Join the winning team at World Wide Banarama

We all need to be motivated today. Before the age of the computer chip or integrated circuit, there were not so many disruptions. We had radios, television, and movies. But today we can carry all these and other new gadgets in our shirt pockets, bringing them with us everywhere we go. We can reach almost anybody in the world and they in return can reach us anytime they wish. Such is the power of technology. It helps us to get information, it entertains us, yet it also disrupts us in our work. Our focus starts to waver.

The advance in technology is not to blame. Rather, it is our attitude and our perception toward our work that is changing. With instant access to information and entertainment, we become impatient with the slow pace of our daily lives and our work. Have we forgotten the value of hard work?

A significant part in getting the interest of the employee and motivate him is to show him what he had contributed and what was accomplished. The result of his past action or accumulated past actions determines the quality of his work and the degree of satisfaction he feels towards his job. According to the theory of Karma and Employee Motivation (Panorama May 7 & 21, 2006) knowledge of the laws of karma is a factor in employee motivation.

The Karma and Employee Motivation seminar has two parts. The first part which introduces karma and how it relates to the work behavior of the employee changes the attitude of the worker towards his work. The second part, which this article is all about, deals with goal setting.

Briefly, the three kinds of karma are defined where good or bad karma is the result of either beneficial or evil past actions. Meanwhile, white karma is said to occur in rare instances when an evil effect is nullified and therefore will not occur. The theory is that when the employee begins to see karma as a positive and active player in his life and work environment, he will perform better because he will start to believe that benefits will accrue from his past efforts. This is obvious because of the three players - good and white karma outnumber negative karma.

After the employee shall have understood the role that karma plays in his work, he shall then be inclined to coordinate his efforts and focus his attention towards his job. This will result in a higher level of performance.

The employee will also experience many other benefits. One of these is he will become more sensitive to the needs of the situation and problem. If he was a connoisseur of Filipino time - being late for an appointment on purpose, with no real reason or for the most trivial of reasons, he will incur bad karma. This is because by not keeping his word to be at the appointed place at the agreed time, he will have then wasted the other party's precious time. Time is gold. What could have been used for a purpose by the second party could not be returned now. Being sensitive to other people's needs and problems helps us to understand our available resources and utilize these toward the accomplishment of our common goals.

The second and the shorter part in motivating the employee after getting his interest and commitment to improve his work habits is to guide him to set up his goals to become successful. Many participants in the seminars are genuinely interested in changing their work attitudes to improve their own performances. We can not ignore that a few of them have their own agenda and are concerned in changing their work habits to have something new to show to their bosses. We just hope that the correct attitude will catch-up with them later.

After an employee shall have been motivated, he can start formulating his goals. A goal is defined as the final purpose or the end which a person aims to reach or attain.� It is different from an objective, of which the aim is believed to be more readily attainable.

All of us have had one wish or the other but not everybody can have goals because of the lack of knowledge in setting them up. It is easy to have wishes, we can have as many wishes as there are stars. But not so with goals. We may have set up many goals for ourselves but there is always one which we consider the most meaningful and important among these. We will now try to set this one goal and try to improve our lives and our careers.

How then shall we apply karma and get motivated and succeed in our work and career? In my lectures, I have always made the point that there is a difference between a good worker and a successful employee. A good worker follows the laws of karma. But a successful employee or employer follows the laws of karma plus he sets goals for himself to achieve.

Karma is the reason or cause which pushes to us work. It is the reason why we endure the day-in and day-out grinds of our jobs and in our working lives. Once we have started to see the role that karma plays in our life then we are ready to define and outline the stages needed to reach our goal. In short, karma is what motivates us to work and our goal is what motivates us to succeed. This step of setting up goals is what makes us to try to achieve more in life.

The next question is how do we set up this goal system? It is done in four easy stages.
The first stage is to have an objective or goal. This is also known as defining your goal. For something to become a goal, it must be clear, realistic and important to you. It must also have a reasonable chance of being achievable by your own efforts, through specific plans and designs you have formulated.

Do not set goals that are beyond your skills and education (unless you are willing to undergo further training.) One way to do this is to know what you want most in life and then determine how much effort you are willing to expend and what sacrifices you are willing to do. If you want to become the best piano player in the world (according to Lucy van Pelt, there is no such ranking) then you should practice your scales everyday, giving up many other impertinent things. And, do not set goals to impress other people.

I classify goals as short-term lasting from 6 months to 2 years, long-term with 3 years to 7 years duration, and a life-time goal lasting for more than 7 years. These time periods are very flexible and may be adjusted according to the employee's present situation in his career. For example, a fresh automotive graduate hired as a trainee-mechanic can set a short-term goal of becoming a permanent employee in six months and a junior mechanic in one year. For his long-term goal, he may set his eyes on being promoted to chief mechanic or manager.

The difference between a life-time goal from the other kinds of goals is that a life-time goal is what the employee really wants to be after he shall have accomplished all his long range goals. Is he happy with being the district manager or should he also be the regional and country director? Or will he just retire and become a farmer like George Washington, the first president of the United States? I define a life-time goal as the last working position� that a career person desires.

In my seminars, I tell my listeners that as employees we all would like someday to retire comfortably, enjoying a nice pension and separation pay. When I ask them what their goals are after they shall have retired, some of them say they would like to see the different countries of the world, others want to open up a small business, a few dream of going into farming, while others choose to do civil and religious work. Whatever their life-time goals are, I make them aware that these are achievable with a comfortable retirement package. Then, I have them agree that for discussion purposes all of us have one common goal and that is to retire comfortably.

Such life-time goal of retiring comfortably and shared by all employees is assumed so that everyone will have a common goal to achieve and keep them motivated whether they are a twenty year old clerk or a sixty year old manager. The short-term and long-term goals are not so different because they are really the smaller steps leading toward achieving our life-time goal.

The second stage to setting up a goal system is to know the relationship between the goal and one's present work. This is also known as the planning stage. One's present status should be a positive factor in moving forward to reach one's objectives. In the example above, the newly hired trainee-mechanic should familiarize himself with the other divisions of his department. He should set as one of his objectives to learn clerical and administrative work. If possible, he should familiarize himself with a bit of trouble shooting and theory at the electrical division.

In planning do not get into obvious conflicts. One's goals should not be against company policies and objectives. If you are a graduate of social work and working with the Department of Social Welfare, do not expect a salary to equal that of a manager from a multinational company. If you are graduate of education and end up working as a canvasser or purchaser, since there is no obvious connection between your course and your job, then you may plan to take up some accounting or financial units.

After we have defined our goal and have formulated our plans and devised our strategies, comes the hardest part - we need to carry these out. The third stage is the actual implementation of our plans and designs. We use our present job to getting our objectives done without breaking any law or our company's rules and regulations.

With our salaries, we can buy food and clothing, pay the house rent, and settle our other bills. Being employed provides a good source of steady income even if we happen to be dependent on our parents for our other needs because it frees up some cash to pay for further trainings, seminars, and education. Showing initiative and acquiring extra academic credits boosts our chances for recognition and promotion in our work.

A big obstacle at this stage is when the worker's salary is barely enough to support his daily needs. With a family to feed and raise high on his priorities, further trainings, seminar, and advanced education is the least of his worries. So, he does not prosper.

But if he is resourceful and willing to sacrifice his time and a little comfort, he will find that there are free courses being offered. The TESDA, DILG, and even the local barangays give free seminars and trainings. I attended a free orientation seminar at the DTI and it was both very informative and enjoyable. Some non-government offices offer also basic training in bookkeeping, management of a sari-sari store, and computer courses for a small fee. One can attend retailing and franchising business orientations or insurance selling at no charge or join immigration seminars for free to expand one's horizon.

If the employee cannot attend any of these, he can still read books, magazines, and trade journals to add to his expertise. He can cut clippings from newspapers and borrow pertinent manuals from his friends. He can avail of the resources offered at his company or public library. He can do all of these while being gainfully employed.

Finally, the last stage to setting up a goal and successfully achieving it is to acquire good karma. How to acquire and store good karma? To know that karma plays a role in our work gives us the confidence that diligence and honest effort will bear fruit. But there is more. The extras that we do in our jobs, the little favors we do for our office mates without paybacks, and the service we give to others in the community and society will all count as good karma.

Employee and Karma Motivation teaches the employee to change his attitude and work ethics to become a good worker. But unknown to him, while he is still learning to become an efficient employee, he is already acquiring good karma which will come back to him in the fulfillment of his goals and other future endeavors. Such is the power of doing good deeds.

When we have reached the point that we can give our services to others, without any thoughts of material, psychological or spiritual reward for ourselves while performing such acts, then we are near to understanding the lives of Christ, the Buddha and other great men

For others, one's ultimate goal maybe different. It is not unusual to encounter male employees whose personal goal is to have a happy married life or a blissful relationship with their partners. Personal relationships specially those concerned with conjugal matters affect an employee's attitude and subsequently his performance in his work. When a man has an argument with his girlfriend or wife, this affects him more deeply than if the disagreement is with his parents or siblings. How can the employee handle this himself? I tell this story.

When I was working in Dubai, I had an Indian girlfriend. She was Hindu. She was intelligent, hard working, pretty, and had a great sense of humor. She had all the qualities a lazy man would desire in a woman.

One day, as all relationships go, we had a misunderstanding. While I was preparing my supper that night, Mr. Suresh, my Indian landlord who was just like a brother to me noticed the expression on my face and asked, 'What's your problem, Nonoy?'

'Sinjini and I had a little misunderstanding,'� I said.

Mr. Suresh looked at me very seriously and asked, 'Do you know Vishnu?�

'Yes'�, I said. 'Vishnu is one of the gods in the Hindu trinity.'�

'In the beginning�,' Mr Suresh said, 'Vishnu created man and woman. But even Vishnu could not understand woman.'

Then he added, 'Forget whatever is bothering you. Let it be. Let it come to pass and everything will be alright.'�

I always followed his advice from that time onwards, and his words proved helpful.

In our quest for happiness in our lives it involves being efficient, productive and satisfied in our jobs and other responsibilities. Success will not come easily. But with a meaningful and fruitful relationships with our co-workers, family and community, attaining our goals will be an enjoyable experience.