When I was young, my father would tell me the story of a farmer who divided his land between his two sons before dying, so that they could cultivate the land in order to earn their livelihood. After the farmer died, the elder son would get up early, collect his workers and would march off to his field with the attitude of “Come on let’s go and work” while the younger son hired workers for a price and told them to go and plough the fields and bring back the produce to him when ready.
Slowly the elder son began to prosper whereas the younger one, who was lazy and demanding, began losing money and finally became a pauper. Although the younger son would blame many things for his failure, he refused to examine his attitude towards work, which was the main reason for his downfall. The basic difference between the attitude of the elder and the younger brothers was that of “Come” and “Go”.
The elder son would take his workers along with him for work, leading them from the front, by example. He would work hard himself and would also supervise them, but, more importantly, he would involve them in their work. He would give them due credit for their work while paying them justly and on time which also included incentives like giving them a part of the produce.
As a result, the workers saw themselves as part of the developmental workforce that worked in the fields with sincerity and dedication that led them to produce a bountiful crop year after year. They soon realized that their sincerity, honesty and hard work paid rich dividends and they began to put in more labor, both in terms of quality and quantity which led to the development of their skills, acumen and even their physique.
Compare this to the laborers of the younger son who in spite of being skilled, hardworking and honest, began to lose interest in their work due to the attitude of their master which was one of disinterest in work and interest only in the final product. Their master exploited them to achieve his goal using terror and punishment as his tools and the workers were simply working because they were paid to do so and had to collect their pay packet at the end of the month. The younger son had the attitude of using his workers and demanding results at the end of the stipulated period irrespective of the prevailing conditions. They did not know whom to go to with their problems and their master would not listen to them even if they had genuine difficulties, since he had no practical idea of the work that was being done.
This raises an important question: What does a person want when he works? He wants money of course, because without it there is no point in working, but besides money what are the things that a person is looking for in work? Volumes have been written by management gurus about motivation for work but simply put, a person wants to build a career while at work besides earning money to meet his family’s needs. A person wants to develop himself through work, acquire and hone his skills, wants a sense of achievement of which he can be proud and wants to achieve respect by doing good work which would be a benchmark in his field.
Work is not merely an activity to earn and accumulate money, which is unfortunately so for many people. A man discovers himself at work, his talents, his strength, his weaknesses, etc. He also realizes his personal qualities of patience, tolerance, ambition, jealousy, etc. and learns to develop the good ones while letting go of the bad ones. If a person is sufficiently involved in his work, then the money earned becomes secondary because through work he is able to discover himself, achieve self-realization and self-actualization. Many scientists, artists, etc., are so involved in their work that they experience what is known as “flow states” in which they totally lose themselves in their work and they become “one” with their work. It is this type of involvement in work that produces great works of art, and great scientific discoveries that have had a major impact on human history.
If people are simply made to do only specific work without allowing them to experiment or involve themselves to the extent of trying out new ideas, then they become disinterested in their work because they feel that they are simply being used by their employers to achieve their ends. This kind of work where obedience and compliance is more appreciated than creative or productive work attracts mediocre types of workers who are only interested in ending their shift or who simply wait for the weekend in order to redeem themselves.
A human workforce forms a major share of the budget of any organization especially that of a service industry. A famous industrialist was once asked: how do you manage to treat your customers so well? To which he replied: I treat my employees well who in turn take care of my customers. If the workers are well motivated, well taken care of, rewarded for their efforts, talents, and interest, then the organization surges ahead besides being a role model for other organizations where people yearn to work for prestige and honor rather than only for money.
Besides a good work environment and culture, a worker looks for being taken care of especially in times of stress that he or his family may be facing. Although the employer is not responsible for a worker’s family and personal problems, an employer would do well to invest in a worker’s personal life to the extent of solving some of his personal problems because this is known to pay rich dividends in terms of buying an employee’s loyalty for the company. Companies that take care of their employees have on their payroll those with long service records, good conduct and excellent work outputs not to mention loyalty.
It is said that if all the needs of an employee are taken care of under one roof, that is the roof of the company, then that employee would not have to look elsewhere for satisfying them. The needs are: money, food, housing, mental needs like challenging work, physical needs, such as a fair amount of exercise and games, a need for adventure, social needs, and spiritual needs. Workers could be given work according to their qualifications and capability while encouraging them to take up challenges to achieve more. They can be offered a variety of work, which would address the problem of monotony and would also develop their personality by exposing them to various kinds of jobs that would demand various kinds of skills and attitudes.
If workers are offered personality developmental courses through which they can develop their lives then they will be ever grateful to the company because it is very difficult for individuals to pay money to attend such courses. Social development can occur if activities in the company can be conducted in a pleasant social manner so that the working staff can also become a social circle for an employee, who will not need look outside for his social needs.
One of the reasons why work in Saudi Arabia is regarded as a necessary evil is that normally one gains experience while working and if a person has worked for say a period of 20 years in a place, then he is worth much more than an inexperienced person. However, in Saudi Arabia, time and again there are rumors that those expatriates who have worked for more than 10 years will be asked to leave or their contracts will not be renewed. If this were in reference to things like an automobile or one of its tires then it would be understandable; because of wear and tear, an old car or its tires would be worth much less as compared to a new one. However, when one is talking about the experience of a worker, it is really strange to state that conditions in Saudi Arabia are so hazardous that one loses his sense of mental and physical well-being and becomes useless as well as worthless after working here. If a country does not value its own experience, then how can others value Saudi Arabian work experience?
While Saudi Arabia is on the threshold of becoming self-reliant in terms of its labor and industry workforce, it would be well to remember that businesses and money are not static commodities. For the generation of money, any industry has to create a business which involves doing market research, being innovative and sensitive to local needs and supply, introducing new concepts and ideas to solve local problems, etc.
As far as jobs are concerned, employees would do well to think about how much money they can generate for their employer before demanding money and other benefits, such as holidays, etc. On the other hand, employers would do well to think about the needs of their employees, such as money, work satisfaction, creative desires, rewarding honesty, loyalty, hard work and sincerity, etc. In the final analysis, it is these things that will take any business to the top of the ladder of commercial success.
Shabbir Thingna,
Madinah
