What is the work mindset in 2018?
Many companies are focused on the work-life balance of their employees. How do we feel when we wake up in the morning to get ready for work? How do we feel when we leave at the end of a long day?
Probably more importantly companies are looking at how do our employees function outside of work that directly relates to their performance during working hours.
This seems to be a very ‘new-age’ way of business thinking in 2018, but I put that in inverted commas as is it really new or is this something that has just become popular?
According to @dictionary.com:
-New: of recent origin, production, purchase,etc.; having but lately come or beenbrought into being
-Popular: regarded with favor, approval, or affection by people in general
If we look at the dictionary definitions there is definitely a fine line between ‘new’ and ‘popular’ which makes me realise that in today’s working environment, what’s new is what’s popular!
Working in a digital environment, everything is expected to be instant. An ad loaded incorrectly needs to be amended immediately for example. However the in the advertising world, should a TV or Print ad go out incorrectly, that’s put down to bad planning / human error.
I have been in the digital advertising business for almost 14 years and never has ‘human error’ been acceptable.
At what point did we stop becoming human beings and start becoming the robots that monitor and report on our campaigns?
I have this terrible trait of always wanting to step up when things are not going right. What does that do? Ironically it sets me up for failure as I am not a robot and I do make human errors.
Is my failure taking on too much, or is it being a human with ethics and failures?
I endeavour to the best job I can, but with unrealistic expectations of one person am I setting myself up for failure?
Given the ‘new’ vs ‘popular’ definitions I gave earlier, I can honestly say that I don’t really fall victim to either.
I am old-school in my work ethic, give everything you have, no matter the hours, in order to ensure your work reputation remains strong.
While I will never doubt my upbringing of hard work and dedication, at what point do you compromise your wellbeing?
While companies try to instill this work-life-balance atmosphere, how much of it is designed to actually keep us at work longer? How much of our lives are spent influenced by people we never chose to interact with? How much time in our day do we spend getting judged on the human errors we make by the overwhelming amount of work we take on everyday?
I often ask myself, am I saving lives, and the answer is no! Yet everyday I chip away at a little part of my soul as I put everything on the line for my client, without appreciation...and no I am not a heart surgeon, nor an ER doctor, I don’t play a part in the circle of life...I build digital banners!
I’ve realised this post is really long...stay tuned for the next post
