Discover Pakistan: Ansoo Lake

Ansoo Lake is a high-altitude lake, elevation 16,490 feet or 5027 meters, in the Kaghan Valley near Malika-e-Parbat in the Himalayan range. The strange thing about it is the lake is said to have been discovered in 1993 by Pakistan Air Force pilots who were flying low above the area. Earlier, the lake was not even known to the locals. The name comes from its drop-like shape “the Urdu word Ansoo means tear”.
To reach this fascinating place one need to first come to Saif ul maluk Lake and then from there it takes one whole day if started earlier in the morning. One should travel for this in the season of July-August; because in the ends of August, there would be start of snow fall and even local people start evacuate these areas because of heavy snow fall in those areas. People having some breathing problems like Asthma, are not recommended for this. Because the air pressure will be lower at high altitudes and the tough hike could affect badly on such patients.

A far as clothing is concerned one needs to have some water proof clothes and especially take care of shoes and socks. Heavy rain can start any time there so one could need spare clothes too. For food items chocolates are best substitute of energy lose along with it mineral water & orange juice also a quick refill of energy requirements for such a place.
Before reaching on the top of the mountain where Ansoo Lake is situated one may find a “Dead Lake” as it is in a shape of Cup so better known in Urdu as “Piyala Lake”. While reaching on the final destiny one may find it uninteresting due to the snow all around but it is quite a nice place for picnic because all the time it is surrounded by dark & thick clouds. The scenes are really enjoyable there.

As this place is on the top of the mountain and involves so much hiking one may feel dizziness but it is pretty normal because of the Low oxygen at high altitudes. By going through the gorgeous beauty of the “Ansoo Lake” people feel refresh within seconds by themselves without consuming any energy drink.
This eternal beauty change drastically during each season like in spring it surrounds by the snow just start melting, in summer it all around covered by the greenery, in autumn the lake is skied by dark clouds, and finally in winter the whole place including the tear shape lake occupied by white stunning snow blanket. 

Importance of work/life balance & Pakistani organizations

Work-life balance is a broad concept including proper prioritizing between "work" (career and ambition) on one hand and "life" (pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development) on the other. Anyone can say it a "lifestyle balancing approach". Many employees believe that it is due to the advance technology & globalization and a critical harm to social life plus an increase in physique related neuroskeletal disorders from a combination of stress and ergonomic stressors. It is clear that problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and employees.

The importance of work/life balance can count through a series of afterward problems if someone missing it and have symptoms of stress. These are manifested both physiologically and psychologically. Persistent stress can result in cardiovascular disease, sexual health problems, a weaker immune system and frequent headaches, stiff muscles, or backache. It can also result in poor coping skills, irritability, jumpiness, insecurity, exhaustion, and difficulty concentrating. Stress may also perpetuate or lead to binge eating, smoking, or dependency on antidepressants.

When work takes priority over family it is Work to Family Interference (WIF). This type of conflict is mostly seen in male employees as they are more committed toward their work responsibilities in relation to the family responsibilities. However, women are not fully exempted with this type of conflict. When family responsibilities become a hindrance to perform the work effectively it becomes Family to Work Interference (FIW). Many factors contribute to intensify family to work interference which mainly includes family responsibilities such as child and elderly care. The conflict between work and family is now become a crisis for the organizations. With the increase in dual family parents, more job demand and long working hours made it almost impossible to create a balance between work and family.

Pakistan is one of the fast growing economies in the world. Economical and social changes in the last three decades has changed the family and work settings. The increasing rate of inflation changed the working setups in the country. The monthly expenditures are also escalating because of higher rate of inflation. This resulted in the emergence of dual family earners. The monthly expenditure in the year 1996 – 2000 was Rs 6757 in the urban areas of Pakistan which increase to Rs 8997 in the year 2001 - 2004, Rs 9121 in 2005-06, Rs 10583 in 2006-08 and escalated to Rs 15000 2009 - 2010. To maintain the standard of living now both husband and wives has to work and the concept of single earner family is unfortunately diminishing.

As the wave of globalization captured the Pakistani markets the job became more demanding and the working hours also increases. The fast pace economical development in the country has demanded more efforts from its employees. Now organizations in Pakistan are paying off good salary packages, compensation and benefits but the nature of the work is more demanding. The work related stress, work pressure, long working hours leads to job dissatisfaction which is one of the main hinder in the factors related to work/family interferences.

“Shift-to-Knowledge” a strong tool of value creation!

The present business environment is characterized by fast, unpredictable, and high-value competition. To survive in this scene organization must be receptive, responsive and elastic. The new economy is described by the “shift to knowledge” as the main determinant of economic growth and success. The “shift to knowledge” as the primary source of value means that knowledge plays a key role in the definition, functioning, and performance of organization.

Instead of capturing “intellectual human capital” organizations should develop a culture of knowledge management and knowledge development. It is crucial to know that human beings are social animals they can only learn through interaction so any organization which has dream that its employees have good communication skills, decision making power, analytical skills, negotiation skills, and innovation should focus on the social interaction. Moreover, this interaction must be open to mind without any limitations and boundaries so that the employees can learn more than usual. Maintain a culture of experience share and knowledge share in the entire organization as it is a valuable assets your employees have with themselves.

Knowledge is an intangible asset and can be a source of competitive advantage if properly espouse to the world. The organizations learn as its employees involve in learning behavior. Employees can learn through both ways formal and informal. But during my observation period I noticed that informal part contributes more in learning. Unfortunately in Pakistan even big organizations that operate locally now focus on training session which cost more and in outcome reward less. Training is a great source of learning but follow training without other investigations that here in this particular scenario it is needed or not is common. This “Training Fashion” can be dangerous for human minds and capacity.

Simply what the necessity of time is organizations in Pakistan should develop a “Knowledge circle”. This can be a sector based and should develop a year calendar for meetings, get together and training sessions. Also Participants in all events should be sector base not company one. It will save cost and results will be more towards achieved side.   

It is a much critical period for all businesses around the world and everyone is trying to be best in order to sustain its business activities. The preeminent approach is to develop the business hub on knowledge base. However, try to use the employees’ potential in the appropriate direction is equally significant.