High flying jobs with fat pay checks notwithstanding, there are many young techies in the city who are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a work-life balance. “Everyone wants to retain the top position, deliver their best, and win approval from their bosses. In that race, the techies tend to get ambitious and engrossed in the mechanical world. This ultimately affects their psyche and they become a victim of various lifestyle and psychological disorders,” says psychologist Amar Rajan.
Amar has held various workshops at Technopark and has seen up close how work pressure is affecting the lives of techies. That is why he has opened a consultation office at Technopark – Mindcarter Psychological Services Pvt Ltd, which will be fully functional next month.
While holding various training sessions at Technopark, a lot of techies tend to meet him after the programme. While some said they suffered from career related pressures, others said they were struggling to maintain a work-life balance.
“Quite a few techies want a change in career or want to chalk out the ‘next’ in their career ladder. Some techies complain of work stress while others say they have problems with their children,” says Amar.
A test that gauges their aptitudes helps map out the career path for those who are not sure of what next after a reaching a certain level in the work space, while games help techies identify areas that causes stress and how to overcome them. “We also hold parenting classes on effective parenting as a lot of techies suffer from a guilt trip as they feel they are not spending enough time with children and are not addressing their needs.”
As consulting a psychologist is still considered a taboo for many, Amar says he uses training programmes and group counselling to address these various issues, “so no one is embarrassed”. “We hold such training programmes at least once a month.” For those who need extra guidance, he meets them for coffee. “We meet at less ‘threatening’ environs to discuss their problems, just like friends would. We have moved off the traditional couch.”
While initially these programmes were held at individual companies, Amar plans to introduce sessions at Technopark’s Park Centre so that “everyone can attend”.
Amar plans to introduce two more training programmes shortly – managing work place politics and attitude change. While managing work place politics deals with skills that will help people stay away from it and also to deal with it in a matured manner, attitude change is all about changing a team member’s negative attitude to a positive one.
