Zit Seng's Blog

A Singaporean's technology and lifestyle blog

Work-Life Balance

Sometimes, I think “work-life balance” is just an excuse for some people who want to work less. Push away their work. Shirk responsibility. I’m not against the idea of needing some balance, in principle. But one must also realize that every person is a valuable resource in an organization, and they need to do their fair part.

It’s not a question of working “over time”. I recently spoke to some people who talked about how they come on the dot, leave on the dot, and believe they don’t owe anything to their organization after office hours (unless they are working with over-time compensation). That’s not the point.

It’s about doing what your role in the organization calls for you to do. It’s about being dependable to do what you need to do. It’s about being responsible for what you’ve been entrusted with. I think these are the minimal requirements.

I’m not even asking for initiative, teamwork, leadership, creativity, analytical thinking, etc.

Some people aren’t even willing to meet those minimal requirements.

Some people choose what they prefer to do, rather than what they need to do. Of course, choice and flexibility is something we should accommodate. But… hey, if you were employed to do A, you don’t come to work wanting to do B instead! It’s not like you didn’t know what you were in for.

Or others who spend organization time and money to do A, because they like to do A, even though they have been categorically told the organization doesn’t want to do A.

All of us have limited time and whatever resources. The same goes for the organization. It’s just so unproductive when pockets of people have their own agenda that doesn’t gel with that of the organization.

The one thing I’m most astonished about the SAF is how it hasn’t collapsed… despite how it is mostly made up of unhappy people who don’t want to be in there.

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