“Hii Kazi Sii Ya Mama Yangu”

A recent research done by The Aga Khan University called: The Kenya Youth Survey Report submitted last year 2016, by Alex Awiti and Bruce Scott stated that 1 in 2 graduates were unemployed and only 1 in 5 youth with university degrees were in self-employment. Meaning a majority of us the youth in Kenya are employed by somebody else.

Not everyone will be an entrepreneur. Some have to take up the role of driving the business as employees. The question here is how can you still stand out from the rest of the pack to get that promotion, get to head that team, to be reliable and an asset within the organization you are employed in?

For starters, change the: “Hii Kazi Sii Ya Mama Yangu” (this job isn’t my mother’s) mentality.

I have heard this phrase being thrown left and right in a couple of institutions where I have visited as well as currently work (I am no snitch! I will not tell you who!) It is said in anger and bitterness when the employee is not happy with the ways of the employer and protests that they will do the work how they feel like doing it and not really put in 100% because, c’mon, this is not their family business. They don’t even like the boss anyway so why should they give the business the best?

I sympathize with such people because it means they do what they do to appease the gods bosses and not themselves. Do we all love our jobs? Nah. Do we love working under pressure from our bosses? Probably not. Sometimes we don’t like them much yeah?

Whether the job you have now is exactly what you wanted to do or a vehicle that helps to pay the bills, you MUST embrace it and see what pleasure you can get out of it. Is it pride that you have a job hence moved out from your parents’ crib? Is it the fact that you have some loose change to go clubbing and buy the cool stuff you want? Is it the fact that you can send some money back home? That is YOUR REASON. Why are you there? If you are not in the least glad to be at that organization where you work, then MAKE A CHANGE and do something else! Maybe entrepreneurship is for you. We all have choices.

Pride is something that should drive you to deliver the best in the docket you are in. Move, plan, deliver as you would if that was YOUR business. Get rid of that “Hii kazi sii ya mama yangu” attitude and replace it with that “I want to make myself proud” mentality.

At the end of the day see to it that you go to bed proud of the report you compiled, the research you conducted, the computing you did, the cleaning you did till the floors shined. Don’t do it for your boss, not for your superior, not for your colleague to praise you. Do it for you and see how you wont want to let yourself down and hence improve on the quality of your output instead of being mediocre and basic. Eventually, I guarantee you someone will take notice. Could be from within your organization or elsewhere and hey, you can be poached! And here poaching is a good thing my friend. So sit down and take a hard look at yourself. Those negative bathroom breaks talking about how the boss can go to hell and how you will just walk in, punch in your hours and leave, that my friend just won’t do. You are doing yourself an injustice, and disservice. You won’t learn, you won’t grow, you won’t succeed. Change your mentality and see how your whole world changes.

Throughout this month of March I shall be posting about Being Your Best in the Workplace, and how we in employment can better ourselves pocket wise and value wise within our organisations.

Love. Live. Learn

Mwalimu Rachel.