I came across this quote from the Holy Quran in chapter 18 (The Cave) verse 18: “And you would think them awake, while they were asleep…” – that spoke about the story of the “Companions of The Cave” – apart from the main story, I contemplated this sentence all in its own right.
Sometimes when you tend to ignore someone else or avoid a conversation on the train, bus or plane you would act asleep for a while, but you are in fact awake. But have you ever seen someone acting awake while in fact this person is asleep? Why would someone do that in this case?
Well in the working environment, one can find anything and everything! Metaphorically speaking, I found that kind of employees whom you think they are awake but they are actually fast asleep and snoring too. Haven’t you ever come across those? You know, the employees who always talk to their colleagues and managers about how much work they are doing, how many tasks they are handling, while in fact they are off their office all day long, or half of the time they are on the phone. However, those employees are smart enough to convince everyone around them that they are actually working, including their managers. They may be dishonest, but they are, indeed, smart.
On the other hand, there are those poor honest employees who work all day long, but they never speak about it or share. They just silently work and the manager may think that they are not active enough, and favor the other kind of employees.
Dear Readers,
If you are a manager, please make sure that you are not falling for such frauds and being unjust to some of your team members.
If you are an HR specialist, make sure the performance appraisal exposes the frauds and highlight the honest good workers.
If you are one of those sly employees, keep it up, and by that I mean the smart mind! On another note, you can utilize this smartness you possess in the development of your work, and caring further for your colleagues. On the long run you will be much more successful.
If you are one of the honest employees who do not talk much about their work, well I know that bragging and speaking about your work progress seems lame to you, but it’s better than someone else stealing all the credit away! Your productivity is what keeps your company in the market.
Mahmoud Mansi
Photography: Mahmoud Mansi
EDITOR: Sarah Shalaby