As goes the age-old adage - There are two faces of coin

Contributed by my co-author "Mind My Thoughts"

Working in a Government / PSU organization is totally apt to the above proverb.

The kind of job security and peace of mind than an individual gets while working in such an organization is unbeatable but at the same time the feeling of being crippled by the entire system functionality poses a great challenge to one's individuality

There is near complete centralization of power and the HR policies exist more in paper than in practice. For instance - getting even the petty stationary issued from Material department, one needs to obtain written approval from the Reporting Authority. While dealing with relatively important matters like sending replies to Government Auditors, approval needs to be taken from not only one but the entire hierarchy. The note put up for the same travels the complete hierarchy of the department (i.e. Personnel Officer - Manager - Senior Mgr - Chief Manager - DGM - ED). And then when the said approval is obtained from the Top man of the hierarchy (in this case - ED), then the file returns in the similar manner i.e. by seeping through the whole hierarchy again with the comments and suggested changes in the respective documents. The kind of time and resources that get wasted in the whole procedure can certainly be utilized towards something more productive. De-centralization of power can give more opportunity to the junior staff and prepare them better for future. But the old system as it is, is unmoved despite the numerous hues and cries.

The old set of principles are religiously followed, even the official language that had been used since the beginning, is used in all the correspondence and any change in the same is not a welcome. The recalcitrant attitude of the senior employees is a subject of pity who despite having shouldered the responsibility of bringing the new recruits up to the mark, they begin having illusions of potential threat from the competencies that the newer recruits can pose. Conclusively the new recruits are often left to fend for themselves with the nitty gritty of their new job responsibilities. Referencing the old Policy matter files and the Case files often is left as the last option.

Departments like HR are considered as secondary departments and the Management is of the opinion that anyone, even with no formal education in Human Resource Management, can be posted in HR department. Though things have started changing for better but again the pace of coming of that change is very marginal and the acceptability for the same is zero (the minimum qualification for new recruits in HR needs to be MBA in Human Resources from the past few years). But the top man in HR is a Mechanical Engineer diversified to HR years back (so the fate of current HR policies can well be imagined).

The challenge here is not to complete the assigned work targets but to build relationship and liaison with seniors. Though it is difficult but certainly not unattainable. With time one's acceptability increases and things ease up. But the initial days are most difficult for a new recruit. Here, one has to make a place for oneself by showing dedication towards work and by avoiding mudding oneself with any sort of controversy (which I tell you is very tough), as even talking over mobile phone in lunch time while taking a stroll in the office premises makes one popular as 'busy on phone all the time' tag.

Posting in important sections is given on the basis of good relations with the Higher Management and not on the basis of individual's skill sets and ability to perform. As a result, when the said individual fails to perform in key sections then again Inter Departmental reshuffling is done, resulting into huge wastage of time and resources.

The new recruits remain the target of politics in office and hence have to bear the brunt due to their ignorance. The jobs in Govt. sectors are considered to be very precious by outsiders whereas the actual picture is not that rosy. But again, everything in life is achieved with struggle and keeping the spirit high. Patience and perseverance here are the keys to success. And learning to live with the facts makes one open to various opportunities that might come in the way.