For some time now, a statement made by Mr. Narayan Murthy of Infosys that youth should work 70 hours a week is being discussed in the corporate world. Some people are in favor of this statement while more people are against this statement. It is important to know the context in which he made this statement. He said India’s labour productivity is among the lowest in the world and it needs to do so to compete with global powers that we see in countries like China and Japan.
The important thing in marketing is consumer behaviour. The ideology of today’s young generation is clear. They don’t just want to earn; they want to have different experiences and live their own lives. For them work is not life but a part of life. This does not mean that they are lazy or irresponsible. If they were, they would not be doing many things or multitasking.
Let’s compare the previous generation and this generation in few words which will give us more clarity on this topic and the changing behaviour of consumers. First of all, this generation has a global mindset because they have all the information of the world in-front of them whereas the previous generation did not. The previous generation had less opportunities, today’s generation has more opportunities. The ideology of the previous generation was that if you don’t work, how will the house run, getting a job is not a kid’s play. Today’s generation does not think this way, they know that running a household is difficult but not impossible. But again, that doesn’t stop them leaving a job or staying in the job out of fear. Boss means God and do not speak against him, leave the office after boss leaves. Today’s generation won’t follow these rules. They will leave the office once they are done. Today’s generation is clear, they don’t believe that sitting for long hours, showing off, or doing more work is considered hard working. They are concerned with the outcome and will also get a clarity from their bosses on the delivery timelines and what the expectations are from the project. Meaning, they don’t believe in hours. It is counterproductive to measure the productivity of workers by the number of hours they spend at work. Rather than the hours spent at work, it should be measured by the output, impact, or outcome of the work.
Comparing this phenomenon to marketing; as of today, it is important to know the impact, the result and not how many media vehicles are used or given ads or how much you have spent. With today’s social media, measuring impact is easy to know.
Secondly, for communication we should have a clarity on for whom it has been developed. Studying consumer behaviour in today’s time is very important, else people will not hesitate to troll your brand as happened with the 70-hour statement. Most importantly, keep praising about past success and will experience the same today with the same efforts and tactics will not help. Times are different, ideology and methods will also be different. Once the legacy brands were wowed, but today the consumer will deal with the brands which can give them what they want. Nowadays, it is difficult to sell only with big name in the market. If it were so, there would not have been so many statements against Mr. Murthy. This does not mean that people do not respect him or appreciate what he has built. But today’s generation will not hesitate to say what they believe no matter how big or famous the person or brand. This new age behaviour is a beacon for brands that if you ignore today’s consumer, they won’t accept you in their life. The most important thing is that if any such mistake is made by the brand, it should be clarified immediately so that no further damage is caused. This does not mean surrendering to the consumer or agreeing to whatever they say. Just make your point clear and consumer will give priority and accept such a brand in their life.
Mr. Murthy has not said anything wrong rather we should appreciate what he said, his advice to the Indian youth is not to blindly follow the western way of life. Blind imitation is not acceptable and therefore there is nothing wrong with working extra hours at the early stage of career. At this time, you shape yourself for your career and learn from your superiors. The point is not about work harder, the opposition was for to work hard only in one place i.e., your work place. People argued against this, so what about other aspects of life? Personal life, family life, circle of friends, new experiences, learning new skills, etc. People today want balance in life and gradually people are shifting towards this lifestyle. In contrast to this, there are many people who work 90 hours instead of 70 and give it to their startup or new business or profession. Mr. Murthy know the importance of this because he has worked hard to build a world-class organization. But again, we can’t evaluate everything from one perspective. Often a father tells his son that he made all in his life by working so hard. No one can deny this, but the times are different today, so the son will make his own way and progress.
Mr. Murthy’s statement teaches us that – there is no alternative to hard work, but again we should have a clarity that where and for what to work hard, otherwise we will live in dilemma without reaching anywhere.
This article was originally published in Mumbai Samachar – a leading Gujarati-language daily newspaper published in India. This article has been written by Mr. Sameer Joshi, Founding Partner – Sam & Andy.