Boss: How did it went last night?
Me: We stayed in the office till 2am.
Boss: NO!!!! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!! I'm not trying to feel sorry about how late you all worked. My question is, "how's the progress of the project?"
I'm still stunned right now... Remind me again, am I being paid with all the extra hours I put in? Don't think so.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Self-motivation required
Had been wanting to write something about my working experience in the office, but just don't know how to start.
I had been feeling really down lately. I don't know why. I'm not sure whether it's because of the salary, the bonus or the future of my career? No matter what it is, it's really bothering me this much. I want to perform with my maximum capability, but I just can't find the boost. I have been sitting down and staring at the monitor thinking, "What the hell? Why can't I just work with the force that I used to have?"
I think of it for so long now. I might not have the salary and bonus to give me the push, but I still have the learning experience to do it. However, it don't seems to be convincing me at all. Not that I don't trust how valuable the experience I will gain here, it's just that it don't seems to be able to convince me that it's valuable. My sense is that it's going to be so valuable in the future, but my guts is telling me, "No, this is the limit. It's time to move on."
I'm struggling so much with this. The more I try to find some sense to it, the more I got demotivated. Till the extent that I have to go online to look for some inspiring and motivating quotes to motivate myself. Yet it still doesn't help. And I can sense the patience that my colleagues and boss is wearing off. This is not something I enjoy as well. It's really frustrating, so frustrating.
Conclusion: I'm lost. No one knows how to help me. I don't know why. No one knows as well. I'm really appreciative of my colleagues, boss and sweetie who tried to help. I will keep trying hard to get my head out of this difficult time. Thank you all.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
SHU Alumni Gathering
I went for a alumni gathering on Saturday afternoon. It was the Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) Alumni Gathering. It was a disappointing. With more than 3000 graduants from SHU staying in Malaysia, only 40+ turned up. What a disgrace. Worst of all, the gathering is not as I think it would be, but at least I expected it would be so when I saw the venue, Wisma MCA. What does the hack Wisma MCA got to offer?
The whole event was suppose to start at 3.30pm. I reached sharp on time, but knowing the Malaysian's most famous culture, "LATE", I knew it will start slightly late. Hence, at 4pm we were ushered into some kind of training room of 100 crowd-capacity with projector. With 5 mins of introduction and another 5 mins of experience sharing by one of the junior, the whole event ended. WTF!!!! And that is all.
Worst of all, all the ex-coursemates who said the loudest on going for this event stood us up. These people can just talk the talk but can't walk the walk. Another WTF!!!!
There were some pit parties going on during the weekends. One of it that I missed was the DJ Tiesto one.... I could still remember the Prodigy one at KL Tower last year. Renault has the best Pit Party!!! Here's Suanie's blog on the party. Great pix and videos.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Why Do Talented People Leave?
This is a research forwarded to me by Hele on the very reality of why people leave their work place. I think this justify my previous blog entry very well.
Why Do Talented People Leave Companies?
Largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization.
Why do talented employees leave companies? Come to think of it. This is almost 100% true. Read below & find out the answer.
Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the
He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, a charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude. The salary was great.
The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food.
Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. "It's a real high working with such cutting edge technology."
Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job.
He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn't take it anymore.
Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who have also quit recently. The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover.
He's distressed about the money he's spent in training them. He's distressed because he can't figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away. The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization.
The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding:
If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.
"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
"So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."
If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers.
Are they driving people away?
Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors.
You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one.
Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees. Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield:
Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks.
In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself.
Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage began cracking up too.
Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting
at an empty table. I knew nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable.
The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted.
The second time, that thought gets strengthened.
The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information.
Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble.
You don't have your heart and soul in the job." Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents.
When this goes on too long, an employee will quit -often over seemingly
trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that
went before.
And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you.
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement.
The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime.
The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry.
The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others.
Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.
"Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies "between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value.
Unfortunately, many senior executives busy travelling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home.
That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.
Why Do Talented People Leave Companies?
Largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization.
Why do talented employees leave companies? Come to think of it. This is almost 100% true. Read below & find out the answer.
Early this year, Arun, an old friend who is a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the
He had heard a lot about the CEO of this company, a charismatic man often quoted in the business press for his visionary attitude. The salary was great.
The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food.
Twice Arun was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined. "It's a real high working with such cutting edge technology."
Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Arun walked out of the job.
He has no other offer in hand but he said he couldn't take it anymore.
Nor, apparently, could several other people in his department who have also quit recently. The CEO is distressed about the high employee turnover.
He's distressed about the money he's spent in training them. He's distressed because he can't figure out what happened. Why did this talented employee leave despite a top salary? Arun quit for the same reason that drives many good people away. The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization.
The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was published in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding:
If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition.
"People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.
"So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."
If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers.
Are they driving people away?
Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors.
You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one.
Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees. Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield:
Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks.
In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself.
Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage began cracking up too.
Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting
at an empty table. I knew nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable.
The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted.
The second time, that thought gets strengthened.
The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information.
Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble.
You don't have your heart and soul in the job." Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents.
When this goes on too long, an employee will quit -often over seemingly
trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that
went before.
And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you.
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the replacement.
The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime.
The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry.
The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others.
Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.
"Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies "between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value.
Unfortunately, many senior executives busy travelling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home.
That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.
Mind-boggling thoughts
Erm... It's been a while since I update the blog. Had been having struggling thoughts of changing a new job, a new environment, a much much much better pay and a "not so cold" office (damn, it is as cold as the Swiss Alps in the office right now).
However, will just let it follow the wind. If some company would offer me some irresistable offer, then I will definitely be gone with the wind. Then, there's still so much pros and cons in this.
Pros
1. Better pay (maybe)
2. Won't have to work in a fearful environment of not knowing what's the weather everyday (means boss' weather). Ever have the experience of, 1st thing you ask your colleagues when you reach office is, "How's boss' mood today?" (maybe)
3. Better employee benefits (more than just medical cards in this current company, such a disgrace) (definitely)
Cons
1. Development chances is not as much in the new environment
2. Exposure to higher managements vanished
3. Experience to be gained from here is equivalent to 3 years worth of "advanced experience" at the outside world
So, how do I weigh this? I don't know. Maybe I will just try out my market price to motivate myself to work a lil' bit longer here. Hahaha... As quoted by Su Chin (my ever experienced colleague), "Always know your market price, so that you will know how much to demand when you apply for a job".
In the meantime, will just have to bring a really huge umbrella just in case it rains really heavily in the office.
However, will just let it follow the wind. If some company would offer me some irresistable offer, then I will definitely be gone with the wind. Then, there's still so much pros and cons in this.
Pros
1. Better pay (maybe)
2. Won't have to work in a fearful environment of not knowing what's the weather everyday (means boss' weather). Ever have the experience of, 1st thing you ask your colleagues when you reach office is, "How's boss' mood today?" (maybe)
3. Better employee benefits (more than just medical cards in this current company, such a disgrace) (definitely)
Cons
1. Development chances is not as much in the new environment
2. Exposure to higher managements vanished
3. Experience to be gained from here is equivalent to 3 years worth of "advanced experience" at the outside world
So, how do I weigh this? I don't know. Maybe I will just try out my market price to motivate myself to work a lil' bit longer here. Hahaha... As quoted by Su Chin (my ever experienced colleague), "Always know your market price, so that you will know how much to demand when you apply for a job".
In the meantime, will just have to bring a really huge umbrella just in case it rains really heavily in the office.
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