By Debbie Olujobi

Education is a necessary tool in today’s environment, it is the operating system for our survival. Being formally educated increases one’s chances of getting good employment, we are more informed so we get more opportunities, know more about our world and even see more of it.

Parents spend a good deal on children’s education to equip them to survive and make a living when they become adults. It is not to say that people cant survive without formal education but education opens many more doors and creates opportunities.

Lately I have become fascinated by the sheer number of people who have put their education aside to settle for a life that I used to believe was less than they deserved because they have found that less is more.

By putting formal education aside a lot of people have reinvented their careers and families and very soon I see the emergence of a new middle class who put more emphasis on quality of life rather than acquisition of wealth at the expense of family and good health.

Last March was a wake up call for me in business. I have always been able to retain staff because I am fair in my dealings with people and I have staff as old as the day I started my business almost twenty years ago.

Some of them have become family to me and I would venture to say at least 4 are necessary for my sanity. They would be in order of preference my Driver, my General Manager, My Accountant and Chief Security Officer. Of all the top 4, I have lost track of the number of times I have threatened to fire my driver and accountant but my manager and CSO have always been above the fray.

I have actually never considered losing any of them to competition as I pay well but in the quiet revolution that is birthing the middle class I became a victim of the drain of good workers to the simple life.

Without notice on the 2nd of April my manager informed me that she just couldn’t take it anymore! She was done with the city life and all of its stress and would be taking up any job in her area that would give her a better quality of life at a pace she could handle.

To say I was in shock would be to underestimate the range of emotions running through me at the time and I am ashamed to say my initial reaction was rage. I felt like I had been set up. Who on earth quits a well paying job after 12 years of service with no notice?

I was owed at least 3 months notice and I decided to invoke the clause in her employment that demands a refund of 3 months salary in lieu of the notice I didn’t get. Her reaction was a complete breakdown and it left me in no doubt that the city had just broken her spirit; there was no conspiracy, just a primal need to get her life back.

She, like other young couples in Lagos, lived on the outskirts of the city where accommodation was better and a lot cheaper but the downside was the hard commute to work and back. Traffic was at best a nightmare, always congested and it cost whatever they saved in rent.

She got up daily at 5 a.m. and rarely managed to get to work on time but the real issue was getting back home. Lately she had been getting home around 10-11 p.m. and it had become a major issue in her marriage and her health; I took a second look at her and realised the pace was capable of killing her; she always seemed tired.

As an employer I was severely inconvenienced and angry, but as a human being I was moved by her plight. I backed down on the salary refund and instead decided to give her a bonus that would help her start something small and she in exchange gave an extra month to train her replacement.

I made it very clear that the door would always be open if she ever changed her mind, good workers are worth their weight in gold. Am I worried about her departure setting a precedent? Yes, very! So should all employers of labour; money or fairness is no longer the only reason people will stay in employment!

You will be surprised that people are willing to take a hefty salary cut just so they can enjoy the simple things like getting home on time, nearby schools for their children, accommodation that is community based and the peace that is missing from all our city centres.

Right now I am in the process of reworking hours so people can work in shifts to accommodate traffic, I am looking at the possibility of investing in accommodation at a reduced rate for staff members who qualify and lastly introduce a transportation means or bonus to make their lives a tad more simple.

What this event has taught me is very simple; less can be more if it simplifies the complex nature of life.

The last day of April saw a change in direction staff wise in my company and I can honestly say I bear no grudges. Could I have spotted the coming breakdown? Yes, I should have and Its a hard lesson.

It teaches me to get involved in the state of affairs of my staff and see where their productivity is being affected. With my new found insight, I can forestall an exodus in my company. Some steps need to be taken to simplify the life of other staff members who are as frustrated as my former manager; it will be expensive but very necessary. The bottom line is that the simple life offers a lot more than the city life.