Simply Sales Talk: Does hard work pays off?

Tuesday, July 07, 2015 Jes SimplySalesTalk 10 Comments

Recently, I met up with a young GM who also has some shares in a local company. He is in the production line and his job is not glamourous at all. People normally mistake him as just a worker as he is dressed in a worker's uniform. He is also the sexist guy from my last post but we have become very good friends and able to talk about everything.

Oh, it is quite cheap... just more expensive than a HDB (Source: Wikipedia)

You cannot guess that he is the owner of a top range BMW, a Porsche for some kicks, a Merc as a backup and also a few Rolexes. Salary is $30k a month excluding the annual director's payout of more than S$100k. Money is not an issue and his goal in life is to set up his own bar business after a few more years of managing the company. But life has not been so smooth sailing to reach this position.

He started working after high school (secondary school) and got into production work in factories. He did everything from scratch and did not mind doing menial jobs that others shunned. He did not mind working 12 hours to learn more and once there is nothing much to learn, he changed his job and started the process again. For the initial 20 years, his pay was below the minimum S$2k but he did not mind. He felt that the low pay is justified for the learning experience so he treated it as if he was paying for the lessons.

He was always envious of the rich people. He had never thought of how they got the money or if it is through a inheritance, but how hard they worked to get there. He continued to put in his utmost effort in learning new things and gaining new knowledge and experience.

After learning so much through the hands-on approach, he finally got somewhere that he became one of the well known experts in the field. Money followed automatically even though he did not ask for it. People went to him for his advice even though he did not have any academic qualifications. After 20 years, finally he has gained people's respect.

Nowadays, no one is so patient to wait that long.

As hardworking and patient as ants? (Source: Wikipedia)

He is currently grooming a successor to take over his role as a GM, but he has not been successful so far. There were so many Singaporeans who tried the job and most of them left within 2 years. Mind you, the job gives above average pay and he informed all the candidates that within 5 years, the company can provide a Mercedes for you to drive and more than enough cash to live comfortably.

The big question is, why did no one stay for these monetary perks?

If money was the only criteria, then people would be queuing for this opportunity. But he stated matter-of-factly that all of them cannot take hardships. It's not that you have to hit target numbers or work under the sun, it's just that there is a lot of learning to do and it's a long, arduous journey.

Few are willing to work hard.

His view is that undergraduates nowadays want to live comfortably, go home on time yet get high pay. They do not want to struggle so hard for a job so they put in the bare minimum to learn and took long time to do so. Hard work is over rated, in their words.

I don't think we should be working 12 hours a day but half hearted effort will not get us anywhere. If we want to do something, we have to go all out and do it well, striving to exceed expectations. If we want something we should be prepared to work hard for it, especially when one is just starting out. Even if it doesn't pays off in that company, some other companies will be willing to pay for your knowledge. Hard work does pays off, albeit in the long run.

Alas, not everyone has this mentality. It's perfectly fine if you just want to cruise along during work and not want to get promoted.

But if you want to get promoted and earn more money, get ready to work harder. Otherwise, quit whining.