Recession is nearly over (or at least, this is what most of us believe). For the past 1 – 2 years, we’ve seen many companies closed down and all of those which survived are franctically cutting cost (still). Cost cutting is not wrong but the definition of the so-called cost cutting is, in my humble opinion, not clearly defined in most companies.

How many times have we heard about such a scenario:

The big boss decided to reduce working day from 5 days week to 4 days week, removed the optical and dental allowances, and stopped the food and drink supply in the pantry. All these things have to be done in order to save the company from being closed down during this difficult period.

The big boss then flew to another country for business purpose, on a business class, and used the company credit card to have expensive meals. He also ordered the purchase of several high-end office equipments which were practically useless. Expenses shot up.

In the end, the company still did not do well and was forced to close down due to the high expenses. The big boss went on to find another job as the ‘big boss’ in another company and the best thing was, his bungalow and luxury car were safe.

In case you’re wondering about the shareholders, well, most of them don’t really look into all the details.

I’m sure some of you have experienced or have at least heard stories like the one above. Truth is, there are just so many bosses out there who don’t walk the talk. They’ll ask you to cut cost, but the cost cutting measures are not applicable for them.

The result? Almost everyone will end up unhappy due to the unfair treatment and this will actually force some good people to leave (maybe forcing people to leave without compensating them is part of the plan). If you’re one of the bosses, the next question is do you care about it?

If yes, perhaps there are few things that you really need to work on.

• Know that your responsibility as the boss is to grow the business, not (just) grow your own pocket.
• Earn respect from your employees. A boss who is not respected will not have good employees.
• Understand that what kind of employees you have depends on what kind of boss you are.
• Always walk the talk so that your people trust you. Too much empty promises will not do you good.

But well, I know it’s hard to do the things above. It’s just that, sometimes when the bosses or the company’s top management decided to cut cost by retrenching people, pay reduction, etc …maybe they should think about the entire cost cutting plan thoroughly as many people will suffer due to their decision. And having a bunch of top management people enjoying champagne and driving BMWs just add salt to the wound of those cost cutting victims.

Perhaps, in the end, the main question to the bosses is, do you know what are your responsibilities as a boss?

Situation in company where turnover rate is high

A very simple comic I drew right before my flu medicine started to take effect. Really a simple one. It’s been a while since I last came out with a comic. I actually had to clean the dust off my drawing tablet before using it.

I’ll try my best to come out with more decent comics after this. Hope you guys will like it.

One of the biggest taboos while working for people is to talk bad about your boss about your salary publicly especially when your colleagues are around. However, there will be times when something as confidential as salary, is being broadcast or informed to the wrong parties. The result? Dissatisfaction among employees.

Let’s be honest, most people are not content with what they have and that includes their salary. And most people also think that they are the one working harder than most of the people in the team. So when the news of a peer/colleague receiving a promotion or a higher salary than themselves, all sorts of negative feelings will appear.

“Why is that idiot getting higher salary than me when all he does is talk talk talk?”

“Why is the new guy getting the promotion ahead of old employees like us?”

“Why is he getting a higher increment when our job role is the same?”

Questions like these will keep popping up in the head all the time. It’s normal. After all, we’ve put in so much hard work for the company and it seems like we’re not being appreciated (funnily, some people who always spend their office hours chatting and Facebook-ing also think they’re not being appreciated enough). I’ve been through that before on a couple of occasions and man, I was pretty pissed back then.

But things have changed, and I believe I’ve changed.

Over the years, I’ve given much thought on this issue and I can tell you it’s a very common issue which exists in every organization. But rather than making my life miserable by asking myself questions which I could not answer, I prefer to ask myself a few questions and also try my best to answer them HONESTLY (without any discrimination and with extreme fairness + calmness). It wouldn’t help if you answer these questions when you’re jealous of some people.

• Is the guy really better than me? Or perhaps my performance is actually not-so-good?
• Is there anything I can do to match him or even better than him?
• How much time do I have left until the next performance evaluation? I need to use those time to improve myself.
• Is there a need to talk to my supervisor regarding this? Maybe my supervisor is not happy with something I did which I’m not aware of? Remember, this is to have an honest heart-to-heart talk with your supervisor and not a confrontation.
• Maybe your supervisor has some ideas on how you can perform better in the future?
• Perhaps there are something which this guy has to do, without your knowledge? Maybe he really did go that extra mile?
• Will you be happy after the promotion or the increment? Will you be happy with your new job role or you rather stay where you are now? After all, money is not everything.
• How much is this affecting your mood and overall well-being? Do you think you’re wasting too much time thinking about something you have no answer of?
• And most importantly, do you think there is something that you can really do to change the situation?

Among those questions above, I find the last 2 to be the most important question. If there is really nothing you can do to change the situation, then why do you even bother to think about it? If there IS indeed something that you can do, then do it and change the situation. Get out from that emotional hell you’ve put yourselves into.

For me, even though I know there are people who earn more than me, I don’t really think much about it. Perhaps they are indeed better than me in certain aspects of things. All I can do is to commit myself to do my work, and to get the expected reward from my company. The important thing is that the company or my supervisor should appreciate what I do, and I myself must like what I do.

Whether the company appreciate that guy’s work more than mine, is not really something I can control.

And when I think there’s really no other option for me…..then I might just go find another job and find someone who I think will really appreciate me.

Remember, it’s not worth torturing yourselves by feeling lousy or bad especially on things that you have no answer to. If it’s within your control, then change it. If not, then just ignore it.

DISCLAIMER — i don’t Facebook that much in office. Nothing much in there except other people’s photos. =_=

Many of my friends have been troubled by this question lately. Some of them are planning to leave their respective company, but are completely clueless whether they have been confirmed or not. And there are also some who are afraid they might be terminated without warning because there’s no news of their probation period.

That is the reason why I’m writing this article and I do hope that this simple article can clear some of your doubts.

The first thing you should do is to check your employment agreement. Different companies have different policies so this is not standard across the country.

For those with employment agreement which says that the probation period will be extended unless being told otherwise, it means that if you are not being given the confirmation letter, you will be regarded as someone who is still under probation. If your probation period has ended, please please please ensure you know the status of your employment with the company. This is because if they do not confirm you, there should be a letter which informs you that the probation period has been extended.

But by default, an employee will be automatically confirmed even if there is no confirmation letter. This is based on my conversation with few friends in the Human Resource sectors. Unless, you have a special clause like “your probation period will be extended unless being informed otherwise”. Then it’s a different story.

Again, I must stress that different companies have different policies. As far as I know, most companies practice the default policy where any employee under probation will be automatically confirmed after the probation period has ended, even without any confirmation letter.

So, do take note of the change in notice periods because once you’re being confirmed, the notice period will become significantly longer.

Hope it helps and do correct me if I’m wrong.

If you still have some doubts, please feel free to contact the labor department.

Contact number for local labour offices in Malaysia

or simply go to the official web site.

Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia

The answer : Yes and No.

Yes if

• You are being tied under an employment contract which does not allow you to leave. I was in such a contract during my fresh graduate time – a 6 month contract which would require me to pay the money back (6 months salary) to the company if I were to leave.
• You have a bond with the company. This is usually activated if the company sends you for trainings. Be careful of such bonds because some of them can be ridiculously unfair.
• Or there is/are clauses in your employment contract which does not allow you to leave the company. Always read the employment letter properly before signing.

Otherwise, it’s a big NO. Companies do not have any right to stop you from resigning as long as you

• Serve the notice period.
• Pay back any money which you owe the company – bonds, notice periods, etc.

The reason I’m writing this post is because there are people who actually asked me what should they do if their bosses do not allow them to resign. Fact is, your bosses cannot stop you from resigning under normal circumstances. The labor law is on your side this time.

So for those inexperienced people, don’t worry. You should serve your notice period on the day you submit your resignation letter. Again, this is under normal circumstances and assuming you don’t have any debts/loans/bonds with the company.

If you are not sure, feel free to contact the labor department.

Contact number for local labour offices in Malaysia

or simply go to the official web site.

Labour Department Peninsular Malaysia

p/s… if you’re dealing with recruiters/headhunters, consult them because they know the labor law pretty well and they know how to deal with such situations.