Is Work-Life Balance a Myth in Corporate MNCs? 32 Tips to Find the Truth
In this article, you will learn the following
-32 Immutable Tips to Find Organizations with Decent work -culture and employee-friendly focus
- Criteria to Identify Rare Organizations where you can find work-life balance in India
-Questions to ask DURING THE interview AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED — to know if the company has a positive work-culture
- The Ground ZERO Reality of Work-life balance in most private organizations in India — and we are talking about only the Large MNCs and Globally acclaimed organizations in India
- Example of a Global Organization in India — which has pathetic imbalance — ONLY WORK, very draining long-hours, constantly in peak mode of pressure of target delivery AND absolutely no care if employees get burned-out
Work-life Balance How Corporates Project Work-Life Balance vs. Fact at employees Levels -Unveiling the Reality — Bursting the Myth of work-life balance and Identifying Organizations which have Meaningful and applicable Work-life Balance Culture.
Criteria to Identify Rare Organizations where you can find work-life balance in India
Work-life balance is a great concept BUT exists only for a select group of people who meet/have the requisite criteria as given below.
If you are in Governmental Ministries and a few governmental departments and organizations and also in a few select PSU [public sector undertakings] in India — only then you would enjoy a great work-life balance [ESPECIALLY in a role where there are no targets, and you happen to be in a very senior position and ideally in remote locations].
In one such PSU I found a group of managers who were called redundant managers [those who could not be promoted because of saturation in their function].
In another PSU — I discovered that a large group of people — who were recruited at the project stage initially and had lots of work during the project execution stage -but once that project became operational — almost all these project employees didn’t have any work anymore fitting their talents and skills.
Because the governmental employees in India, normally as a rule cannot be laid-off — plus the general apathy and lack of accountability of the top leadership — nothing happened by way of retraining these employees for newer roles and making the best use of available manpower in both the organizations. I have many such examples of different governmental departments.
I also found to my amazement that — As these people have lots and lots of free time in their salary-paying organizations — most of these people have also set up their side-hustles which give them additional income — as well as keep them meaningfully engaged — all during the working hours.
The Ground ZERO Reality of Work-life balance in most private organizations in India — and we are talking about only the Large MNCs and Globally acclaimed organizations in India
The so-called Big 4 and other large corporates -often have a national as well as global presence.
While their headquarters may promote work-life balance — the reality of work-life balance -can vary significantly across different departments, teams, or even office locations.
Most of these organizations with skewed work-life balance cultures manage to recruit people sometimes using advertisements proclaiming all that anyone wanting to work looks for — from an ideal job.
But when you join them and the initial onboarding euphoria is over within a few days — you will see notifications on the board, may go for a few off-site training programs, have some, get-togethers, etc. [that too in select few organizations].
This often happens to be their best effort in justifying and maintaining the façade of work-life culture.
In the two top 6 largest business houses — in their manufacturing plants — I found that rich-snacks trolly rolls in — after the regular working hours end PLUS many of the managers have a habit of calling for meetings after office-hours as well on Sundays.
THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE is something that employees on many levels can’t even dream of.
If you read print-media, especially English newspapers — You must have read the recent statements of one of the richest industrialists and one of the IT giant founders — about 70 hours a week/12–13 hours every-day working week.
I wrote an anonymous answer on one Global organization on Quora where within hours it had 1000+ views which has now reached 65K+. I can share the link if you are interested — BUT YOU NEED TO GUESS FIRST & in the Comment Give Your Gusess & I will DM you the Link
Example of a Global Organization in India — which has pathetic imbalance — ONLY WORK, very draining long-hours, constantly in peak mode of pressure of target delivery AND absolutely no care if employees burn-out [no after-work life — neither any attractive pay nor, benefits]
To qualify my statement — I have chosen one example of a foreign MNC which happens to be one of the Big 4s [most of the global organizations operating in India would have similar work culture give or take one/two hours less –[although exceptions are there BUT very rare]. I have numerous examples of companies not only in India & but also in many countries.
The experience I am sharing is of a person who joined one of the Big4s after a good professional qualification in Delhi.
He started with 8 months peak-time work in his first year — THIS PEAK SEASON became whole year 12 months back to back peak-session.
This organization’s top leadership balanced this by planning innovatively to batch clients with different fiscal years — in such a way that when one ends the other one starts.
Now understand what peak-season means for the employees — it is 15 hours of official log-in time which often stretches to 17–18 hours.
The workload is of the level that invariably gets spilled over to the weekends — this spill-over rate — I can give exceptions — exceptions are maybe 10–15 weekends in the whole year.
Now you also need to add travel times which would be around 3–4 hours to and from.
Go figure how many hours these employees can sleep and relax and have a life [If you can call that -any life at all].
Then Add tremendous pressure of delivering to the client daily for the employees.
Now you may assume that instead of all these chillingly scary working conditions — the employees would be given — solid growth and learning opportunities, faster rise in the upper levels, very high remunerations, helping them with burnout or giving them a career path — etcetera etcetera.
Guess — and you would be guessing wrong.
Now see what the employees get in a whole year after this type of horrible and toxic work culture — One or Maximum of two -1–2-days outing in a hotel with a shared room in 3–4-star hotel for what they call Seniors, a bonus @ 30–40 days of basic — that’s it.
The pay, perks, and benefits are like any organization in India — nothing exceptional.
Post Covid19 — many organizations have got a few more ideas to exploit even more — because of designing a hybrid work culture — MIND YOU ALL OTHER EXPLOITATION Process [given above] also exists.
This organization is concerned about whose example I am giving — they have stopped providing transport to almost all employees.
Now the employees must travel at their own cost to and from their office and residence — yes a small traveling allowance is there that is good for a few days conveyance only.
Take the case of a female employee having residence in Delhi and an office in Gurgaon and using cabs to travel at odd hours — it may cost around 2000/- INR EACH DAY — which would be say 40,000/- for 20 days keeping 10 days’ work from home.
Go figure out what the employee will be left in hand after all this major expense — ALMOST NOTHING.
And supposing you have a narcissistic boss [nowadays their numbers are exceptionally high]– just imagine the plight.
BUT -This culture enables the partners to be in the Top 1% group in India — wealth generation and income wise — which would be all right in some sense — if they were sharing a reasonable part with their employees. But what they do is they bill 10 times an hour and might pay 1/100th.
The business for all these global MNC consultants is booming — especially because the current regime [ministers and bureaucrats] consists of exceptionally gifted morons who can’t think of anything meaningful on their own — so these consultants get solid business from the ministries and the PSUs. Almost all the plans strategies surveys and their implementation are done by these large firms charging the exchequer exorbitantly.
The top 1% group also has a few of the richest persons in the world who have managed to have control over a very large portion of businesses in India — who defraud the public in connivance with the bureaucrats and ministers and all the value chain of this model — mind you all these businesses houses also have the same exploiting culture.
These truths and unfortunate facts can be verified easily for numerous companies based in India.
If you are lucky to be in Global MNC’s European or Canadian US or Australian Headquarters AND are a CITIZEN of that country — you may have the luxury of real work-life balance.
CONSIDERING THE CURRENT JOB-SITUATION IN INDIA -AND especially if you need a job badly and desperately — chances are you would ignore and end with ONLY this type of organization.
Because they are very screwed business getters as they not only leverage their connections BUT also use other means of getting contract -from big organizations as well as the governmental business — so they are in constant need of new employees [also because attrition rates too are higher].
If you are choosing a startup to work with — you will have to forget about work-life balance — as with their shoestring budget — most startups hire people who can work long hours play multiple roles and also take less pay.
If you are transiting into a completely new domain area with less skill set, knowledge, expertise, and experience — it would be mandatory for you to work all hours to bring yourself up to a level when you can choose.
32 Immutable Tips to Find Organizations with Decent work -culture and employee-friendly focus
You would need to use all the following tips & maybe some additional innovative ones — to get a correct picture about your prospective employers — to regret later after joining — although many times you might not be able to find an alternative option
1. Treat the content and the message given in — organizational website, brochures, advertisements, and their PR material ONLY as glamorous propaganda — you need to look beyond the rosy picture.
2. Read the comments of the employees on portals like Glassdoor, Blind, INDEED or Comparably, etc. — GET A PAID ACCOUNT IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT -Search for reviews mentioning work-life balance, PTO -PAID TIME OFF usage, and after-hours expectations.
3. Connect with current employees through professional media platforms like LinkedIn — and follow the company and its employees on LinkedIn — read about anything about this organization — this research will also help you in your job interview preparations.
4. Engage in conversations on various professional forums and ask questions about work culture, workload, and work-life balance — your targeted organizations
5. Become part of your domain-specific industry groups — Participate in face-to-face discussions about your targeted organizations to get firsthand accounts from current and past employees.
6. Ask questions anonymously on platforms like Quora.
7. Balance negative reviews with positive ones — Focus on reviews from employees in similar roles to get a more relevant perspective.
8. Read the customer reviews about how they handle the complaints — if you find behavior or complaints against the employees — it should raise a red flag about this organization having a bunch of dissatisfied employees.
9. Learn about the Partner/Owners/CEOs/MDs/Chairperson’s personality — this could give you a glimpse of the culture — especially if you find that they talk about great values BUT do lots of unethical practices.
10. Connect with Current or Former Employees -request informational interviews with employees in your target role -ask about their typical workweek, flexibility options, and how the company supports well-being.
11. Look for recurring themes in reviews. While some negativity is expected, a consistent pattern of complaints about long hours, lack of PTO -PAID TIME OFF use, or high turnover paints a concerning picture.
12. Scrutinize the Job Description -Read between the lines — Beware of job descriptions with excessive requirements or unrealistic expectations for a single role.
13. Look for companies with
I. Generous PTO -PAID TIME OFF Policies that encourage employees to use it
II. Check for flexible work arrangements — such as remote work options, compressed workweeks, or flexible start and end times
III. Explore the company’s benefits package for programs that support well-being, such as different wellness programs, on-site childcare, or tuition reimbursement
IV. Identify your own parameters as per your unique needs and situations
14. 5 Questions to ask DURING interview AFTER YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED — to know if the company has a positive work culture — ONLY after you have been selected and you have created a great impression [you need to design these questions innovatively to make them sound positive and empowering question rather than challenging] — this will also verify your other research findings especially if they avoid answering or go in roundabout ways]
I. How a star performer gets identified and recognized
II. What types of talent grooming happen for leadership potential candidates
III. How someone with talent and capability rise in an organization fast
IV. How are Work-life balance policies implemented and encouraged
V. What would a typical workday look like? and how the company handles deadlines during peak times.
15. Assess the interview style -A rushed or disorganized interview process might reflect a chaotic work environment.
16. Find if the seniors glorify long hours or hustle culture.
The REST of the article on my Website as per the following details
This article was originally published as “ Brutal Truth About Work-Life Balance in Indian Corporates Find Organizations With Positive Work Culture 32 Tips “ in https://successunlimited-mantra.com/index.php/blog [1st]for more than 3000+ blogs, articles and answers on creating metamorphosis in every aspect of your life — personal, professional, business, mental, emotional, social, relationships — please visit all three links http://relationshipandhappiness.com/ [2nd] and https://www.quora.com/profile/Subhashis-Banerji [3rd]
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