ARMY VS CIVVY STREET
A write up
ARMY VS CIVVY STREET by Col S P YADAV (ex NDA),my former HOD Cmptr Science Dept, MCEME and M Tech from IISC,Bangalore
There are both pluses and minuses if you compare Army life with Civvy Street. Moreover, the experience of different retired Army Offrs will be different depending on the type of industry they are working in and the type of role they are performing. Hence my views below reflect only my experience in Civvy street and may be markedly different from other Army Officers who may have had much different experience. Also, please note that not more than 2 to 3 % retired army officers are lucky to get the type of role and salary that I have been fortunate to get. Hence, my opinions could be biased on this account too.
First with the pluses:-
1. I have learnt a lot of new things during the past 4 years in civvy street. In the Army, the learning was limited. Most importantly, I now have a reasonable understanding of how the business world works.
2. I have become financially secure. If I work for another 2 years, I can retire and lead a comfortable life (same quality as I was maintaining in the Army). If I continue to work for the next 10 years, I can have a luxurious retired life.
3. I have the freedom to choose how I will pursue my life. I have been in Bangalore for the past 4 years and can stay here for the next 20 years if I wish to. I can plan to move to any location in Indian based on my choice. I can pursue any profession I desire. I can leave my current job tomorrow if I get a better option. My life is in my control and not at the mercy of someone sitting in MS Branch.
4. I am leading a stable and high quality life. I play golf twice a week, enjoy outings and vacations with family, go for long runs and really beat up on weekends.
5. I am treated very fairly and with a lot of respect in my workplace. In case my boss acts irrationally, he risks the prospect of me leaving the company and joining some other place. Similarly, I have to treat my subordinates very fairly and respectfully or else I risk losing them.
6. My company functions as a very professional organization. There is total focus on the core areas and customer satisfaction. This focus is absolutely necessary or else our customers will desert us and move to our competition. I find this type of work environment very professional and satisfying. On the contrary, I always felt that most of the large EME units were being run in a very unprofessional manner. Also, I came across many senior officers who worked for their self betterment, often at cross purpose to the interests of the organization.
7. I can plan to pursue my career till the age of 65 years (it is a different matter that I am currently planning to retire and have a very relaxed life from the age of 50 years).
8. Salary growth is great. My salary has increased 300% in the last 4 years. Given the rapid Indian GDP growth, there will always be high demand for quality manpower resources and I am expecting 15% growth each year for the next decade.
9. When I was leaving the Army, I was full of insecurity and fear of the unknown. This fear continued for around 2 years after retirement. However, now this fear has totally gone out from my mind. I am not worried that I may lose my job, I am not worried about losing some money etc. Also, my risk taking ability has gone up substantially.
10. Since I am earning more, I can plan to go on exotic vacations all over the world. I plan to start going for a foreign vacation once each year from 2010 onwards.
11. There is no problem of postings and packing/unpacking.
12. Saturdays and Sundays are absolutely free. Hence weekends are very relaxing.
Now with the minuses:-
In the Army, I had a strong ambition. We were always competing to come first in courses, get the best ACR’s, get the best postings, get nominated to HC/NDC, get promoted etc. I was competing with equals and could achieve higher levels based on my hard work, performance and environment management. In civvy street, I am fighting an unequal battle. People of our caliber who started working in civvy street immediately after college are miles ahead and it would be very hard to catch up with them. Hence, I will never be able to achieve a very high position in the corporate world since I do not have adequate business experience. To give an analogy, if we take business doyens like Narayanamurthy or Azim Premjee and make them a Corps/Div Cdr, they will most likely fail since they do not understand the Army. Similarly, we guys who have spent most of our learning life in the Army will find it very difficult to achieve our true potential in the corporate world because of our poor business experience. When I interact with senior colleagues in my company, I realize that their business acumen is far greater since they have worked in the business environment for over 20 years.
In the Army we have got used to a very structured type of life. However, the business world is essentially chaotic and unstructured. You do not know what is going to happen tomorrow. If my company gets a large customer, all the senior management will burn their midnight oil to ensure that all requirements of the new customer are catered for. Similarly, if we lose a large customer, there is quick corrective action. All this can become quite pressurizing especially for ex Army Guys who are used to a very relaxed and structured life. To give an analogy, imagine an Army Unit being continuously in War without any break – it is bound to become very stressful. In a similar manner, business is a different type of continuous war without any breaks. You are always striving to get more customers and beat your competition. The day you relax and put your guard down, the competition will come and eat you.
It is not easy to make money in civvy street. Entrepreneurs are very competitive. Guys who make it big work for 14 to 16 hours every day. I always used to dream about running my own business. However, after experiencing civvy street, I now realize that I neither have the financial risk taking ability nor the motivation to work so hard. The Army upbringing has spoilt me and I do not have the qualities of an entrepreneur. I am looking for easy options and do not have the ambition/determination to make it big. To sum it up, I do not have any big ambition in civvy street. This is quite disconcerting at times.
Senior officers in the Army are treated with a lot of respect and they have a lot of authority. In the civvy world, there is no such perk. All employees in my company, right from the CEO (who earns several crores) to the security staff or drivers (who earn a measly Rs5000 per month) eat the same food and stand in the same queue. While the Army may not really provide excellent financial remuneration, it does ensure that all the emotional aspects are taken care of very well.
You cannot push things in Civvy Street the way we can in the Army. If am employee is unhappy with the working environment, he will resign and move away. Hence, one has to be very cautious and diplomatic while getting work done.
Work hours are long. I work 9 to 12 hours non stop on working days. Over a period of time, this gets on your nerves. In the Army, you do not work more than 4 to 5 hours at a stretch.
Timings in Civvy street are bad. I leave for office at 11:00 AM and return back at 10:00 PM or even 12:00 PM on some days since I have to attend business calls with my counterparts in US and Europe. I have dinner at home around 11 PM and immediately hit the sack after dinner. This is not good for health.
Vacations greater than 5 days (with Saturdays and Sundays as Prefix and Suffix it adds to 9 days), is frowned upon in civvy street. Moreover, you are expected to check your emails and answer urgent messages even during leave. I have not had a single large vacation of 20 days or 1 month in the past 4 years. This can get on your nerves after a period of time, especially after you have got used to vacations of 1 month at a stretch in the Army.
I have been doing the same job in my current company for over 3.5 years. I am bored and look forward to some new challenges and new role. However, my seniors are not very happy to offer me a different role since they would have to find a replacement for me in the current role. As a result, things can become boring at times. On the contrary, in the Army, I always had a different job to do every 2 to 3 years.
Sometimes, sudden change in business cycles can catch you with your pants down. During the past 2 years, attrition was very low due to the economic downturn and I had built a great team. However, once the job market opened in 2010, many of my star performers have left. I now have the difficult task of rebuilding my team in this difficult job market. Delivery of projects as per schedule still remains my baby. I have seen the great team build by me over the past 3 years disintegrating in front of my eyes (which is very demoralizing). However, this is the essence of business. One needs to be unemotional and move on to innovate based on current conditions and then find workable solutions.
Civvy street does not attend to your emotional needs. I have not called upon anyone in my company during the past 3.5 years and nor has anyone come to my house. The culture is impersonal and performance focused. During weekends, people mix around only with their family and old classmates/friends.
Though Jobs in civvy street are fairly secure if you are smart and perform well, there is always the fear of the uncertain. For example, if my company loses a major client and needs to downsize, I may lose my job irrespective of whether I am performing or not. Similarly, if I meet with an accident and need hospitalization for 2 months, my job will be at risk. If I need hospitalization for 1 year or above, I can forget about my job.
In Civvy street, the ethos is self interest. Employees normally place their interests above the interests of their company. Their loyalty to their company is directly related to the salary and job growth. If they get a better salary or role from another company, they will switch without any hesitation. This is so different from the Fauji ethos where we even risk our lives to ensure that the unit or organization is not let down.
Employees in civil companies are generally not straightforward and forthcoming. This is not because they lack character. Rather it is because civvy street functions this way. As a business leader, I have often been surprised when some of my most motivated and trustworthy employees resigned when they got a better offer from some other company. They never felt it important to inform me that they were looking for a job change.
To summarize, as could be expected, there are both pluses and minuses. I am very happy with my decision to leave the Army since it has greatly helped to build my financial security. In another 2 years, I would have earned enough to get an assured, inflation adjusted income of Rs 50,000 per month along with a house to stay in. This is very reassuring since thereafter, I can pursue my life on my own terms without any worries or insecurities. However, I also feel that my current overall quality of life is worse than that of my course mates in the Army.
Civvy Street is better in terms of remuneration, salary growth, working environment, clear job focus, family life, better career growth based on competence, freedom to choose etc.
Army is better in terms of emotional security, satisfaction of ego and ambition, lack of stress, structured and balanced life, good social life, outdoors and sports, leave and long vacations, good friend circle, trustworthy environment etc.
ARMY VS CIVVY STREET by Col S P YADAV (ex NDA),my former HOD Cmptr Science Dept, MCEME and M Tech from IISC,Bangalore
There are both pluses and minuses if you compare Army life with Civvy Street. Moreover, the experience of different retired Army Offrs will be different depending on the type of industry they are working in and the type of role they are performing. Hence my views below reflect only my experience in Civvy street and may be markedly different from other Army Officers who may have had much different experience. Also, please note that not more than 2 to 3 % retired army officers are lucky to get the type of role and salary that I have been fortunate to get. Hence, my opinions could be biased on this account too.
First with the pluses:-
1. I have learnt a lot of new things during the past 4 years in civvy street. In the Army, the learning was limited. Most importantly, I now have a reasonable understanding of how the business world works.
2. I have become financially secure. If I work for another 2 years, I can retire and lead a comfortable life (same quality as I was maintaining in the Army). If I continue to work for the next 10 years, I can have a luxurious retired life.
3. I have the freedom to choose how I will pursue my life. I have been in Bangalore for the past 4 years and can stay here for the next 20 years if I wish to. I can plan to move to any location in Indian based on my choice. I can pursue any profession I desire. I can leave my current job tomorrow if I get a better option. My life is in my control and not at the mercy of someone sitting in MS Branch.
4. I am leading a stable and high quality life. I play golf twice a week, enjoy outings and vacations with family, go for long runs and really beat up on weekends.
5. I am treated very fairly and with a lot of respect in my workplace. In case my boss acts irrationally, he risks the prospect of me leaving the company and joining some other place. Similarly, I have to treat my subordinates very fairly and respectfully or else I risk losing them.
6. My company functions as a very professional organization. There is total focus on the core areas and customer satisfaction. This focus is absolutely necessary or else our customers will desert us and move to our competition. I find this type of work environment very professional and satisfying. On the contrary, I always felt that most of the large EME units were being run in a very unprofessional manner. Also, I came across many senior officers who worked for their self betterment, often at cross purpose to the interests of the organization.
7. I can plan to pursue my career till the age of 65 years (it is a different matter that I am currently planning to retire and have a very relaxed life from the age of 50 years).
8. Salary growth is great. My salary has increased 300% in the last 4 years. Given the rapid Indian GDP growth, there will always be high demand for quality manpower resources and I am expecting 15% growth each year for the next decade.
9. When I was leaving the Army, I was full of insecurity and fear of the unknown. This fear continued for around 2 years after retirement. However, now this fear has totally gone out from my mind. I am not worried that I may lose my job, I am not worried about losing some money etc. Also, my risk taking ability has gone up substantially.
10. Since I am earning more, I can plan to go on exotic vacations all over the world. I plan to start going for a foreign vacation once each year from 2010 onwards.
11. There is no problem of postings and packing/unpacking.
12. Saturdays and Sundays are absolutely free. Hence weekends are very relaxing.
Now with the minuses:-
In the Army, I had a strong ambition. We were always competing to come first in courses, get the best ACR’s, get the best postings, get nominated to HC/NDC, get promoted etc. I was competing with equals and could achieve higher levels based on my hard work, performance and environment management. In civvy street, I am fighting an unequal battle. People of our caliber who started working in civvy street immediately after college are miles ahead and it would be very hard to catch up with them. Hence, I will never be able to achieve a very high position in the corporate world since I do not have adequate business experience. To give an analogy, if we take business doyens like Narayanamurthy or Azim Premjee and make them a Corps/Div Cdr, they will most likely fail since they do not understand the Army. Similarly, we guys who have spent most of our learning life in the Army will find it very difficult to achieve our true potential in the corporate world because of our poor business experience. When I interact with senior colleagues in my company, I realize that their business acumen is far greater since they have worked in the business environment for over 20 years.
In the Army we have got used to a very structured type of life. However, the business world is essentially chaotic and unstructured. You do not know what is going to happen tomorrow. If my company gets a large customer, all the senior management will burn their midnight oil to ensure that all requirements of the new customer are catered for. Similarly, if we lose a large customer, there is quick corrective action. All this can become quite pressurizing especially for ex Army Guys who are used to a very relaxed and structured life. To give an analogy, imagine an Army Unit being continuously in War without any break – it is bound to become very stressful. In a similar manner, business is a different type of continuous war without any breaks. You are always striving to get more customers and beat your competition. The day you relax and put your guard down, the competition will come and eat you.
It is not easy to make money in civvy street. Entrepreneurs are very competitive. Guys who make it big work for 14 to 16 hours every day. I always used to dream about running my own business. However, after experiencing civvy street, I now realize that I neither have the financial risk taking ability nor the motivation to work so hard. The Army upbringing has spoilt me and I do not have the qualities of an entrepreneur. I am looking for easy options and do not have the ambition/determination to make it big. To sum it up, I do not have any big ambition in civvy street. This is quite disconcerting at times.
Senior officers in the Army are treated with a lot of respect and they have a lot of authority. In the civvy world, there is no such perk. All employees in my company, right from the CEO (who earns several crores) to the security staff or drivers (who earn a measly Rs5000 per month) eat the same food and stand in the same queue. While the Army may not really provide excellent financial remuneration, it does ensure that all the emotional aspects are taken care of very well.
You cannot push things in Civvy Street the way we can in the Army. If am employee is unhappy with the working environment, he will resign and move away. Hence, one has to be very cautious and diplomatic while getting work done.
Work hours are long. I work 9 to 12 hours non stop on working days. Over a period of time, this gets on your nerves. In the Army, you do not work more than 4 to 5 hours at a stretch.
Timings in Civvy street are bad. I leave for office at 11:00 AM and return back at 10:00 PM or even 12:00 PM on some days since I have to attend business calls with my counterparts in US and Europe. I have dinner at home around 11 PM and immediately hit the sack after dinner. This is not good for health.
Vacations greater than 5 days (with Saturdays and Sundays as Prefix and Suffix it adds to 9 days), is frowned upon in civvy street. Moreover, you are expected to check your emails and answer urgent messages even during leave. I have not had a single large vacation of 20 days or 1 month in the past 4 years. This can get on your nerves after a period of time, especially after you have got used to vacations of 1 month at a stretch in the Army.
I have been doing the same job in my current company for over 3.5 years. I am bored and look forward to some new challenges and new role. However, my seniors are not very happy to offer me a different role since they would have to find a replacement for me in the current role. As a result, things can become boring at times. On the contrary, in the Army, I always had a different job to do every 2 to 3 years.
Sometimes, sudden change in business cycles can catch you with your pants down. During the past 2 years, attrition was very low due to the economic downturn and I had built a great team. However, once the job market opened in 2010, many of my star performers have left. I now have the difficult task of rebuilding my team in this difficult job market. Delivery of projects as per schedule still remains my baby. I have seen the great team build by me over the past 3 years disintegrating in front of my eyes (which is very demoralizing). However, this is the essence of business. One needs to be unemotional and move on to innovate based on current conditions and then find workable solutions.
Civvy street does not attend to your emotional needs. I have not called upon anyone in my company during the past 3.5 years and nor has anyone come to my house. The culture is impersonal and performance focused. During weekends, people mix around only with their family and old classmates/friends.
Though Jobs in civvy street are fairly secure if you are smart and perform well, there is always the fear of the uncertain. For example, if my company loses a major client and needs to downsize, I may lose my job irrespective of whether I am performing or not. Similarly, if I meet with an accident and need hospitalization for 2 months, my job will be at risk. If I need hospitalization for 1 year or above, I can forget about my job.
In Civvy street, the ethos is self interest. Employees normally place their interests above the interests of their company. Their loyalty to their company is directly related to the salary and job growth. If they get a better salary or role from another company, they will switch without any hesitation. This is so different from the Fauji ethos where we even risk our lives to ensure that the unit or organization is not let down.
Employees in civil companies are generally not straightforward and forthcoming. This is not because they lack character. Rather it is because civvy street functions this way. As a business leader, I have often been surprised when some of my most motivated and trustworthy employees resigned when they got a better offer from some other company. They never felt it important to inform me that they were looking for a job change.
To summarize, as could be expected, there are both pluses and minuses. I am very happy with my decision to leave the Army since it has greatly helped to build my financial security. In another 2 years, I would have earned enough to get an assured, inflation adjusted income of Rs 50,000 per month along with a house to stay in. This is very reassuring since thereafter, I can pursue my life on my own terms without any worries or insecurities. However, I also feel that my current overall quality of life is worse than that of my course mates in the Army.
Civvy Street is better in terms of remuneration, salary growth, working environment, clear job focus, family life, better career growth based on competence, freedom to choose etc.
Army is better in terms of emotional security, satisfaction of ego and ambition, lack of stress, structured and balanced life, good social life, outdoors and sports, leave and long vacations, good friend circle, trustworthy environment etc.
