Well, that is at least what most people think. Fact is, this kind of favouritism can happen anywhere, not just in a family business. If you happen to work for a boss who favours few individuals over the rest, the same thing will happen. The good opportunities will all be left to those few individuals. As for the rest, consider yourselves lucky if you are able to get a decent increment. And yes, this kind of scenario happens in a lot of companies. So what makes you think this is different from your fear of working in a family business? Not much difference as far as I can see.

And on the other hand, a family business under the management of the right people will always pick the best person for the job even if the person is not one of his relatives. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Genting is doing a very good job at this. Genting directors are some of the highest paid people in Malaysia and don’t tell me all of them belong to the Lim family.

Okay, I know some of you would say “what about those small family business where the CEO is the husband and the COO is the wife?” Normally, that kind of company has a big “Join us and die” sign board at their entrance. Just kidding. It can be very bad but also, it depends on how mature and how professional they are. I believe there shouldn’t be any problem if the CEO and the COO know what is personal and what is work. If they can’t, then you better stay away. Don’t end up like my friend who was forced to resign because he did not know which instruction to follow – CEO (husband) or COO (wife).

Anyway, I think at the end of the day, the most important factor here is who are the top people and how do they run the company. Favouritism style? Or best-man-for-the-job style? And also, is there a long term future working for them. Are they professional enough to know what is best for the company. If majority of the above questions are ‘NO’, then time to move on.

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?

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.

But is this the right way to lead your people?

In my humble opinion, NO.

I rather lead with respect, and not fear. If your people are constantly afraid of losing their jobs (or afraid of being scolded in front of everyone in the office), they will STILL be able to work hard but the atmosphere is different if compared with people who are working for you because they love to work for you.

Totally different working environments and the end results will be totally different too. Let’s try to summarize the 2 types of leadership.

Lead with respect

• People willingly work for you
• The environment will be friendlier
• The people will be motivated and work with good morale
• Turnover rate will be lower since a good and respected leader can really keep his people

Lead with fear

• People will only work with you because they have no other choice
• The environment is quite hostile and negative since everyone is afraid to lose their jobs (or get scolded publicly)
• People will be moody and pretty much demotivated, even though they will still do the work
• Turnover rate is very very high since everyone will try their best to get out from there

From what you can see, most of the things associated with the latter are bad things and yet, there are many leaders out there who prefer to use this way. Perhaps it’s due to the way they’ve been brought up in the corporate world, or perhaps it’s due to their ego. But either way, it’s bad for the employees and also the organization itself (having high turnover rate is not a very good thing to have in any organization).

For me, the keyword here is “respect”. Respect other people and others will respect you. If you cannot even understand that simple word, then I doubt you have the rights to lead.

p/s……. and in an extremely stressful environment, the last thing you want to do is to force people to do things they don’t want. Everyone has their limits and as a leader, you need to know that.

But those signs are already very drastic signs…..and by the time you know it, sorry to say, it’s already too late. You’ll most likely be caught in it.

Not a very good sign either...why must they cut the cubicle?

Well, there is still hope. I do believe that there are other less significant signs that one can observe to know whether one’s company is doing well or not. And these less significant signs normally appear before the obvious signs.

And here they are, some of the not-so-good signs if you notice them occurring in your office.

• Everyone is watching Youtube.
• The list of online people in Facebook, most of them are your colleagues.
• Your colleagues are playing games during office hour. Some are watching movies. Their excuse? Nothing to do.
• Your office space is getting a bit crowded. Many people who are supposed to be in client’s site, are back in the office.
• Or, your office space is becoming less crowded because people are being laid off or forced to go on unpaid leave.
• You always see a group of people going into a meeting with the bosses, and after the meeting everyone looks gloomy, with a letter/envelope each in their hands.
• Your office network is getting slower everyday. Someone is busy streaming or downloading.
• The biscuits in the pantry have not been refilled for a couple of weeks.
• The supply of tissue paper has been replaced by toilet paper.
• Your bosses start to monitor everyone’s behavior and what online activities they are doing in the office.
• Your sales guys are having extended tea breaks……..far too often.
• Your office is getting darker – in terms of lighting and also aura.
• There’s no more weekly or monthly updates from the bosses. They just don’t care anymore.
• Most of your management people left.
• Your management is arguing with you over a claim which is worth RM 5.
• Removal of some of the employees’ benefits.
• The plants in your office are dying. Nobody is taking care of them.
• The lunch breaks are getting longer, from 1 hour to maybe 3 hours.
• Your company starts to take in any kind of projects….including those that are completely out of scope or not within the industry.
• etc….

The list can go on and on and on. For some of the companies, it can be quite different since different industries have their own share of problems and issues. Mine is looking more from the IT industry (I gather the information from various sources).

So if you happen to see some of those signs in your company, perhaps it’s best for you to plan your way out. Things might get better or worse from there…….and most of the time is worse.

And by the time you get things like pay cut, retrenchments, etc ……it’s already too late.

By the way, if you have any other signs that you want to list out here or share with us, do feel free to contribute in the comment box.

Hopefully I won't become a sacrifice for my leader/manager in the future

Well, people management is never easy because everyone is unique and requires different kind of management. What I told my friend was to observe and learn more about their characteristics and their goals. Also, as a leader, he needs to be fair, flexible, open-minded and never discriminates. For example, one of his team members (who is a very good programmer) is a loner and hardly joins the team for lunch or outing. The other team members find it difficult to communicate and work with him. But does that mean my friend should penalize him? And does that mean this guy is not valuable for the team?

No, this guy should not be penalized and he is still a valuable member of the team due to his skills. The thing my friend should do is to manage him differently and give him his own space to work in. His existence might ruin the team spirit but there are still things which he can do – maybe those assignments which only need one resource/person.

But that is just 1 type of people that a team lead might need to handle. Honestly speaking, there are many other more problematic type of people out there. Some will only talk without doing work. Some will act smart in front of you. Some will talk bad about other team members. So on and so forth.

Again, different people different kind of handling. And that is why managing people is an art in itself. Last but not least, remember never to discriminate people for being different.

Hope it helps.

Maybe sometimes...we should really say "This is not my job"

The result? The team leader was called into a meeting with the senior management and the directors. He was screwed pretty hard by the ‘bosses’. The ‘bosses’ said that as a team leader, he should be guiding his subordinates and should know (at least the basics) what the subordinates were doing. Just in case some of his subordinates went on medical leave, someone has to take over that work. If he refused to learn and do it, what would happen to that piece of work? Untouched….what about the deadline?

And the screwing process continued for many many hours….4-5 hours, if not wrong.

So the lesson of the day? Don’t be too rigid. Sometimes, you have to step out of your comfort zone and do more than whatever is being described in your job description, provided it is not for long term. If you are being hired as a project manager but have been asked to sweep the floor for 1 month……then something is seriously wrong. Otherwise, it’s best for you (and also in the interest of your company), to be flexible and do the stuff you are being requested to do. Remember that a flexible employee is a good asset to the company but a rigid one is regarded as a liability especially during times like this.

So the next time you want to say something like “This is not my job, I refuse to do it”, maybe you think twice. Because in the end, if you have this kind of rigid attitude…..the company will just find someone who is less rigid and who is more responsible……and that someone might just be your replacement.

Why is that so? Here are some of the factors which I can think of for now.

• Agendas and things to be discussed in the meeting or discussion are not set. People do not know what to talk about and most probably end up talking nonsense.
• Most people are just there in the meeting room for the sake of being there, without actually wanting to solve the problem. Their bodies will be there, not their souls.
• The person chairing the meeting and discussion is not experienced enough or he himself tends to talk something unrelated to the objectives. Or worse, the person does not know what he wants from the meeting and just want to get it over as quickly as possible.

In my opinion, if you don’t have the willingness to achieve the objectives of the meeting (which, most of the time, is to solve problems), then don’t conduct a meeting or discussion in the first place because any meeting which fails to achieve the objectives is regarded as meaningless and a waste of time.

I think this kind of meeting is pretty popular

And if you conduct a meeting for the sake of coming out with ANY solution….then please…..don’t start the meeting at all. No solution is better than a very bad solution which might make things worse.

I started this topic after my sister told me that a customer service officer of a company called her up and changed her (the officer’s) statement from “Our company products’ warranty period is only 3 days”  to “After confirming with our senior managers, we have to inform you that our company does not provide warranty coverage to the toys AT ALL“. See the difference?

Call this irresponsible, or whatever. To me, it’s lousy management and leadership. If you can only come out with such lousy solution (it’s actually a worse answer than the first one), then at least, don’t tell me “After confirming with our senior managers”. You are giving me the impression that your whole company, including the senior managers, consists of a bunch of idiots.

And that brings me to another point – is he really that important that, he alone is bigger and more important than the entire Apple? I thought there’s a saying in the football world which says that there’s no 1 player who is bigger than the football club. In this case, there should not be one employee/leader who is bigger than the company itself.

I think such employee is not easy to be replaced (unless the person was not working, but busy MSN-ing)

In my opinion, a successful company should always have a proper succession plan. We cannot deny the fact that there will always be some superstar employees or leaders in a company but we also cannot deny that these superstars will not be with the company forever. Nothing lasts forever in this world. And it is pretty likely that these superstars will not outlive a successful company (things might be different for unsuccessful companies who might wither out within few months or years). Thus, a succession plan should be in place in order to replace these superstars.

This is to ensure business will continue as usual without those superstars and hopefully the new replacement will be equally capable. Part of the so-called business continuity, remember?

Also, it is important to remember that the superstars should not focus on themselves too much. This is exactly what some of the business and managements books are trying to teach – to focus on the company, and not the individuals. Use their talents to build a superstar company, and not to make themselves shine brighter than the company. Because at the end of the day, the transition from an employee to another employee within a superstar company is much easier than the transition from a superstar employee to a yet-to-be-superstar employee. Remember that such transition is not known to be smooth and without any problem. Thus, it is important to try and keep it as problem-free and as smooth as possible.

Besides that, the shareholders might get pretty worried if a superstar is leaving and he is to be replaced by someone unknown. Maybe that explains why the share price of Apple Inc has been dropping since the news of Steve Jobs’ health started to spread like wildfire.

Last but not least, always have a succession plan even if the superstars or the leaders, or the employees, are not planning to leave anytime soon. Because you cannot predict what might happen tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow, a company larger than you will approach to buy over that employee immediately? Or maybe that employee has some family issues and need to quit as soon as possible? These things can be unpredictable. Thus, it is important to have a succession plan. A well-planned succession plan is always better than a last minute find-anyone-will-do succession plan. The last thing you want is to replace the superstar with someone who knows nuts about the company… or someone who is basically an idiot.

From the above points, you can see the importance of having a proper succession plan in your company. So if your current company currently does not have a succession plan, maybe it’s time to have one. You can’t afford to waste too much time finding the proper replacement (though most companies do that and end up getting the wrong guy). Time wasted = money wasted. And too much money wasted, will make your company more fragile.

Remember that, any company which can adapt faster than its competitors, will most likely do better in this fast-changing world.

Do they have to help us? Nope, they don’t have to and if you’re saying others are busy, then you are wrong too. The top management people are very busy too. That’s why I’m very grateful for their help.

These leaders are willing to put down their ego and help us to move tables, clean the desks, etc. They did not ask us to do it even though its our job – the committee’s job. They took the initiatives before we even started. They led by example.

In fact, there are other leaders out there who lead by example. Leaders who are willing to cut their salary by 20% or 50% in order to help the company to cut cost or those who are willing to give up their spacious room in order to make space for other staff.

Why? Because they are sincere and they know that in order to convince others to follow, they need to lead by example. They need to walk the talk. A leader who keeps insisting on cutting cost, but he himself is not doing that…is not going to gain support from others especially those who are supposed to follow his lead.

If you want people to do something, the best way is to do it first yourself.

But how many leaders actually realize this? Quite a few. And how many actually practice it? Not much, I must say.