5 annoying things about corporate in Pakistan and 8 solutions

I have a terrible habit of not documenting things. Which means I never know what to respond to “what do you do?”

This question has been getting trickier to answer ever since I graduated college and entered into workforce full time. But now that it has been one full year of me working a job (like, a real one, with a boss and a paycheck), I’m ready to share my experiences working in a company in Pakistan. My thoughts are a culmination of culture that I have observed in over 50 organizations ranging from 5 to 2000 employees (some maybe even bigger). Ready? Set… Drama.

WARNING: This section is not for the faint hearted. Fragile egos must not proceed. Author does not take liability for any uneasy self-nagging thoughts you may experience.

Okay, I came from China and America to start working in Pakistan (talk about a reverse culture shock). And I have some raw thoughts about the way we run our things here.

1. Automation, Mangers, and the fear of adapting easier tech.

   The problem with putting Gen X or older milennials in managerial roles is that you are setting yourself up for inefficieny and a horrible cycle of never-ending meetings that could have been an email. I tried my level best to introduce Notion to the organization, but not only was it not adapted, Excel sheets were encouraged because “that’s what people are more comfortable with”. In my experience as a founder, the single worst mistake I made, was to hire REALLY smart people, and then not listen to them when they tried to pitch something nice. The solution? Hire managers that are agile and see their role as an opportunity to learn and grow as well. If your managerial staff has stopped improving or learning…well…you are essentially trying to light fire by rubbing rocks than just using a lighter.

2. Ageism.

   Okay. I understand not all 23 year olds are capable of leading teams and running at least a department. But not all 40 year olds know what’s best either. You staff’s background is critical in ensuring a healthy work culture. While there are some organizations that have realized that since new tech is … well… NEW, NO ONE knows how to use it best. So a young person with 2 years of experience in said department, is a BETTER choice than a 40 year old who started using it 6 months ago. HR, please. Ageism is also a parasite that has eaten away meritocracy. I should not have to drag my manager to every meeting, just so they can repeat what I already said, in order to ensure the other person doesn’t get scared of signing a non binding agreement. And don’t even get me started with how much ageism and sexism combined is losing corporations money. If I were the CEO of a traditionally male dominated industry, I’d have my Head of HR in for a meeting right now.

3. Flexibility with work.

   Here’s a fun fact about actually working with Gen Z. We are raised on global experiences of Boomers, Gen X, and milennials. We have also suffered through the pandemic through some of our most formative years. Our outlook on life is heavily influenced by real issues such as inflation, calling things as they are, and climate change (motivation to do anything really changes when you are acutely aware that big cities are drowning as we read this amazing article). Taking all these things into consideration, it is important for managers in Pakistan to understand that our outlook on the world is more global than you can begin to comprehend. Students in remote areas of Pakistan, tier 4 cities, are earning upwards of 100,000 PKR because they understand how to reach out to a client in the US or Australia. So trust me when I say this, they are not buying into rigid workspace policies.
   Working remotely needs to be adapted better. You do not build an office culture by saying you are building an office culture. You do it gradually, overtime, and listening to your own employees. And you ensure productivity by using tools that help you track productivity better. Don’t make fish climb trees.

4. Systemic inefficienies.

   Truth be told, this is not just a Pakistan issue. The work culture in France and Italy is just as bad. But ours gets worse since we have incompetence as various levels that millions of people just have to deal with. Unfortunately those people do not understand that they would, in fact, be getting more bank for their buck if they allowed people to execute in an efficient manner. Is this me pointing fingers? No. This is me looking at our country like a Netflix show, wondering how we got here and who is writing the plot line.

5. A severe lack of desire to do something big within Gen Z.

   It’s important to recognize one’s own shortcomings. Gen Z in Pakistan is so off the radar when it comes to anything except perhaps social media. There too, our content is in the infant stage where it’s lazy and aiming for a quick fix. But blame it on the gatekeeping, or the industry-academia divide, or the fact that an overwhelming majority of Pakistani youth do not believe in the economy and want to flee abroad for the pursuit of a better future - the fact remains, Gen Z is missing from action. Compare this to the US and China, I have met numerous young people not just as founders, but also as individuals interested in research, filmmaking, art, STEM, finance, etc. and actively doing something to “make it” in their respective fields. But all I see here are the exact same people, representing the exact same companies, hanging out with the exact same cliques. It’s improving, thanks to the efforts of some, but it’s not nearly enough to cater to the 150 million of us.

So what’s the solution? Am I just ranting here? Probably. But I hate cynicism and critique without constructive feedback so here are action items you can start using today to ensure you are not self-destroying your workforce’s potential:

1. Be emotionally intelligent if you are someone in a position of authority. Dictatorship in leadership is dead. Please move on. It served you no good.

2. EVERYTHING needs to be a feedback loop. How will you ever find out how your organization is doing if you never ask your employees? Ask with the intent of listening and you shall find. Yes you will find several petty politics, but I’m assuming your vast work experience came with separating the noise from the valuable feedback.

3. Young people are an asset. Nurture them well and see the results.

4. I do not know how to remove inefficiency. If I did I would have fixed my very real procrastination problem. Sorry. :(

5. Learn Notion. Bring 50 departments on one page. And thank me later.

6. Cancel. Unnecessary. Meetings. Send an agenda before each meeting, and cultivate a culture of saying no to useless calls. You must create a better criteria for promotion that “who is wasting the most amount of time”

7. Track things online.

8. Promote people who will become great managers; great managers nurture good employees and know how to maximize productivity. They are also great leaders. They are NOT authoritative, impulsive, or emotional.

9. Embrace remote work. If wordpress can have a multi-billion dollar company, FULLY remote, so can you.