Disdain
Frustration
Loathing
Boredom
Regret
Exhaustion
Is it possible to feel all these things at once. It can be when you sit at yet another Oh - So important meeting at an Oh - So important "Family" company.
In today's modern context where most of the corporate world is moving towards efficiency and higher productivity through use of modern technology, eliminating the need for long hours of mundane meetings which - at the end of the day take away from the time in which productive work can take place and allow for employees to maintain some semblance of work life balance, while maintaining an illusion of a healthy lifestyle.
However, in Sri Lanka some companies seem to be regressing further and further into the Stone Age. Delegation seems to be an unheard of word to certain corporate autocrats, who still wish to cling to control as if their lives depended on it (I suppose in this case it does...) due to the fact that they cannot face the reality that is their empty shell of a life spent solely chasing an unattainable dream. Instead they wish to exert control in all directions, essentially torturing their employees and smothering any ounce of value addition which would lead to them (like me) sitting here in this meeting pondering on the aforementioned feelings.
Let me illustrate further.......
Most Sri Lankans either looking for jobs in or currently working in an executive capacity in Colombo and its suburbs have got either a college degree or an equivalent professional qualification. Does this not qualify them to answer a simple email? or should they be forced to hold onto each piece of communication to be looked over by said "Big Wigs" and be told - like automatons - what their replies should be?
Would this not lead towards cultivating a feeling of distrust (like that of a teenager still being forced to have their homework checked by their parents before submitting it in), leading to lack of focus and commitment towards the job at hand, ultimately resulting in loss of profitability ( which is what said Dictators are trying so hard to protect)...
Therefore would it not be a logical conclusion that an extremist level of control on fairly intelligent individuals combined with long hours of meetings, taking away from productive working time; in essence destroy from within, these 'Empires' that the despots have worked so hard to build. It would also be safe to say that these companies commit suicide from within by desperately fighting so hard to hold onto a long drawn out dream.
From the individual's point of view how long would they remain loyal to an organization or leader who continuously undermines their intelligence, distrusts them in even the most basic of tasks and reduces any possibility of maintaining a work life balance through absurd wastes of time..... Even an employee who receives the most desirable remuneration on earth can only take so much (dare I say it..) 'Torture' before deciding that they would be better off without their tormentors..... because people today are not only motivated by Money but prefer satisfaction and appreciation of their work.
This is where multi nationals or global companies prosper, overtaking local family conglomerates. We talk about 'Brain drain' in a global context yet we fail to see the internal 'brain drain' where more employees are leaving home grown organizations for multi nationals which value initiative and delegation, thereby enhancing their talent pool with Sri Lanka's best brightest, while the local control freaks are left with mediocre staff who have either no ambition or have become complacent in their job roles, not contributing new idea but rather going with the flow.
Anyways now that the rage run is over... It's back to real life and figuring out what comes next :)
