I am Confused!!

It was Saturday I was spending quality time with my daughters SwaRadhya ( Swara + Aaradhya). We were discussing different games different topics, school routine post corona, and many other things, sometimes I do discuss office problems also with my elder daughter to take her perspective, and her KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) principle at times helps me to get rid of those problems, I feel like getting another perspective to any problem is always advisable.

All of sudden my mobile rang, I just checked it, it was my Ex young colleague Manav (Name changed) on the other side, the moment I picked up the phone he started like…

“Sandeep, congratulate me, congratulate me. !!! yes … I have received 3 offers from the 3 big MNCs and two more are in the pipeline. I am so. so… happy to share this with you, but I am confused about which one I should choose …. Yes. I am totally out of my mind now. And I am finding my situation a bit difficult to manage, Happy but confused with these many options. Please help me, advise me”

[Whatever I have advised him, here I have tried my level best to pen it down, btw what I have written is my personal opinion/suggestion for him. Everyone from the reader can have their view and opinions. And I feel all are mature enough to make their own decision. But this case represents the current youth's mental state so shared with all.]

At the end of the call, I said “Congratulations! Let us meet and celebrate over a coffee.” He was happy with my response, and we decided on a place to meet for coffee.

We met on our decided spot, I could see and read a great remark of success on his face and his body language was so positive.?He was there with a big, sweet packet for me.

I shook his hands and said, “My dear friend, Congratulations, and wishing great success in your new role”. And now let us discuss what is confusing you. I know you have got 3 offers from the market and it is getting difficult to choose one of them but an obvious state of mind. But let me share a “secret sauce formula with you” which will help you to make your decision.

Work on “WALLS-R” and take your decision on it. The moment I shared this word he started googling about it, the next-gen (Gen-Z) right. After a few minutes of searching, he replied “Sandeep, there is no word named WALLS-R, I hope you are not kidding with me.” I said let us be patient and listen to what I am going to explain to you. It is all about my hard learning from the last 18 plus years of a career that I am sharing with you, with nothing keeping left with me. Let me debrief you on each of the letters from the word which will give you clarity. And let us discuss them one by one.

First is “W” - Work life balance

Nowadays it is one of the most important factors when you make a decision. You may get some extra money in a company, but the ask will be working a minimum of 12 hours/day. At initial, you will do it as its new company and environment for you, but at the same time in the long term, it may affect your personal life and may also impact your health. So always get clarity on it. We are in the Software industry is known for all of the extra time efforts, weekends working is expected, but it should be limited. One should not get dragged into it. So, for me it is the first and foremost important “W” – Work life balance

Secondly “A” – Autonomy

This is another important thing that you need to keep in mind while making any decision, autonomy plays a vital role when you are stuck and then want to move. This gives you the freedom to make decisions and the moment you start making decisions you may fail but ultimately you win, if you fail from the failure learn, and with every success, you create a new milestone for yourself. I have seen a couple of organizations ask you to play within the framework of whatever they had, and we need to work within that framework. They do not accept any new idea, they resist any change, any experiment that may be for the betterment of the Org/Project or Team. And in the long term later it impacts your mindset and your motivation. For me where there is no motivation, fewer chances to continue.

Thirdly – “L” – Learning Opportunities

This is another important factor when you make your decision. When you look for your career path, you should always keep in mind that growth is directly proportionate to Learning. The moment learning becomes stagnant you will see there is an impact of growth. So, while making a decision check all learning opportunities that you have in your next Org and do the Org has a Learning culture or not. Do they support learning? What learning programs they are running? Just make your learning plan clear and see how much the next targeted Org is aligned with it.?

Now “L” – Leadership

Leadership is like the pilot of the Plane or Cruise. If you got good pilots rest assured your journey will be good. So, keep in mind checking about leadership and their track records. Follow them, check their updates, and check their history and the success stories they have written. This will help to get a bit idea about leadership. Leaders make the path that we generally (99 %) follow, so choosing a good leader is important for me instead of choosing a good company. If you are surrounded by such good leadership with my experience, I can confidently say that you will be having great successful growth story in all aspects.

“S” for– Stability

Stability matters. Yes. Nowadays, we are short thinkers. We do not care much about the long term while we make our decision, but stability matters. Agree, all the fields are such dynamic nowadays and no one has a clear idea about what is going to happen tomorrow.

Honestly speaking, you are a youngster, at times you run with the word EMI/debt. Bank loans to complete our dreams about home/car etc, where the tenure ranges from 5 to 25 years. So, when you decide on an organization, check about your career stability. You may get an extra bug now which might be because of their current situation. But does the company have long-term career options, project pipelines, and good customer track records to sustain in such a competitive world?

In case you do not have any debt or not planning for any, then also check What is Org's mission vision in respect to the technology you are working on now. They are not dependent only on one skill/technology/Customer which may later cause trouble for your career. These points are meaningful for long-term career options. It is one of the most important parameters when you make your decision.

Now its “R” – Rewards and Recognition

As per my experience, Rewards and recognition drive us and keep us motivated in our day-to-day jobs. So, it is important to understand. What kind of rewards and recognition program does the organization have? ?

Most of the time I have seen, these rewards and recognitions are reactive, round-robin cases. See if there are proper rewards recognition programs and if it is properly getting monitored and executed. Your efforts will be recognized and rewarded promptly. Keep in mind timing is also important for rewards and recognition. I have seen organizations, where the rewarding employees were as per their convenience. Instead of considering the situation when the associate has contributed to the project, to the organization.

So, while making a decision, you should keep in mind this “WALLS-R” term, this is what I learned throughout of experience. It should not be the only money that will drive your decision it has to be a combination of all as just now explained.

It was a great session for both of us, at the end I was able to see a bit of satisfaction and a thinking face. I just pat him on his back for achievement to come him out of his state of mind.

I asked him, “Are you now a little bit settled bit, or still in confusion?” he replied, “It was an eye-opening session for me, certainly I will think about this and will take my decision… Thank you for your time and all this knowledge-sharing Sandeep” …

With a happy mood, both of us turned on our way home.?