Employee Engagement Survey

Now it's coming towards the end of year, other than annual performance review tht's coming, there are other performance lever or indicators such as Customer Satisfaction Index and Employee Engagement Index. A company better make sure tht there's no 'funny' decision made during this period. All unpopular decision must be avoided and only good news shd be communicated tot staff to ensure good EEI result. But do we really have to do tht? Popular or unpopular decision is driven by business. As long as employees understand the situation and the reasons behind those decisions, I trust tht employees can understand and make wise decision not to use the ESS as a mean to 'punish' the management and the company. The key thg is communication and honesty. If the mgmt can communicate well and with honesty, all employees can accept wahtever and however unpopular the news would be.
So let's communicate...

Leaders create, not destroy

Leaders create, not destroy...something we have to think about.
Leaders listen a lot...no offense but wander if they can do tht...

360 Competency Evaluation

Lucky tht we have online system available so we can do 360 competency evaluation and assessment easily and efficiently. Furthermore, we can go green without loads of papers required for everyone to do the evaluation on self, supervisors, subordinates, customers/vendors (mainly internal) and colleagues. Thanks to online 360 apps. But most importantly is the result and analysis. We can use the result to do a lot of career development and competency intervention if required. However the question is how accurate is the report? Well it depends on the person doing the assessment. He or she needs to be objective and clear wht the intention is. It started from the design of the questionnaires to the selection of the feedback givers. If we can have more feedback givers, the result can as better with less/minimal 'margin of error'. At least we have some reports tht's based on not only our own assessment but also wht others think of us as far as the targeted competencies are concerned. The main objective is to improve. No point having great 360 results but in actual fact, our staff are not competent. Make sure we do analyse the report and do not take it for granted, do something...identify the best intervention required to help your staff grow or at least improve in the areas they are lacking.

Shukri's House Caught On Fire

Shukri's house, one of our staff was caught on fire last nite. Noting left. Hope that he's OK. Will do a quick collection to relief him and his family a bit from his suffering and assist as much as we can.

10 Things the HR Department Won’t Tell You

Woman's Day, on Tue Oct 26, 2010 9:23am PDT

By Kimberly Fusaro

If everything’s going smoothly, you probably won’t interact with the folks in human resources much between the day you’re hired and your last day with the company. But every day in between, it’s their responsibility to make sure you’re doing your job well. Which means they know a lot more than you might think. We checked in with human resources experts to see what your current employer is keeping tabs on—and how your next employer could be judging you based on a whole lot more than the résumé you submitted.

10 Things the HR Department Won't Tell You

1. Background checks have gone beyond Google.
Before calling in applicants for a job interview, HR will snoop around online to make sure there are no virtual red flags. “Social media ‘stalking’ has become the norm—especially at larger companies,” says Mary Hladio, who worked in human resources for more than 15 years and is currently CEO of leadership group Ember Carriers. “Beyond typing names into a search engine, companies will also employ sophisticated online monitoring platforms that dig even deeper. If there’s something on the Internet you wouldn’t want your boss to see, it’s probably in your best interest to take it down.”

2. Arriving super-early for an interview is almost as bad as arriving late.
Of course, if someone shows up late for an interview, he or she isn’t going to get a callback, says Amy Habedank, human resources manager of Pinnacle Services. But she’s also hesitant to hire someone who shows up an hour early. “It feels like they have no regard for my time,” she says. If you’re headed to a job interview, don’t show up more than 10 minutes before; if you get there with time to spare, catch up on email or listen to relaxing music before heading in.

3. Your physical appearance matters.
“Research suggests that the decision to hire or to deselect a candidate is made within the first 90 seconds of the interview,” says human resources consultant Steve Cohen, author of Mess Management: Lessons from a Corporate Hit Man. That means you must arrive at a job interview in a clean, well-put-together outfit with neat fingernails, smoothed-down hair and fresh breath. Also, think twice about any eccentricities. “Some people might be able to look past pink hair and black nail polish, but it will affect their decision,” says Hladio.

Check out a foolproof outfit that’s perfect for a job interview.

4. Personal hygiene counts, too.
Smelling like cigarette smoke can work against you, as can having body odor. Because both conditions are within an individual’s control, an employee or job candidate who smells bad is viewed as lacking professionalism, Cohen says. Plus, an employee who smells bad is a public relations liability. Most companies won’t tolerate poor personal hygiene in an employee or potential employee.

5. You won’t get hired to work from home if you aren’t a “home professional.”
If you’re applying for a work-from-home position, you need to present yourself as a “home professional” from the get-go. This means that when HR first calls to express interest, there better not be crying babies or barking dogs in the background. “When an applicant has no control over the noise level in her home, it’s a signal that she’s not ready for virtual work,” says Shilonda Downing, who’s in charge of hiring for Virtual Work Team. You’ll also need a quiet home office space if you’re petitioning your current boss for work-from-home hours.

6. Being overweight can work against you.
Even though overweight individuals can be fast on their feet and slim people can be lazy, an interviewer might assume an obese job candidate won’t be able to keep up at a “high-performance” company. Cohen gives the example of a manufacturing company that prided itself on efficiency and speed. Every prospective employee was taken on a walking tour of the large plant before being hired. If the prospect couldn’t keep up with the owner’s fast pace on the facility tour, he or she wouldn’t be hired. If you’re worried your size may be working against you, Cohen suggests emphasizing how adept and resourceful you are.

7. Ageism (illegally) exists.
“People who have seen their 50th birthday are losing jobs to younger people, even though ageism is illegal,” says Dennis Kravetz, head of human resources consulting firm Kravetz Associates. Older employees hoping for a promotion need to be extra-vigilant about staying on top of trends and technology. In a job interview, emphasize what you’ve learned from years of experience and explain how you’ve grown along with your industry.

8. Your relationship is being monitored if you’re dating a coworker.
“Sometimes people meet their future spouse at the office,” says Cohen. “But mostly, dating coworkers is risky.” Even if dating among colleagues is allowed, a relationship that ends badly is going to affect other people in the office. It gets extra-tricky if a romantic relationship between a supervisor and his or her subordinate sours. “Human resources is watching behavior that could turn litigious,” warns former human resources executive J.T. O’Donnell, founder of Careerealism.com.

9. Your Internet usage is probably being documented.
Don’t assume there’s any level of confidentiality when it comes to company technology, whether it’s email, voicemail or indiscriminate use of the Internet, Cohen says. “In a situation where an employee’s integrity or credibility is in question, there will always be an audit of her computer usage.” That means your boss probably isn’t randomly checking to see how often you log on to Facebook. But if he’s looking for a reason to fire you, your computer records could provide easy ammunition.

10. Your good and bad behavior matter—but the bad matters more.
“Promotions have favoritism built in,” says Hladio. Good behavior and positive experiences have a “shelf life” of three to six months. You need to continually impress your employer in order to stand out as an exceptional employee. Bad behavior and negative experiences, on the other hand, can linger in an employer’s mind for years.

Original article appeared on WomansDay.com

Teh Tarik Session with Senior Mgmt

We have to give to get? is one of the key take home points for this evening teh tarik session. He told us a story about him asking for promotion and never got it but when he listened to his boss's speech one day saying that magic statement, he stopped asking and just do his job, even more than expected, because that magic statement really changed him back then. Miracle happened after that when he received his promotion twice within a year or two. It's not about miracle but it's about what you did without asking for reward. People can and will see what you had delivered. Even if you won't get it right now, here, you have to believe that God is Great, and he'll repay sometimes later maybe not directly but indirectly in term of health, successful kids, or even afterlife. Just do good, don't expect reward, and you'll happier and deliver better result. If you keep asking, and you didn't get, definitely you'll get frustrated and your productivity deteriorated. How can you get your promotion then? Just think about it. Be patient, honest and don't expect anything extra, you'll be happy at work. I strongly believe in what he's saying...do you?

Do we really need somebody from outside?

One of my colleague asked me do we really need somebody from outside to be one of our leaders in our organization? What had ever happened to our internal talents? Where have they gone, or the company is not longer appreciating our own talents? This is a tough question, but answer is this...

We need fresh new ideas. We need someone who has the external exposure to give us fresh new ideas. Internal talents are good but sometimes we need a mix of internal and someone from external so tht we can have a lot more and better ideas. Especially when a company is not doing well, internal staff might not under or could see from different perspective. A successful company always needs someone either as consultant or senior mgmt staff from the industry who can assist the company to get out of problem or to go for a greater height. Does not mean that internal staff is not good but rather for the mgmt team and staff to get different ideas and exposures. A company should capitalise on its strength and in the areas tht it needs improvement, seek from the best in the industry and hire them. A company can expect to make drastic change in its organizAtion and also make a quantum leap in the area to improve by doing this.

Whether it works or not and the speed of success are depending on the adaptability of the new hire and also the desire of a compnay to change, without forgetting the culure of tht organization.

Management Commitment

You jump i jump....

Mgmt commitment esp to the employees is very critical and important. Once the mgmt has committed somethg, it must go on. Not matter wht and how urgent other matters are (unless it involves life & death situation), whtever promised must be delivered as promised. Otherwise the staff would feed betrayed, les important etc and which can cause low morale and motivation. Think about it...

Manpower Planning during bad time

The company is not doing well. Wht options do we have? Do more with less, reduce cost, reduce or maintain manpower numbers... So why do we have to justify for numbers? Just issue a top down direction, ask all the Biz Heads to maintain their current manpower, focus on biz, sell, sell, sell...and make sure they deliver no less than wht they did in 2009. The more you challenge the numbers the more you'll face with deadend. Tht's my view...

your office is your life

Whether u realise it or not, after u entered into job market, u end up spending 1/2 of your life is the office, the other 1/4 would be on the road if u stay in metro area and only 1/4 with your family members. Tht's why it's important to have a nice office, great friends & colleagues and nice bosses...hehe. Easy said than done but at least, try to influence or change if necessary your workarea to make it more comfartable to work. At least you'll feel at ease when at work and able to deliver your task assigned to you at the highest satisfactory level possible. Most importantly, try to click with ppl at office who can understand u and make u happy rather than with a person who always redicule u or trying to make fun of u. No point for u to drag ur feet everyday to the office simply becoz of the wrong reasons, u are not happy there. So don't expect other to change, if u can change. Be happy at work, don't be stressful. Good luck!

Unleashed Your Potential

How to make ppl realize tht you have the potential to be a leader, to hold bigger responsibilities? Shd you expect the leaders to simple pick & choose or pinpoint without any defined criterion? Of course not. Companies hv already established set of criterion for the potential leaders they want to lead the company in the future. But the question is of course if tht person is you? Some ppl might be so lucky being at the right time and the right place, some ppl hv to work hard for it, some ppl just know how to "suck up" and get away with "murder" and be promoted. Which one is you? Of course you can't choose to be lucky. Do you wanna to "suck up" your bosses? Pls don't...haha. You'll only survive when they are there. Once they move up or out, you might need to start "suck up" all over again, and it might be costly...hehe. My advice is work hard for it, and also don't forget to work smart. Improve your public speaking, presentation skill, understand wht the mgmt needs from you or the organization, learn, practice and implement, and not to forget to click with the leaders themselves. May be you can start slow but clicking with your boss and his click, then after your boss's boss, and so on. Get to know everybody important within te organization and make sure they know and remember you. This is highly important. But pls make sure you hv all the skill first and don't overdo. And the most important advice is, don't step on anybody"s toe while you want to move up. Remember you might need them to help you when you are up there somehow or the other. You might not be able to please everybody but if you manage to capture majority of them would be good. Just be nice to ppl even if they play hard ball on you. Don't think tht wht others think does not matter, it matters. So wht are you waiting for? Forget about your "shyness", afraid to overdo or afraid wht others might say about you. Like my friend used to tell me, if you attend any event, make sure tht ppl are aware of your presence (highlight), make an impact (communicate), and try to meet & greet as many ppl as you can (mingle). Remember, leadership can be learned, if you listen to a story, you hear a story, if you watch it, you can feel, if you read it, you can imagine, if you do it, you'll remember...

Game over

Of course hgh risk would produce high return, but the other end of the possibility is big lost. Looning at sime darby, young leaders have bigger risk appetite, hence they are more willing to take higher risk. But not not other ppl expenses of course. Leaders must also think tht his role is not only to make profit but to ensure long term sustainability. How to inculcate tht if all leaders are young, on short term contract. Like ot or not they'll focus on short term gain, high risk high retern on short basis too. Wow, this is serious...hope it's not gonna be "game over" too soon.... C'mon guys (leaders), I know you can do it...get us out of ths sh¥t asap pls...huhu

Ask wht u can do for the company...

Now u hv to ask wht u can do for the company, not wht the company can do for u...
Everyone has to ask himself or herself wht u can do to help the company better. No matter wht the condition of the company, u need to individually contribute the best to the company tht u r working with. You have to be passionate, work your best to deliver ur task, don't gossip, only focus on ur job, help others to deliver if the need so and try to save the company's cost as much as possible. You hv to act like the company is yours. If everyone work as if the company is theirs, and work with full of passion and determination, the company will surely survive any obstacles. How to achieve tht? Spiritual knowledge and understanding is very important, no matter wht religion. None of the religions teach its followers to do wrong or bad thgs. If everybody follow the right path, the company and everyone working with the company will be successful, now and in the future.

Generation Gap

Nowadays, there're a few generations working togather within an organization. The question is how those generations can work togather? The young generation thinks tht they know better bucause they graduated from the top universities. They concur internet & hence huge infomation & knowledge avaiable in the internet. Old generation is not internet savy, they only have past experience tht has already expired. The thg is tht both has a role to play and it would be great if the two generations combine their effort. Of course young ppl have knowledge and huge information, however they are lack of on the ground experience. Furthermore they don't have patient and keen to take high risk. Old ppl has more patient, more wisdom and huge experience on the ground. The two generations (or more) need to work togather to achieve better. CEO needs to understand better the advantages and disadvantages of each generation and make better use of their knowledge, experience and passion to deliver the best.

Technical Ladder Career Development

Wht do you think about dual ladder career development - technical & managerial level? Ths has been implemented successfully for so many yrs in universities, hospitals and R&D especially. You can be a professor with maximum salary grade or band, yet not holding any managerial post such as dean or vice chancellor in univ or you can be a cardio specialist earning five figure income and yet not holding any head of unit post or become director in a hospital. However to implement ths in any industry is almost impossible. For instance in transport or petrolium or in telecommunication or computer related industry. May be ths can be implemented in petrolium industry because the technology does not change that fast however in a fast moving industry such as computer, this is almost impossible (except for R&D or product development unit). One expertise can be absolute or comon in a few years or months. If ths happen, how to manage the staff tht has been awarded with the scheme? The interim solution might be special allowance for "hot skill" employees. Ths could be used to manage attrition but somehow will not solve problems of highly skilled staff those are loyal. But who said loyalty pays anyway, right??

Interesting Thought on Talent Management by Billy C H Teoh

 You are also right that there are huge gaps between knowledge versus
performance. One can have great knowledge, yet unable to leverage on
one's great knowledge to turn into performance. This is where the
distinct differences are between the 'clever one' and the 'talented
one'. The talented one is able to harness his/her potential to the
highest levels, while the 'clever one' may just stop short.
Performance has a direct correlationship with my Meaning-Movement
Model (c). Take for example: Bank X undertook a transformation change
initiative i.e. "High Performance Culture".
For me in order to make that equation work:
Tools/Methods/Approaches/Concepts/etc. (Balanced scorecards, daily
production indicators, etc - an efficiency modeling)
+ consistency, fairness, systematic, etc. (example of what measuring
everything would mean for the Organization & its stakeholders - an
effectiveness modeling) [whatever Movement, all stakeholders must find
meaning alignment in them in order for the transformation change to
happen]
+ "Measure Everything What We Do" (example of my slogan that creates
the Movement - an effectiveness modeling) [whatever change that we are
going after, we need to establish what is the driving 'movement']
= "High Performance Culture" (Transformation Change Initiative).
So the basic equation for my Meaning-Movement Model (c) is: Efficiency
modeling (tools/methods/approaches/concepts/etc.) + Effectiveness
modeling (Meaning + Movement) = Positive Transformational Change.
This can work vertically upwards or downwards.
Example of vertically upwards is: Efficiency modeling (speeches,
debates, political lobbying, etc.) + Effectiveness modeling ([Meaning
- possibility of first Black President in history; getting rid of the
Bush image; recovering USA's leadership position in the World order;
etc.] + [Movement - "Yes We Can"]) = "Change In Government" (the
transformational change sought).
Example of vertically downwards is: Efficiency modeling (on-the-job +
off-the job assignments; training; coaching; process redesigning;
etc.) + Effectiveness modeling ([Meaning - less rework for me; higher
productivity leading to higher financial rewards; etc.] + [Movement -
"Think Quality As Our Lifestyle"]) = "Quality Mindset" (the
transformational change sought by the employee, other stakeholders &
Organization).
In a nutshell, everything draws down to alignment of Meaning &
Movement for and between the Community, Organization, Employees &
Other Stakeholders in order to attain TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE.
Another example to wrap-up my Meaning-Movement Model (c): In Japan, a
farmer started organic rice farming using aigama ducks to remove rice
field pests and also enrich the soils through the duck droppings. The
Efficiency modeling is using the aigama ducks. The Effectiveness
modeling ([Meaning - healthy food, lowering of cost, higher rice
yields, etc] + [Movement - "Natural Recycling Organic Farming"]) =
"Saving Our World Through Organic Farming" (the transformational
change sought).
Now, think of your Organization, a business you want to venture into,
or a small change that you wish to do. What would be the
'transformational change' that you want to achieve? What is the
'Movement'? What does the 'Movement' means? How would you go about
making the Meaning & Movement happen?
As Martin Luther King Jr. aimed for transformational change of
'Equality For Blacks', his Movement was "I Have A Dream", which
resonated with Meaning of freedom, pride, etc; which he did through
his Efficiency modeling of rhetoric and persistent actions; what
transformational change are you pursuing now, and have you found your
'Movement & Meaning'?
The ideas above are solely my personal views and I am currently
gathering 'scientific & practice evidences' on my Meaning-Movement
Model.
Increasingly, I have found the model to be applicable in many settings
especially answering the question of "How could transformational
change be successful in any Organization?"
If there are any new evidences that support my thinking in this
respect, I will appreciate the sharing.
Meta-cheerio.
Billy C H Teoh

Best Employee Award

Best employee award is good to motivate staff. But most importantly it must be delivered on time. Employers normally wait until it's too late simply to get top mgmt attendance, however the "feel" might not be there if it's too late. Staff might fell tht the employers are not serious. They want to see honesty and the employer must also be sincere to honour the staff.
In time delivery of the award is the best, no matter wht the prize is.

HR Transformation

Wht do you want to transform in HR? Does HR need to be transformed? Surely yes. HR need to embark more on self-service, provide more online apps for staff and empower the managers. HR can contribute in the cost saving & efficiency initiatives by promoting those plans. Of course you need to identify the processes involved, invest in the online apps and communicate. Non-value add processes shd be made online & processes oriented activities can be empowered to line managers. If these are done, HR can focus on activities tht requires human touch & wht machine or computers cannot do.

Cost savings

Nowadays HR has to do a lot of thgs beyond HR roles. Tht's the sign of how important HR is in an organization. Finance may be can cut cost & busget but how to convince staff to participate? HR needs to do subtle. communications with the staff to persuade them to join the initiatives. The best if the ideas come from the staff. They will be more committed to implement the initiatives if those are their own ideas. it also means tht they are ready to implement the initiatives willingly. The communication must also explain the cause & effect so tht everybody understands well. Any communication must not be a force, it must come from the heart... Sounds easy but hard to do...

Why makes easy thg so difficult?

Ppl like to design & develop processes. Processes are good. They make everyone in order, direct ppl to the right path etc. But why make it so diff? In HR, ppl don't wanna wait. When designing HR processes, keep it simple, straight to the point & the only thg to make sure is tht it must follow the law of the land. Tht's all. HR must be customer focus. Wht customers want is HR job to deliver. Ppl appreciate simplicity & efficiency. So pls consider ths when you design any HR processes.

Complacency

Nowadays people do not work for loyalty anymore. If you treat them well, they will stay. Even so, of they get better offer outside, they will jump. There is no loyalty anymore, not like when we were influenced by Japanese and British long long time ago. Even Japanese companies do not value loyalty anymore. But do you engage people? Even though nowadays employees do not stay for a very long with one company, but when they are working, they are engaged with the company. Some people say that employees who job hops are more loyal than wh stays. Why? Because they really work when they are on board. They work fast, do not mind to change and they deliver as per their KPIs. But employees who stay with a company for a long time would feel complacent and relax. They know all the tricks and they normally do not prefer any change in the organization. Is tht true? There are some truth in the statement. Not all but there are some employees who would do tht. It's hard to change them because they claim tht as their territory. Only when thgs get worst then they will be panic. Hope it is not too late when tht happen...

Employee Engagement

One of my GMs mentioned just now tht wht we did now individually as an employee would determine the survival of the company for the nxt 20 yrs. His father worked for the company. His grandfather also was an employee of the company years ago. We have 3 generations and the GM is the 3rd generation who works for the company. I can understand the sentimental value when he said tht. He's talking about loyalty and working with the same company from generation to generation.

How do we engage our employee? How do we get them to be loyal to us? (1) Leaders must set examples first for others to follow. If you want to introduce cost cutting, cut your own budget first. Reduce some personal expenses tht's claimable to the company. Reduce some benefits tht you have been enjoying when there is no cost cutting initiatives in place. 2) communicate with honesty to the employees. Make known wht is happening, wht shd be done, wht has been done etc.

Employees must believe and they must see for themselves all initiatives taken by the management. They must appreciate the situation before they decide to get involve, be engaged. And the key work is honesty and leadership examples. Don't just say it, do it...

Talent selection

Talent is critically important in a growing company. It's more critical to select the right talent so tht investment made on these selected employees are worthwhile. How to select the right talent then? A talent must meet the company's culture & behaviour. These are the utmost important criterion. If they don't fit to to culture, others will not be able accept them, and they somehow will leave the company eventually. Talents must also qualify top & consistant performance throughout. They must be able to perform wherever they are. They must always stand out as compared to others. And finally they must have the leadership quality & potential to grow. You don't want to develop a person with high performance & perfectly culture fit within an organization but he or she is without potential to be developed as a leader, do you? Because a staff with that criterion is good at wht he or she is doing. If you move him or her up, she'lll fail miserably. For instant, a good salesman does not mean he or she can be a good sales manager. The first job requires skill, and the second requires leadership competencies. Both are human relation skill but woth different focus. One with the ability to negotiate & convince others and the other is managing other humanbeeing within your organization. A person with all those qualities is a talent, good & consistant performers, good culture fit as well as able to lead others. Employees with these qualities are hard to find. If you found one, take really good care of them, treat them well, develop them, expose them, promote them and give them more responsibilities. They will not leave and they will be your potential future leaders.

Reducing social gap between employees and the management

Why is it important to reduce the gap between employees and the mgmt? Is is necessary? Wht would be the benefits? Nowadays employees are more open and direct. They are not like it used to be 10 or 20 yrs ago. Last time, we were so influenced by the British, so the employer-employee relationship is more like master-servant kind of relationship. However, time has changed. The new generation doesn't buy the idea anymore. They want equality and respect. May be not in term of pay & benefits but in term of relationship. Leaders in organization must go down and meet their staff. In politics, they are called "grassroots". At workplace, if leaders can spend some time to listen to their employees, they will gain more respect and loyalty from the employees. It would be easier then to implement anythg even if some of the decisions are not very popular. It's not so much like politics within an organization, but more of understanding, respect & care tht's important to the employees. So treat your employees well & they will work for you unconditionally.

Developing Your Ownself

You have a steady job already. They pay is not bad. Every year you receive your increment, bonus etc. There are times when the company is not making tht good and there's no bonus and only with little increment, but you still have a job. Then the company starts to offer Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) package to the staff. The HR policies are getting tougher and tougher. Little mistakes and flat performance are considered misconduct. What should you do? Stay on or find a new job? But then this question comes into your mind, "what else can you do other than wht you are doing now, with current company..?" Man, tht's bad news. You shd start thinking ahead and use some of your savings to develop yourself now and then. You can't really depend on your company to develop you. The best tht the company can do is providing skill training. If you are lucky the company might send you to further your education, but you have to serve some odd years to pay back for its investment in you. Lucky if tht's what you want. And lucky if tht knowledge can be applied or marketable outside. But you have the choice to do it on your own, why wait? Now the question is wht shd be your focus of study? Of course the most important thg is the course tht you decide to take must be marketable in the future. Second it shd offer better pay than wht you are currently getting. Third is your interest, you must be interested in the area of study, because tht might be your nxt career.

There are a few suggestions tht I think might be usefull in selecting the type of course. A friend of mine who are already at the age of 53 just registered for LLB degree. I asked him why? He said lawyer has no retirement age. You may work as long as you want and retire at any age you prefer. There are a few other professions tht there might be no age limit to it, ie; lecturer, architecture, doctor or pharmacist. You can't be doctor or pharmacist or architecture at tht age. But you can learn to be a lawyer. Well, you can also be a lecturer if you want but you need a PhD or DBA to qualify for tht job. I'm in HR, and I'm considering LLB as my next course to pursue. Before tht I'm also planning to take my HR professional certification course from SHRM to get better recognition. I'd like to take professional course in Company Secretary but abundant tht idea when I was no longer doing secretarial job. Btw tht's also a good profession to consider.

So don't think too long, act now...

Managing Problematic Staff

How to manage a big spender (coz he's in sales, so need to budget to entertain customers), but performance is average? The answer is simple but yet complicated when it comes to implementation. Well lots of people are good at planning but lousy implementer. If he or she's is a contract staff, once his or her contract expires, do not extend the contract. Put it to an end. Simple right? But when someone has high profile connection, in an Asian environment, this is not possible. So wht can be done? How to manage this situation? The only best solution is to offer him or her a fresh new contract on a "contract for service" terms. Contract for service means tht he or she works for a company as a contractor not an employee. So the arrangement such as salary etc does not apply. At least we are giving him or her a chance to work as a contractor and improve him or herself. And at leas he or she'll have the experience working as a contractor or consultant to a company instead of as employee. Wish this will work. Wish his performance (in this case) will improve. Wish the management will not consider him next year if his performance deteriorated or nor improvement at all.

Managing Talent & Move Faster

Once you have identified talents within the company, you need to plan for their career path & development. Talents valued self development, through lateral transfer or promotion. They do not want to do the same thg for years. Maximum they can take it is only 3 years, but some talents might get boared easily, ie; less than one year. So how to manage them and get them occupied? The managers need to plan for activities and development program for them internally, with or without HR a simple plan can be developed. You can do tht and retain those talents for years within your department or lose them. Either way, you have to react. Managers have to act not only as managers but also mentors to them. Simple activities would be to throw them into new project, get them involved in drafting new strategy, coming up with new product, or letting them involved in assisting others esp new comers to adopt to the new environment at your department. The idea is to keep them busy and get them to explore and learn new thgs. They can manage their normal chores while doing tht, don't worry. Tht's why they are talents. They objectives are to make them involved in creative thinking, new products or projects, asissting others and get thgs done faster.

Try this...and you'll see them around for a while longer before they get bored. Move fast...


- chezul

Social Reengineering

In order for a company to implement culture change within the organization, a social reengineering is required. The question is what is social reengineering and how to implement a social reengineering for a company?

A company has its own culture. A matured organization has set of cuture and values for years. Why change? The answer is survival. Can a company maintain at status quo for years without any changes? Even Coca-cola has changed over the years. Shell also has changed its values from pure-profit orientation into a 'green' company.

Leaders in the organization must embraced the new culture first. They have to show the example, they might even have to change their way of life. Respect must be earned! No exception.

Change or social engineering must be implemented to address a crisis. If no crisis, employees will take it lightly. It'd be better if the crisis has direct impact on them and they can see the impact so immediate and in front of their eyes. For instance, customer's complaint or sales dropped or part of company's building collapsed etc. This is the best opportunity to address the desired culture and to drive the employees to work harder to achieve the company's objective. However, when the company achieved its desired target or it managed to come out of the crisis, if necessary the employees must be rewarded accordingly. When rewarding, while they are still in high spirit, the leaders of the company can reaffirn the new cultures within the staff and the process must be repeated to ensure it's embedded in each and every employee's "DNA".

When you manage to change the employee's culture form one level to another, and the result shows, social engineering is done (but not completed coz it's ongoing effort).

So let's implement it...

- chezul