Organizations are fast becoming leaner and flatter. People are forced to work harder and for longer hours. Budget cuts, hiring freeze, downsizing and restructuring have become very common. Economic downturn and unrest everywhere is the time when organizations need their people to come together and give their best shot. It is difficult to have absolute control over what occurs in our company or in our personal lives. The way we choose to greet the day, approach work and people at work and react to things is fully within our control and depends entirely on our attitude. Now, more than ever, in a slowing economy and resultant job insecurity, maintaining a positive attitude is critical. Positive people help to create the right atmosphere for others, while being highly productive and motivated themselves. They project a positive image of themselves, and through them that of the company they represent, while interacting with customers. All of these prove vital to the success of any organization. This article attempts to highlight the importance of a positive attitude in freshers and current employees in a slowing economy.

Every organization has a mission, vision, short and long-term goals, its own set of beliefs, its culture, values and its own pattern of functioning. An individual who is able to align himself to the goals of the organization, has the right attitude and is able to adapt himself to its culture is a successful employee. Today, the scenario is a dark one, the global slowdown has resulted in a number of companies from different sectors slashing jobs. Lay-offs, salary cuts, pink slips and retrenchments have become the order of the day. Companies which are recruiting are doing it with a lot of thought and very selectively. Selection process has become tougher. Candidates who are willing to adapt to and foster change, understand the organizational requirement, open to learning, collaborate and work in teams and, above all, possess a positive attitude are the most sought-after ones.

While it is very natural for candidates to aspire to quick progress and success in their careers, it is also true that many of them fail to understand why they have not been able to scale the ladder of success. It does not matter what qualifications you possess, what work you do or at what stage you are in your career path, the single most important trait is your attitude towards your work and your mindset that determines your success at work.

Attitude is an abstract thing, intangible and cannot be cultivated overnight. It is not surprising that many of us have not received any formal training on the attitude we possess or the way we are expected to behave at the workplace. Attitude is not anything that can be learnt from books. It is a by-product of our learning over the years. Years of work that we put in, our experience of everyday challenges, conflicts, crisis and varied circumstances help us to draw a framework into which we settle our behavior and define our personality. To some of us, it comes naturally like a duck takes to water. To many of us it comes the hard way, through a lot of trial and error. In short, it is from our attitude towards work, towards colleagues, towards our job that our professional image and identity evolves.

A budding manager from one of the reputed B-Schools, Anirudh Atreya, pinned a lot of hope in campus placements. He knew for certain that the job market was not what it once was. Fewer companies were recruiting and so he had given up the idea of multiple job offers. He remembered what his professors had been telling himto have a positive attitude, to accept the first job that comes along or to go in for further studies. Deep in his heart, he knew he would get into his dream job in his dream company. Equipped with the best of computer skills, Anirudh Atreya grabbed a marketing position with one of the leading software majors.

MBA Review Magazine, Workplace Problems, Positive Attitude, Organizations Requirement, Sectors Slashing Jobs, Salary Cuts, Pink Slips, Retrenchments, Campus Placements, Computer Skills, Corporate Ladder, Slowing Economy, Highly Productive and Motivated, Teamwork, Working Under Stress.