*Adapting to Work*: The right company

Read an article somewhere that on average, Asians work 53 hours a week... If we were to take into account a 5 days working week, that would translate to about 10.3 hours a day or 45% of our time is spent at work or in the office. An average work day for me begins at 9 am and I leave about 8 pm... So finally, I am above average! However, in my current company, where we Deliver High Performance, I am considered a wimp compared to the 16 hours superman and wonderwoman in my company.

So the question is why are there so many people unhappy with their jobs? The average attrition rate is Malaysia is 20%, which means 1 out of every 5 employees would leave for another job after 1 year. Though the number 1 reason is to "explore other career opportunities", which means "I am leaving to join your competitor, doing the same thing but getting paid much more money", some people just leave because they can't stand the idea of their current company.

Me, this is my 5th company in 5 years. It is not that a record and I have a valid reason for each company, honest...

1. Aranium.com
- Was there for about 6 months before it went bust together with the rest of the dot com bubble.

2. Solution 6 (Now known as MYOB)
- Was there for about 18 months. Great job, got to travel a lot, but was not satisfying from a work
perspective.

3. eBworx
- Was there for about 16 months. China man company, but great people. Left because didn't want to do
programming anymore.

4. Tokuii
- No, it was not a Japanese restaurant. Did presales. Met a lot of great people, 1 who I actually
recommended to join eBworx, and he is happy there. Left, because of errr... management issue.

5. Accenture
-Finally, a glamorous company...International and worldwide. I feel like I have arrived home.

Point is, I get a lot of flack from the older generation (1 company forever mentality) for changing so many jobs. Yes, it looks bad on my resume, but if I am not happy at the company, I will not do a good job. I rather keep finding new jobs and risk being jobless for 4 months (best time of my life) then work for the sake of working. It is when I enjoy what I am doing that I excel at it. So what if my career plans are delayed for a couple of years, each company gave me a perspective and taught me so much that I would not have been able to learn in a homogenous environment.

True, each company will tell you that their way is the best, they are the best, but then again, if that was true, the attrition rate would not be so high will it?