Soni Shaw

When your manager being on leave does not give you a sense of happiness, relief or freedom, you are definitely in a good culture.

#workculture

Never say no to an interview till you get a job.

You might be in the fifth round for a role and very confident about getting the job.

HR might have taken all your documents and promised to roll an offer by the next Monday.

Or, a previous manager has guaranteed you to talk to his team about a role for you.

Any of this can go wrong.

So until and unless you have a signed offer letter, keep giving every interview coming your way.

#interviews

One of my ex-colleagues switched to another role.

He met me in the office on his last day and told me he was moving to a different role than his earlier role.

I told him in passing that his manager had told me that he had resigned and was moving out.

He was a bit surprised and was hesitant for some time. But then he said - 
“ You know what, I did not resign but I was let go because I was not doing well in my role. My manager tried her best for more than six months to mentor and motivate me to do better. But after six months, we both realized I was not suited for the role. She even tried helping me find a more suitable role.

And even after she had to let me go, she gave me ample time to find a new role so that my confidence did not take a hit. I am going to miss her so much, and I hope I find my next managers to be as good”

I wished him the best for his next role with the usual promise of being in touch.

But I could not stop appreciating his manager not just for helping him sail through this situation but for being kind enough to not tarnish his image in any way.

She was a good friend and could have told me the real story. But, she chose to keep the trust and integrity of her team instead.

We need more managers like that.

#managers #empathy #kindness

If a fresher is not performing well in his/her first job, it is a reflection of manager’s ability as much.

Manager needs to guide them, mentor them, solve their problems, give regular feedback, appreciate their achievements and most importantly help them build their confidence.

If a manager is not doing these things, it is his/her failure rather.

#manager #feedback #freshers

Never say no to an interview till you get a job.

You might be in the fifth round for a role and very confident about getting the job.

HR might have taken all your documents and promised to roll an offer by the next Monday.

Or, an ex manager has guaranteed you the role.

Any of this can go wrong.

So until and unless you have a signed offer letter, keep giving every interview coming your way.

#interviews

The first time someone shouts at you in a meeting.

The first time someone tries you to make the scapegoat for their fault.

The first time you cannot sleep at a night due to anxiety.

The first time you get a panic attack because of your workplace.

The first time is when you take the action.

You talk to the HR to resolve it.
You change your team internally.
You switch your job overall.

You don’t wait for it to get so worse that it destroys your mental health.

#workculture #mentalhealth

There was this particularly toxic business leader I was working with.

Everyone around knew about his toxicity, and it escalated multiple times across the board. People discussed his behaviors and detrimental working style in meetings and coffee chats.

Some of the team members even raised formal complaints about him with evidence that he was trying to jeopardize their work. Two years passed,  and nothing changed. A lot of people changed teams and even left because of him.

The simple reason was that the leader was able to deliver the business numbers at the end of the day.

Whatever he did in terms of unethical behavior, derogatory remarks, and toxic means did not count.

So when the leadership is okay with tolerating toxic behavior, the clear message is that they value their business over people.

People are just a means to their business goals and nothing more.

And that is a strong enough message for the people in such companies.

#workculture #leadership #priorities

“I don't like it“ is a good enough reason to not do something.

#mentalhealth

Nobody needs to act mature at the cost of their mental peace.

#mentalhealth

Leaving a toxic workplace is about courage and not weakness.

A lot of times people will keep telling you that you should put more effort, be more brave, and show more patience towards something toxic.

But in the end, it does nothing more than negatively impact your mental health.

#workculture #mentalhealth

I did not feel welcomed at a lot of places.

When I joined my new school in standard seven, everyone had friends by then. They were mostly busy in their friend circles during lunch and games period. But then one day a very tall girl came and offered chocolates on her birthday, she is a close friend till date.

When I entered my dorm in IIM Ahmedabad, I knew no one and no one talked to me for first two days. But then one girl randomly said hello to me while going for an orientation and she asked about me. Post that she started waiting near stairs for me for next few days till I knew few folks.

When I joined my company, I went alone for lunch for first few days and ate alone. But then one of my colleagues asked if I want to come for lunch and then I had a lunch group.

And people like these were always kind enough to make me feel included and welcomed.

So let us hope to meet more people like this and become more empathetic ourselves.

One gesture can mean so much to someone.

#kindness #empathy

I went down to pick up a DTDC courier for my brother which had books.
It was a COD order with a value of around Rs.1500 in a tier 7 city.

The delivery guy took out the package and opened a DQR code on his phone to make the payment. I scanned the QR code, made the payment, said Thank you, and was about to close the door.

He stopped me and made me sign on a paper which I did. He then took a photo of the package, a photo of the sign, and a photo of the payment screen as well though it was a DQR code.

I thought it was unnecessary and asked him if these steps were added recently.

He was a little annoyed and said “Mam, it was added by our corporate office to keep us engaged. Earlier we used to deliver everything in 2 hours and go back and do paperwork. These steps were added so that we spend at least 4 hours in delivery. They want us to work more“

And I realized that it happens across all jobs.

So many companies focus on time spent in the office, when an employee enters the office, how many breaks are being taken that they forget the purpose of an employee is to get the job done in the best way.

Sadly the output remains the same. Only the productivity decreases.

Prioritizing output over the number of hours worked is not only about efficiency, it is also about the space to breathe.

Your appraisal feedback should directly reflect on your pay raise.

You can be told that you are have done amazing work throughout the year but then given a minimal hike.

What’s the point.

#appraisal #payraises

Our generation is somehow obsessed with the idea that the more money we will make the better quality of life we will lead.

But what we forget is that we still have rich people everywhere desperately searching for happiness in everything they do.

#mentalhealth #balance

P.S. - I am not denying the fact that we all need minimum amount of money in order to live.

Buying something which you don't need just because it is available on no interest EMI is the second stupid thing you can do.

Buying it because someone else has it still remains the first.

#marketing#savings