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What is a reasonable expectation of a job differs at the different stages of a person's life or career. It is a relativity goal post that moves parallel to time. It becomes more complex when one compares him/herself to their contemporaries. There can never be equality. But there can always be equity.
ANY of us complain about our jobs. It seems that it is never up to expectations. Of course in many of those cases it may be true. However, there is also a significant degree of laziness amongst us to justify first what we, as an individual have contributed to something larger than us. What have we put on the table to bring meaning to our family, our country, the humanity; and, the most important beneficiary, ourselves?
What is a reasonable expectation of a job differs at the different stages of a person's life or career. It is a relativity goal post that moves parallel to time. It becomes more complex when one compares him/herself to their contemporaries. There can never be equality. But there can always be equity. A person earning RM20,000 a month may pay home loan of RM3,000 per month whereas a person earning RM4,000 a month may pay home loan of RM700 a month. Whilst the quality or the size of the properties can be guessed without reasonable doubts for the two scenarios, the fact remains that both achieved their objective of owning a house.
If relativity is a given function to which the outcome will always differ, what is left for us to ponder are the variables to which we, as individuals, are able to honestly contribute. Only when we have contributed fairly will we be entitled to decide whether we have been compensated fairly and thus, consider changing jobs or not. If I may suggest, in my humble opinion, those variables ought to be as follows (not in any particular order or priority):
CONVICTION to one's role in an organisation is of utmost important. If you believe in what you do, you will naturally do what is necessary to achieve what you believe - if that makes sense. When someone lack the passion with what they are doing, they become robots. They simply do things just because. Many organisations that are overwhelmed by numerous checklists and forms and all sorts of governance structural mechanism experience this. Their staff simply fill up forms and tick and bash structured instructions. There needs to be a balance. Governance is good but too much of it is counter productive. On the flip side, absence of governance results in disciplinary problems that destroy effectiveness and efficiency. So, as an idividual, we must have that feeling that what we are doing is a part of something larger in life that brings good. A bit like the Floyd sayings, A Brick in the Wall. If you do not feel that, there are three possible reasons: Either you are the wrong person for the job, or the job is not suitable for your, or you are simply a lazy bastard who never honestly put effort to contribute to that larger than life purpose.
WORK LIFE BALANCE is almost like a myth especially when everyone is working like a mad dog in a developing country. It seems that working long hours is a benchmark for a superlative performance. This is a misconception. Firstly, we all agree that the workload is most of the time unavoidable. In order for us to complete the work, we are left with no option other than to burn the midnight oil. Or else, the work will be piling up with new work keep on landing on the in tray. The onus is on you to discuss the matter with your boss. Too much work will just burn you out. To little work will just deteriorate your agility to coupe with the dynamic work place. Both you and your boss must come to a consensus on how to tackle this. It may not necessarily end up with reduced work load as many organisations face severe knowledged worker shortages. A solution can be in a form of an agreement with the boss that certain days of each week you need to leave work early for non-work related matters such as going to the gymnasium. For staff who are parents, they may strike a deal to go home early on some days taking turns with their wives/husbands who should also seek similar deals with their respective employers. I am sure many bosses do have their own families. They will understand if reminded. 
PROGRESSION is not what you deal with currently. It is what opportunities you will pave for yourself by doing whatever it is you are doing now. Only when meeting current objectives will you be able to aim for something higher. This require strategic thinking. There is no use being content with whatever you are doing and merely rely on annual salary increment and the bonus that does not carry the attributes of a bonus any more as it is highly expected - might as well call it the 13th and 14th month salary. You must aim to progress up the ladder. Aim for significant jump in the salary. When you open your eyes for this, you will realise what competition you will face and what opportunities you can identify. From thereon, you can device tactics on which projects to be involved in and what office politics you are willing to participate in. It makes it a more meningful assessment whether to remain or leave a particular job as the continuation of the ladder, upwards, may well be in another organisation. In any case, it is always easier to progress at the same place as many factors are within your comfort zone. In some other cases, a fresh start rejuvenates your career.
ECONOMIC well being has always been everybody's primary concern when assessing a job. In fact, many has it as their sole determinant. I guess in a developing country, money means everything. Without money, nothing else matters. It is quite a difficult myopia to get rid off. When you are faced with financial stress, money will prevail as the single most important determinant. So I will say this, if possible, make an informed decision about money. Look at a longer horizon. Some jobs get paid very low in the beginning but once you achieve a certain level, it will shoot up and grow significantly at the later stage of a career. Lawyers and Accountants are amongst them. Some jobs get paid really high now when you are young but when your physical conditions exclude you from continuation, you will be roaming the Earth seeking for jobs that often pay less. I wouldn't want to give an example. There are many examples in life. So how do you assess whether at a particular stage of life or career, your pay is at a reasonable level? There is no formal rule to this. I have my own benchmarking. For me, it is not what you earn, but what you keep at the end of the month. Take your salary, net of taxes and superannuation/pension contribution, and less your financial obligations such as home loan, car loan and study loan. Deduct your recurring expenditure such as groceries, kid's schooling stuff, etc. The remaining should be channeled to investment activities such as life insurance premium or kid's education insurance or any form of low risk investments such as unit trusts. That investment activity should account for 10% of your salary. The investment activity coupled with your housing loan (a house is also an investment) should be approximately 20%. That is the bare minimum. In fact, many believe that 30% is the new benchmark as we approach high income and developed nation status.
NETWORKING is the buzz word for the new millennium. Everything is about interaction. With the introduction of social media and globalisation trends, people are communicating across boundaries. We have discussed earlier points that are somewhat "selfish" in nature. Networking is the opposite. Networking is inclusiveness in nature. You cannot live in this world alone. You need to interact with people. If your job does not present you with the opportunity, you are bound to evolve into an introvert and pretty soon you will lose all interpersonal and people's skills. That is detrimental not only from work perspective but also from the basic human nature perspective. I remember watching some movie where Sir Anthony Hopkins lived in the jungle with the gorillas. He had no interaction with humans but had plenty with the gorillas. He ended up to be a lunatic. Unless you aspire to end your life as a gorilla, I strongly advise you to start talking to people. If your job is lacking this, then you ought to change that. It is natural for people to build their portfolio of friends. Each time you make friends in a particular work place for a considerable duration, you will end up forming up many groups of informal alumni. This can be rewarding. Over time you will have many friends, unless you are a weirdo whom everybody hates wherever you go - that I cannot help.
KNOWLEDGE acquisition is neither selfish nor interpersonal in nature. Knowledge is a single factor that transcends all struggle one may face in his/her work life saga. Knowledge remains with you whether or not you are working or what your income levels are. It is noble. It is devine. It is sacret. In your quest to do what you believe in, juggling between career and personal life that simultaneously accrues to you reasonable financial rewards and building up a network of camaraderie, you subconciously store a wealth of knowledge. Knowledge is not necessarily on technical matters only. It can also be soft skills and the awareness of critical factors that complete your ability to digest, analyse and conclude in the many branches of decision making you will have to endure in your work life. Make an assessment whether that knowledge that you have absorbed or potentially to absorb can be of significant use in the future for your progression in life. The last place you want to be is where you do not learn anything. As I mentioned earlier, we do not want to be a robot. Our DNA is organic enough to suggest that we are a thinking being. With that hardware, we need the software, i.e. knowledge.
So, are we ready to charge forward with our careers? Think through these half dozen points (above) thoroughly and thoughtfully. Digest and relate to your work life and your surroundings. Project it to the future that you aspire to own. You owe yourself that much. After all, there is no you if you don't mean anything. Once you are ready and fully informed of the necessary variables, make the decision. To leave or to stay.......
* kopihangtuah
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