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?

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.

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.

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. =_=

Anyway, based on my experience dealing with such “creatures”, all of them have 1 thing in common – they don’t treat their subordinates or their people as human beings. They shout, scold vulgar words in public, backstab, treat their people like entities from another world (as in, cannot see them even if they are next to each other), or order their people around like dogs (hey, even some dogs have better luck!).

In my opinion, these “creatures” need to take a look at the mirror and see if they can still see themselves change and learn to treat their people as human beings. This might appear to be common sense to some, but it could also be more difficult than conquering Mount Everest. But well, let’s do it one step at a time, and start with the simple list below.

• Greet your people or acknowledge their presence – a simple “Good morning” or “Hi, how was your weekend?” is good enough.
• Let them speak out – every conversation should be 2-sided. So give your people a chance to talk and hear them out.
• Control your tone of voice – never raise your voice against your people. Try to talk and explain to them in a proper way. They’re human beings after all.
• Hang out more with your people – go out for gatherings, dinners, movie outings, etc. Try to improve the relationship. Also, remember that you are their boss in the office, but their friend when it’s outside the office.
• Remember names – try to remember as many names as possible. Calling your people by their names also shows that you remember who they are and this is much more useful than calling them by “oi” or “you”…or worse…call them with the wrong names.
• Treat your people as adults – Stop ordering your people as if they’re primary school kids. Respect them as adults who know how to think for themselves. Also, you yourselves need to behave like an adult.
• Control your ego – ego is perhaps the root of all evil when it comes to leadership. I know that some of you leaders have gone through a lot of hardships in the past but time has changed. Always put your ego away when you deal with your people.

I believe there are many more things that a leader can do in order to improve the overall working condition in the company. Some can be quite difficult, while some can be as easy as the things above.

But I do understand that sometimes, employees do demand a lot from their bosses. My advice to these bosses or leaders – if you cannot give your people the things they want, then at the very least, treat them as human beings. I am sure that that alone, will make their working experience more pleasant.

But if you find that you cannot even do 1 of the things listed above……then perhaps it’s better for you to check with your psychiatrist.

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

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.

Why?

Just compare these 2 individuals. Which one do you think you will want to be in your company, if you happen to be the boss?

• Person A – always want to contribute. When free, he’ll try to learn new things by doing self-studying. When he has completed his tasks, he will ask if you need any help. Or when there’s really nothing much to do, he will just go online and read some useful articles to boost his level of knowledge.
• Person B – always pretends to be busy. When free, he will open a small window (or big one for some people) to watch Youtube, play Facebook or even play games. All these activities are during office hours. When he has completed his tasks, he prefers to keep quiet and take a break…..like playing his games.

Now, tell me, if you are the boss, which kind of employee do you prefer to hire? Surely, it has to be the first person since he’s a proactive person who is always looking to improve himself.

If I were the boss, I would worry more about his SOCSO claim

But the funny thing is, the number of people in Category B far outweighs the number of people in Category A. Just look around your office, how many people actually belong to the first group, the proactive group? I believe not many.

Does that mean you should join the rest?

You shouldn’t actually. You should be proactive and don’t sit there playing game. Why?

• Your bosses will not be happy if they know, and they will know if they actually check.
• If others are not proactive, by being proactive, you will be regarded as a better performer.
• Improving yourselves by learning more stuff is way way way better than playing mindless Facebook games or watching useless Youtube videos. You can’t carve out a career out of those 2 (er..actually you can, but that’s another topic altogether).
• Those activities can be considered as misconduct since you are using company properties to do things which are illegal. You can face quite harsh punishment from there. So better be careful.

Last but not least, try to put yourselves in the shoes of your bosses. If you’re in their position, will you be happy if your employees are those not proactive people who need to be ordered around ALL THE TIME, or you would prefer to have someone who is willing to help out with stuff?

I believe the answer is pretty obvious.

Better to check what's on the other side first, Mr Fishy

And all the signs are pointing to one thing  – get the hell out of there and find yourselves a better job!

But how true is that? How much “better” do you want your new job to be?

The thing is, when changing job, there’s always the risk of leaving a not-so-good company for a super-duper-bad company. Or in other words, jumping into a deeper shit.

But how can you do that? Here are few things you need to pay attention to.

• Research the company. Check the company web site, information, history and also Google around for any information related to the company. It’s not difficult to actually know more about the company by using Google.
• The outlook of the company web site. This is quite important. If a company does not pay close attention something as simple as web site, which is the first thing clients see (and clients here mean $$$), what makes you think they care about something more complicated like their own employees?
• Try to search Facebook and LinkedIn for contacts within the company. Most likely you will have some friends who have worked in that company before…or their friends. Try to dig some information about the company and its working culture.
• Study the office and its atmosphere. If you are not comfortable with the office and the environment, or some of the employees there look pretty much like zombies, then maybe it’s better for you not to put too much hope in that company.
• Be yourselves during the job interviews. If the interviewer is trying to find faults with you, or is not being polite and friendly, then most likely he will be the same after you’ve joined. If you think you can work with such person, fine. Otherwise, it’s better not to torture yourselves by joining them.

So make sure you do all these homework before you actually make the decision whether to join a company or not. And if you’ve done all those stuff listed above, and you personally feel it’s safe to join the company, then by all means go ahead. The last remaining element is your luck, which is completely out of your control.

But if you’re afraid that you have pretty bad luck and thus might end up jumping into a deeper shit…then take some time to think of what you really want. Grass is not always greener on the other side but if you don’t have the courage to go to the other side……..how would you know?