Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Question of Loyalty

I joined the company I currently work for almost two years ago. When I joined I heard everyone around me talk about 'bearing up with' the two years and then switching jobs for a more lucrative offer. Me? No. I wanted to stay, I believed in what the company spoke of as its philosophy. I wanted to stay, be part of the family.

Almost two years now and much has changed. I'm married. I have a family. I want to give them my best as well as save for my children when they arrive. I want something for myself as well -- a job that I will always want to excel in. A challenge that I would be raring to face everyday. There's so much I want that I wonder if I'm being too demanding. I have so much as well right?

Four hours of traveling in a day, people packed like sardines in the train; every single day. A work schedule that demands more and more all the time, while I feel myself giving less and less. I can see people cheering with me, swearing at me, loving me, hating me, resenting me. It is great contribution if you work your ass off on weekends or for twenty hours a day. But at the same time it's blasphemy if you ask for compensation for it. You should not be drinking too much coffee, not even when you're trying to keep yourself awake through the night so that you can meet some of those challenging (read unrealistic) deadlines.

It's a hard question, the question of loyalty. especially hard when you're really not sure if you're being loyal to the company who's values you believe in, or to those individuals who seem to work overtime to circumvent them.

1 comment:

Nisha said...

Loyalty ....hmmm...
There is no one person or entity you can be loyal to more than yourself. If you like what you do, good for you. But if you don't really enjoy then its time to move on and this in turn is better for yourself as well as the entity/person (your company here).