be able to find an interesting opportunity at every turn. I think one should be an opportunist for this to be true.
And why shouldn’t one be an opportunist anyway. After all today’s career demands that one is an opportunist, proactively seeking to find and get hold of what they are looking for. Sit back and assume that life will work out; things will come to the one who works and shuts out the world and you can kiss your career progression good-bye.
I think it’s bad to be a downright selfish opportunist who won’t think twice to walk over someone to get what they want. If someone is focused and wants to achieve what he aspires for, it would be better he works hard towards achieving what he wants, while keeping a close watch of what is happening around and how he can make use of the situation to his advantage without crushing someone else’s dreams or without taking credit for someone else’s toil.
Look at what Agnes Olubunmi Amos did with her life after recession snatched her of her job. Agnes was disheartened just like all the other professionals who lost their jobs, but she did what no one else would have thought of doing and turned her life around and created her own opportunity for a living. Jotting down her fears, prayers, hopes and experiences in her personal diary everyday as she searched for a job without success, Agnes later realized that her personal thoughts can become a book that can give solace to millions like her. And that was how – “The Journey of a Christian Job Seeker” was born. A hit in the US, the Indian edition of the book hit the stands in September this year.
Nothing but sheer grit and determination to survive could have urged Agnes on, but what is commendable is the way she found an opportunity even in her everyday musings. Now who would have thought of that!
As Alexander Graham Bell once quoted– “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” Agnes’ progress was certainly stunted by recession but not for long since she did not let that bog down her spirit. What is really admirable is the opportunity that she was willing to see in something that most of us would have considered a pointless endeavour.
Well, I’m sure if all of us keep our eyes wide open it wouldn’t be difficult to see an opportunity in everything too. And it’s high time we started doing just that.

A friend at work…. Is that a necessity?

A recent employee experience at work survey done at my organisation was an eye-opener of sorts, especially the questions pertaining to camaraderie at work. I can’t be sure about the results but it did make me wonder about the friends that we make at work. After all we spend most of our day at work so isn’t it logical enough to connect and bond with peers?
A lot of survey results about life at work talks about the need to have at least one friend at work since it is supposed to make work more interesting. Some skeptics even reasoned out with me that if you love what you do, what is the need for a friend? After all you go to work to work and not to socialise. A valid point, I do agree but isn’t it true that all work and no play can make Jack a dull boy, dull and cynical to say the least.
Though there are certain jobs that demand you’re engaged throughout the day, a little diversion hurt no one. Be it going out for a smoke or for lunch, I’ve realised that being a loner can be tedious. I remember a time when my friend at work had to quit for personal reasons, leaving me clueless for a week. Even though I knew about it I was not prepared when it actually happened. Every time I wanted to do something I used to wonder if I should just go alone or join a group of people who looked at least remotely my type (you can picture ‘almost nerdy’ me feeling lost).
However my friend’s leaving had an advantage. I started talking to more people and didn’t focus my non-working time socialising with just one of my colleagues. Which I trust gave me a more combined perspective of events at work and also my work. When you have a few more people’s perceptions on some of your break-through ideas, it can help you gain firmer traction, since it lightens the environment.
This is my view since I sure have seen it work many a times, simplifying things tremendously. But forget about discussing work, isn’t it true that friends make work enjoyable just like the times when you survived through a boring lecture in college when you had friends to laugh away your boredom with?
Your current job should be your calling at least that is what it should be, so it shouldn’t be difficult to get immersed in it. But, you can’t deny the fact that a good hearty laugh can be a great way to distress when things are not going your way. And when you have friends at work who can take your mind off it for some time, I do believe it wouldn’t be difficult to get back to work rejuvenated.
After all when you know you have someone to keep you company, even a boring workday can seem bearable. I’m happy I have a big gang of friends at work. I definitely love what I do (if you don’t, find a job you’d love) but there are times when nothing can be more relaxing than being surrounded by colleagues who’ve become friends.

Employee Empowerment

Lately I’ve been hearing a lot about organisations talking about empowering their employees that I’m starting to wonder if it is actually taken seriously and practiced at all! What does this term mean anyway! Does it mean that the organisation trusts its employees implicitly enough to let them shoulder more responsibilities?
A friend of mine works at an organisation where they take the whole empowerment thing quite seriously. He gets to go for some real fancy workshops ever so often and is taught the basics of taking decisions (as if he doesn’t know how to do that already). Well, I can help but wonder what’s the point in attending multiple workshops, getting all excited, waiting to get to work to implement those ideas, only to be told you’re not really allowed to do that?
Almost everyone in an organisation has a reporting head so it is expected to report your decision or your actions, which invariably gets thumped down by kind and understanding words. Yet I do agree that there are times (a lot of times) when you think a particular idea might work wonders only to be told that it will not; and surprisingly it is true. I’ve gone through that a few times myself when I thought I’d come up with a new break-through solution only to be told its not really break-through, but you know what, when you have the idea tossed around and get an opinion, even you’ll realize it was a dud. But does that mean that your ideas can be pushed down everyday or every time?
Empowerment is a necessity to ensure evolvement and the personal growth of individuals. However how organisations go about achieving this is what can create more value. Knowing that your decisions are trusted can certainly boost anyone’s morale and add to it functional or operational responsibilities and you can be more than sure of an increased feeling of self-worth.
Keeping a close watch of subordinates is what happens most often. A good manager on the other hand should be willing to let go of certain responsibilities and test the capacity of their subordinates if their sincerely hoping to empower people. Overseeing functions is one, but offering sufficient freedom to implement ideas can go a long way in building the morale of the team. And as organisations strive to expand and grow it is more than necessary today to strengthen their foundational structure – their employees to ensure that their organisational strategies sail through tough times.

Employee Retention

Can employees be made to stay by stringent rules? Or can peanuts as compensation induce people to work and be productive? Fine I think I’m going overboard, but it cannot be denied that strict adherence to grating rules has become the norm of the day in several companies, but about peanuts, I’ve realised that as human beings we’ll never be completely satisfied with anything! Well, I’ve seen that there are companies where the compensation structure is way below the widely accepted scale but more often than not our salaries do match the industry standards or the actual effort that we put in! I know there are always exceptions to every case and there will be a lot in this too but salaries are not what I have in mind right now.
From what I’ve seen, I’ve realised that not all organisations have a foolproof plan when it comes to making their employees stay around for long. After all employees are any company’s fundamental asset but how many organisations actually manage to have them till retirement? Okay, nowadays no one plans to grow old with the organisation they had begun their career with, but statistics prove that proportionately only a handful even cross the five-year mark. With growing global competition almost every organisation today has revised its new compensation structures to entice the best of the talent pool. However not all manage to keep them for long. At the end of the day all of them fall short someway or another, creating quite a drain of talented, experienced personnel, incurring huge losses. So what could be the reason why this seems to be on the rise? When the outsourcing boom hit India I remember the frenzied recruitment initiatives that scoured the length and breadth of the country. BPOs made people feel that only the best would be selected and yes it did seem that way till after about a year or two later when the retention issues started to surface. Employee retention and ways to curtail outflow became quite a common topic for discussion. With experts lending their advice, organisations did start paying more attention to keeping their employees happy. But were they successful? I think a handful were but in country that holds the pride of place amongst the outsourcing nations, Indian organisations, interestingly not even one of them feature in the top 50 of employee friendly companies in the world.
It is a basic truth that happy employees make more productive organisations and stay put longer. But what will make an employee happy? Is it compensation, work-life balance, organisational culture, employee morale and the steps companies take to boosting that or more leniency? Well, a lot of factors go into keeping an employee happy, the crux is to find the right balance and ensure that the organisation sticks to those resolutions. There are certainly a million ways in which an organisation can keep its staff engaged and interested. Empowering employees is definitely one of them. But how many of them actually take pains to practice it? Boredom has become a fairly common sentiment amongst most employees today. Yes, career gurus are quick to point out that if you’re following your dreams and doing what you love and actually want to do, you can never feel bored and insignificant at work. But even a layman would agree that sometimes it is not only doing what you love but also how you are made to feel at the place where you do what you love that can be a defining factor in your future at and with that organisation.
There certainly is no dearth of ideas when it comes to making employees feel wanted, respected and making them stay around longer, but what remains to be seen is how many organisations actually implement them.

Fatherhood and Work

I just read an article addressing the now growing concern of fathers, who feel they are not able to spend as much time with their children as much as they’d love. It was great to know that for a change people are waking up to the “male angle” to family and life balance.
Well, as far as I remember there have been scores of debates and discussions about the pangs of women who have to cut corners trying to balance work and familial responsibilities. And also the concerns of employers who’ve felt that women tend to put their family first, which I think would end soon with people waking up to the fact that even men prefer to go back home to their kids as much as women.
I think a shift in perspective would certainly not hurt anyone, especially today when we find employers stringently holding on to policies on leave and working hours that it seems to be a getting a tad out of hand in a lot of cases. What with certain organisations incorporating the necessity to clock in and out even during toilet or smoking breaks. I do agree that the latter is not really a life-threatening necessity but are not people allowed to do something that can relieve a lot of stress and widen perspectives?
Jokes apart, though it is understood that policy makers are striving to build more efficient workplaces and improve productivity it is quite debatable how that can be achieved by forcing people to stick to timelines.
Anyway now let’s overlook that for the time being. Coming to fact of removing the gender bias that women constantly suffer when it comes to their familial wants, I personally think the new cognizance of fatherly woes can only do more good than bad. Particularly since that the growing concerns and desire of men to spend more time with their family will help them voice their opinion, which could help employers build a more employee needs friendly environment.
It is obvious that every business strives to make money and in its mission to fulfill this basic premise it constantly tries to motivate its staff to become more productive. However though today’s competitive business environment warrants persistent adherence to employee productivity enhancing measures, I feel that building policies that even considers an employees’ personal responsibilities, giving requisite leeway will help the organisation’s cause much more than they’ll ever realise.
After all I work with fathers and I can’t say I’ve never noticed how much they panic when their toddlers fall ill or for that matter how badly they look forward to go home as early as possible to spend time with their brood.