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?

Most people want better benefits, be it from the company they are working in or from the government they are paying taxes to. A better work life balance, more subsidies, and getting paid without working hard. Sounds like a dream, isn’t it? Maybe that is why some people are moving out from their home countries in Asia for greener pastures in Australia and New Zealand (to name a few).

Better benefits are always good but better benefits also tend to make things difficult for companies.

Better benefits = employee market

Not-so-good benefits = employer market

That’s why I wasn’t surprised when the cab driver in Sydney told me about the lack of jobs in Australia. A lot of multinational companies (including Australia based companies) are moving out from Australia. Their destination? Countries where the government doesn’t protect the citizens that much – Vietnam, China, Malaysia, etc. Why? Well, for one, it creates less problems and fuss. You don’t get lawsuits from your own employees, accusing your company for not providing ergonomic chair (for example). And most importantly, you get hardworking employees for lesser price. Good bargain eh?

Bargain or not, it’s not up to us to decide. What matters to us is that, this migration of companies is fast becoming a popular trend in our world. Lesser job opportunities in countries with good benefits and strong labor law, and more job opportunities in countries with not-so-good benefits, cheaper labor, and weak (or non-existing) labor law enforcement, albeit the fact that many good and talented people are moving the opposite direction.

So the next time you think your country’s labor law is not protecting you enough or your government and company are not giving you sufficient benefits, maybe you should think that it could be a blessing in disguise.

Note: this is rant post, about my dad’s experience as a former employee of a local bank.

My dad is a retiree. He used to work for more than 10 years in a local bank. And he even extended his retirement age and worked as contract for the bank for another 2 years. I can still remember that in the past, whenever my dad drove passed the bank, he would look to check if there’s anything suspicious about the bank – any suspicious people, did the alarm go off, are the lights on, etc.

I can only say one thing – my dad was a very loyal employee. Several banks approached him but he refused to go.

But sadly, the bank did not appreciate him after he retired. The bank gave him nothing when he decided to discontinue the contract renewal. Contract staff to them, are not full-time staff and are not eligible for the extra pension funds. I think the pension fund is quite a lot. So in the end, my dad only received the money from the EPF.

Then recently, the bank’s credit card which my dad is holding has reached its expiry date. My dad called up and asked them to send a new card.

The bank refused and said this “Sorry to say that you are no longer our employee. Thus, we will not renew your credit card”.

My dad told me this and I was quite surprised. I thought the banks are competing with each other for credit card customers? Furthermore, my dad has 100% clean record. He never owed the bank anything.

But of course, my dad was very disappointed because after all the hard work, the bank did something like this to him. It was a free for life card, but other banks are giving him the same type of credit card – with higher credit limit. So in the end, he decided to write an email to the bank.

“I understand that the bank renewed my card once after my retirement. The bank’s decision to cancel my card now without any warning, came as a surprise to me. However, I do respect the bank’s decision. Just in case you want to know more about me, you can contact your branch managers XXX, XXX, XXX and XXX.”

2 days later, the bank called and offered to renew the card. =_=

My dad refused. The damage has been done and there’s no turning back.

And the bank called again. They even sent some emails and asked him to reconsider.

Moral of the story? I think for a large corporation like this, this kind of mistake should never be done. First, it makes people think that you never appreciate your current and former employees. Second, you jumped to conclusion without any warning, and without any solid proof. Third, you just chased out one of your most loyal customers.

In the end, my dad did more than rejecting the new card. He went on and closed all his accounts (and ours) with the bank. 35 years of relationship burned, because of a silly mistake.

p/s…. my dad worked for the first bank in his 20s, then the bank got bought over by another bank…and few years later, by this “local bank”.

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. =_=