Climbing up the corporate ladder

An individual in general with / without a degree enters the corporate world as an executive / Trainee / Management Trainee and in some cases as an Intern. Once an individual enters the corporate world it’s similar to a bee hive.  Where every single person is committed to achieving a common goal in the corporate jargon commonly addressed as the “Vision” (The vision statement differs from one organization to another and this is one way of defining as to what business they are in).

When individuals Observe from the Bottom and the Middle of the organizational hierarchy they can clearly see the delegation of Workloads from the CEO to the executive ( CEO > MD > DIRECTORS > MANAGERS > EXECUTIVES / TRAINEES etc.) & when a certain person is in the seat of an executive they can clearly see the life lived by his / her manager / Directors. They tend to drive around in fancy cars , meeting stakeholders (clients / suppliers / press etc)  in 5/7 star hotels and flying 1^st class to countries almost every month while the executives in their seat crunches numbers , make presentations and do their  duties and responsibilities. 

Well the thing that the individual at the bottom of the organizational hierarchy does not see is the hidden meaning teamed up with job titles when climbing up the hierarchical ladder. Then as years go by and the executives eventually get promoted to Directors / CEO’s  they tend to realize along with maturity that there is more to it than driving around fancy cars , dining in five star hotels and flying 1^st class. When going up the ladder more the risk that Individuals have to face, Oh yeah you read it correctly “RISK”!

In simple what CEO’s / Directors does is something like organizing a concert: hence

·         Organization = Concert

·         CEO = Michael Jackson , Beyoncé , AC/DC

·         Directors = Musicians  

·         Mangers = event coordinators

·         Executives = Backstage crew

If something goes wrong with the cerography / lights / sounds which is handled by the backstage crew. it is not the crew but the singer / musicians or the CEO / Directors  who is going to be thrown raw eggs and tomatoes at. This applies in the corporate world as well the stakeholders will start blaming the Board of directors if something goes wrong with the company and not the staff involved in it!

And mind you even though a lot of individuals think the people at the top of the organizational higher achy live rosy lives the truth is they don’t. It takes ample hard work , Sleepless nights and a thing called innovation for an individual to reach that top level of an organizational hierarchy and that individual should  implement strategies to bring out the core-competencies in the whole organization in order to take the organization to the next level and achieve an competitive advantage.    

Work Life Balance

WLB ( Work Life Balance ) in the corporate word is vital........ why???? . Well people think that when you enter the corporate world that the only important thing is work , work , work ,  work and promotions .

Well let me start like this............. God has created the day for work and the night / Darkness for rest / sleep . Well yeah that whole concept went for a six with the invention of electricity and the light bulb ....BUT it further got worse with the invention of the computer , mobile and the internet.

Hence in the early eighteen hundreds (1800s) before Michael Faradays' found out that Electricity could be produced through magnetism by motion.and when non of the above would have existed people would have gone to work come back at 5pm to their respective homes , had ample time with their family and reported back to work the next day.

Well that is how life should be spent , there should be a constant balance between Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit . but looking back at time saying that the people worked from 8am to 5pm did they not get promoted or increased their performance ???? , they did !!! this is where professionalism kicks in. Basically it's not how long you work , it's how efficiently you manage work. Because at the end of the day it's not quantity but quality that matters. 

People might say...." Ahh that's because those days companies didn't have to compete , now it's all about getting your company to be one step ahead " ....... well that excuse in simple is BULLSHIT !!! yeah companies didn't have to compete BUT they had to make lasting impressions with their stakeholders in order to survive in the world. In other words people who worked till 5pm had to build what is now reffed to as Corporate Brand Equity. and now people these days spend 24/7 working on a single sub brand ( for those who don't know a corporate brand is something like Mercedes Benz , Unilever , and a sub brand is something like the S class , Sunlight , Nescafe etc ) . 

It has turned into a life style for people to work from 8.30am to a minimum of 9pm and even after getting into the Vehicle they will use the soo....... called " smart phones " ( I Phone , Blackberry , HTC , Nokia ) to log on to their office emails and systems and even work till they reach their homes. & even after taking a bath they will log on to their laptops . this leads to an issue where people have turned into workaholics with technology . and don't commit any time to their families , sometimes the only words they might be saying is " Hi , Bye , Good Morning and Good Night ". I mean this kind of situation is exempted if a person has a strict deadline ( once or twice a month ) but not  to make it a habit 365 days a year.

Some things bounce back, and some things don’t …Sometimes the right metaphor helps us see things in a new way, or just right.  In his 30 second speech on work-life balance, Brian Dyson (CEO of Coca Cola) gives us a powerful metaphor for thinking about what bounces back, and what does not:

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them – Work, Family, Health, Friends and Spirit and you’re keeping all of these in the Air.

You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back.

But the other four Balls - Family, Health, Friends and Spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for it.”

Aside from the rubber ball metaphor, the take away he gives us is … work efficiently during office hours and leave on time.  Give the required time to your family, friends, and have a proper rest.  

& finally i would like to conclude this by saying " All work and no Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy "

Lets practice that on you EVERYDAY !!!!!!!!! ;

" All Work and No Play makes .................. (Insert your Name ) a Dull Boy / Girl " 

Human Rights

This series of articles will feature topics such as Human rights , Labor laws , Culture , Ethics , Departmentalization , work life balance  etc basically everything needed to survive in a corporate world J , and I will be starting off with a very important aspect;

Human Rights 

Human Rights can be simply defined as “A right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person” Hmm okay so that sounds COMPLICATED …… , in other words according to the OHCHR – United Nations (2011) Human rights are rights inherent to all human beings, whatever our nationality, place of residence, sex, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. We are all equally entitled to our human rights without discrimination. These rights are all interrelated, interdependent and indivisible.

So why am I talking about Human Rights when the Blog title is “The Corporate World “ ????? :S , well at the end of the day if you know your basic human rights you can survive anywhere from a street to the office.so what I’m trying to say or convey is that Human Rights is important even when you enter through the gates of a company.

According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set forth by the United Nations is valid across from the United States to the boarders of China.

There are over 30 Articles ranging from “Everyone has the right to life” to “Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.” And all these articles can be found in the interactive and creative which could be found bellow;

So what if by any chance you’re basic Human Rights is breached by a supervisor, colleague or a coworker in your same department or in another department??? 

Well that’s where Human resources department kicks in they are the legal liaison (for those who don’t know “a Liaison” is someone like an intermediary) between the organization and the employees, they are to uphold the employment and safety laws (osha, and civil rights act) as well as follow the practices, which may differ within federal guidelines, that the employer authorizes. 

Hence by telling the Human Resources team would be ideal, even though it’s your manager because more than empathy it is the breech of your basic human rights we are talking about !!!. Hence do what is right and do what is best for you and the others in order to make a better world.

Even a simple thing like a breach of Privacy ( e.g – your co – worker checking your appointment calendar ) is a breach of human rights 

And in conclusion I would like to quote Martin Luther King Jr. by saying "True peace is not merely the absence of tension, it is the presence of justice"