Outsourcing

How to expand your sales and installation & maintenance team organically and fast? Outsourcing is one of the choices and the best for my ex organization. We have good products but we are lack in terms of sales, go to market as well as installation and maintenance (after sales). We advertise, select and did product training for our agents and in just a few weeks we are everywhere. It would take years if we wanted to do it ourselves. Once we have a huge extended sales arm, we need a lot of team to do the installation and maintenance. We opted to outsource our installation team and overnight we have our installers all over the country. There are differences and problems that we have to face but it's worth it.

Problems we encountered with our sales agents were high turnover among their sales team, hence they could not keep up with the product knowledge. Our customer service department suffered due to that, hence we have to appoint our internal channel mangement team closer to our agents to monitor and train them if necessary. Channel Mgmt team was also responsible to assist agents with targeted areas as well as promotions. It worked well and we managed to grew at the rate of 30% year on year.

We even certified our installers and sent them to attend safety passport training at Niosh. This was to increase their skill, knowledge as well as safety awareness among installers. Installantion took less than 3 days and customers were delighted. In some areas we managed to do the installation within 24 hours, esp in town areas.

It felt good when your plan materialised and worked well as planned, isn't it?

Raising the Bar & Executive Diploma program

When i joined this company in 2002, all its customer service representatives, front liners as well as technicians had formal education lower than Diploma. To raise the standard, I started to hire Diploma level employees for those positions and at the same time relocating or sending some of them for Executive Diploma program. The difference between normal Diploma track and Executive Diploma is, Executive Diploma is on fast tract, meaning that they only have to complete 18 month of classroom studies as compared with normal students (24 to 36 months). This is possible because the accreditation department recognizes their working experience. 

After 18 months most of them completed their Executive Diploma and being promoted to a higher grade based on their qualification. There's not much difference in job scope however, for the company, these graduates were better of than those with lower qualification previously in terms of skill and knowledge. The company managed to improve customer service rendered to the customers, increase problem solving skill esp those in technical team and do more with less staff. People do make a difference but skill & knowledge do make a lot more difference...

Becoming a Safety & Health Officer (SHO)

 

A lot of companies are becoming aware of OSHE in Malaysia and those high risk and corporate responsible organizations have employed Safety officer to assist and advise them related to safety for their companies, contractors as well as customers. Safety officers are more critical in companies dealing with chemical, petroleum, construction, working at high area and involving heavy machinery. It's good if you can have some working experience before you attend certification course as safety officer at Nisoh (National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health). Once certified, the pay is good. However the pay comes with high responsibilities too. You have to ensure the safety of the employees, vendors as well as customers dealing with your organization. The Act is self regulated, but once there's fatal accident, then your organization is at risk of not only summon and receiving stop work instruction, but also imprisonment. Safety officer needs to analyze the risks within his or her organization, develop safety policy and statement, review existing process & procedures, recommend improvement etc related to safety. I had the opportunity to set up Safety Unit when I was responsible for Northern Region. I set up Safety committee at sates as well as building level (based on risks). I also did safety briefings, safety visits and safety audits and coordinated Safety committee meetings every quarter. When i joined another subsidiary, I assisted the company to get safety passport through collaboration with Niosh for all of our technical staff and vendors, installers.

It's such a great experience...even though I didn't go for my Safety officer certification program. The experience also helped me when I had to do renovation for office space, monitoring room as well as Datacentre in 2008. I'm currently in the midst of introducing and implementing safety policy for our offices in USA, UK, Hong Kong as well as Singapore.

Kenapa bos anda perlukan sekreteri & pemandu yg OK

Sebagai HR kita perlu mempastikan sekreteri boss dan juga pemandu boss adalah yg terbaik. sepanjang pengalaman aku jaga boss sebelum ni, kalau sekreteri problem atau driver bermasalah, akan terbawa-bawa ke pejabat. we are human, boss pun manusia, ada perasaan. so kalau dah pagi-pagi ada masalah dgn drier, datang ofis sekreteri pulak buat hal, macamana nak concentrate menguruskan syarikat? so far Alhamdulillah, tapi bukan senang la nak cari sekreteri dan driver yg terbaik. kena berkali-kali jugak la mencuba dan mencuba utk mencari keserasian. kadang-kadang tu diorang ni pada luarannya OK je, tapi hampeh. so memang kena test dulu dan bila dah tau dan faham hati budi, memang terbaik lah. dan lagi satu tips, cari sekreteri dan pemandu yg humble, down to earth, bukan yg banyak bercakap, suka menunjuk-nunjuk dan sebaganya, sebab tu penting sebagai sekreteri dan driver, kena jaga maruah boss, rahsia boss...dan tak mengada-ngada, ambil kesempatan sebab dah close dengan boss...memang payah nak cari calon ikut kriteria ni kan? Good luck & all the best  :D

kaunseling...amat mengelirukan

 Kenapa aku tak nak jadi kaunselor? sebab daripada pemerhatian, kaunselor sendiri banyak yg tidak betul. aku bukan nak menyalahkan atau menuding jari kpd mana2 kaunselor, tapi aku rasa diri ini belom sampai ke tahap yg boleh manasihati org lain. aku pernah berjumpa dgn kaunselor yg famous dan semasa perbincangan utk kontrak, dgn selambanya dia mengutuk kaunselor lain yg tidak kurang hebatnya...apa dah jadi ni. kalau korang masih ingat, ada juga kaunselor celebrity yg bergaduh pasal berebut tanah yg hanya dipinjam drpd Allah. apa yg susah sgt, ambil lah land surveyor habis cerita. kalau dah land surveyor tu kata bantu tanda asal tu dah salah, nak buat macamana? tu semua mungkin juga dugaan kepada mereka sbg kaunselor. tapi apapun diharapkan kaunselor semua dpt jaga imej mereka sebab macam guru atau ustaz juga, mereka dipandang oleh masyarakat sebagai insan yang tiada cacat cela. aku? maaf, kalau nak minta nasihat boleh tapi aku bukan KAUNSELOR... :D

kita hanya menghargai sesuatu pabila ianya dah tiada...amat ironik

Kenapa kita sering lupa dan salah sangka? kenapa kita sering berselisih faham kerana perkara yang remeh temeh. kenapa kita tidak menghargai apa yang kita ada dan sering berhasad dengki dengan orang lain dan apa yang mereka ada? kita harus pandang ke bawah dan jangan hanya pandang ke atas. ketahuilah bahawasanya ramai lagi insan yang berduka, masih terlalu ramai yang lebih berduka, amat ramai yang lebih kepayahan daripada kita...insaflah dan marilah kita sama-sama menghargai diri ini, keluarga, rakan-rakan dan jiran. berbaik sangka dan selalu membantu dengan tanpa mengharapkan habuan; insyaAllah kita akan menerima habuan kalau tidak di dunia nanti di akhirat...sekian tazkirah pada hari ini :D

Faedah Perkeso yg kita patut tahu

Apakah yg perlu anda tahu pasal Perkeso? Perkeso adalah Pertubuhan Kebajikan & Sosial Pekerja atau Insuran Pekerja yang ditubuhkan oleh Kerajaan Malaysia untuk manafaat pekerja yang ditimpa bencana. Setiap pekerja bergaji di bawah RM2000 sebulan layak mencarum ke dalam Perkeso, dan keahliannya adalah berdasarkan sekali masuk terus masuk. Sebagai contoh, jika anda naik gaji atau pangkat melebihi daripada RM2000, hatta sebagai COO atau CEO sekalipun, jika anda pernah mencarum, anda waji terus mencarum. Kelebihannya? Seperti insuran yang lain, jika anda tidak ditimpa apa2 kemalangan, so anda tak boleh claim apa2 sehingga bersara...ada org kata rugilah, tapi rugi ke kalau tak ditimpa kecelakaan?? Sendiri mau ingat lah... Tapi malang tak berbau, so kalau ditimpa kemalangan, dan diberikan MC melebihi 3 hari berturut2 akibat kemalangan di tempat kerja, anda perlu melapor ke pejabat Perkeso terdekat dan jika layak akan menerima elaun semasa MC. Jika diikutkan, tuntutan tersebut adalah hak majikan terutamanya jika majikan bayar gaji sepanjang tempoh MC tersebut, tetapi rasanya tiada majikan yg claim, indirectly dah jadi hak pekerja. 

Utk makluman, Perkeso cover apabila shj pekerja yg mencarum keluar daripada pintu pagar rumah untuk ke temoat kerja, di sepanjang perjalanan pergi dan balik ke tempat kerja, semasa berkerja tak kira lokasi, semasa keluar untuk makan tengahari dan semasa melakukan apa2 shj aktiviti rasmi syarikat seperti aktiviti kelab sosial tajaan syarikat selagi ianya dibenarkan oleh syarikat dan tidak melanggar undang2 negara dan bukan aktiviti merbahaya. 

Perkeso juga melayan tuntutan kecederaan akibat daripada pekerjaan terdahulu yang dilakukan utk jangkamasa lama seperti sakit tulang blakang yg kronik akibat mengangkat barang2 yg berat, atau hilang pendengaran akibat daripada bekerja di tempat yg bising yang kuat seperti di lapangan terbang (dulu alat tutup telinga tidak disediakan) dan apa2 kecederaan yg seumpamanya (kemalangan pekerjaan). Yang penting perlulah ada medical record dan rekod peerjaan yg lengkap (terutamanya kepada mereka yg sering ebrtukar pekerjaan). Jika kemalangan, perlu ada laporan polis dan lain2 maklumat (sila rujuk laman sesawang Perkeso). Maaf, sakit 3 serangkai tak layak sebab dikategorikan sebagai bukan sakit akibat pekerjaan, mungkin faktor keturunan atau pemakanan.

Saya suka nak highlight perkara ni sebab kebanyakkan pekerja tidak tahu hak mereka. Semasa saya berkerja di Utara Semenanjung, saya mengkaji rekod MC pekerja dan yg mana kerap mengambil MC saya arahkan mereka menjalani medical check-up atas pembiayaan syarikat. Adakah syarikat akan rugi mengeluarkan kos yang tinggi untuk bayaran medical check up? Tidak, sebab hasil daripada medical check-up, beberapa pekerja telah dikenalpasti sebagai layak utk dirujuk ke Lembaga Perubatan Perkeso dan selebihnya baru maklum penyakit yg mereka hidapi (selalunya kalau ke klinikpanel, doktor akan bagi paracetamol shj, bukan salah doktor GP juga sebab setengah2 symptom hanya boleh dikenalpasti setelahdilakukan medical check up). Akibat daripada itu, pekerja yg kurang sihat telah mendapat medication yang sepatutnya dan MC berkurangan. Secara langsung, produktiviti pekerja dans yarikat meningkat. Ramai juga yg apabila dirujk ke Lembaga Perubatan Perkeso, telah diluluskan dan mendapat pencen dengan syarat tidak lagi digaji oleh majikan. Dalam kes ni, ramai yg layak telah memohon medical board out (MBO) dan diluluskan oleh syarikat. 

Kenapa pekerja tak nak memohon MBO? Kebanyakkan pekerja masih mempunyai anak yg bersekolah. So mereka takut jika MBO, tiada gaji atau pendapatan tetap. Penerangan berkenaan kelebihan Perkeso seperti bayaran perubatan akan ditanggung oleh Perkeso, pencen tetap bulanan, elaun bantuan untuk pembantu jika bedridden, serta biasiswa untuk anak2 yg masih bersekolah...banyak tu... Tapi saya tak nak sakit, saya hanya nak tolong pekerja yg memerlukan dan layak sahaja. Alhamdulillah so far saya sihat walafiat...doakan kesihatan utk kita semua, amin...

Data and Employee Migration in 2006 - A Success Stroy

Corporate companies always on restructuring mode every three years or so. The changes are required when there's change in the stewardship or change in market or customer, or change in capital/ownership.

I was involved in the company spin off/demerge as well as merger in a large corporation. In 2002, the parent company decided to spinn off its internet base business in order to improve performance, productivity and speed to the market. However in 2006, the parent company again decided based on lengthy study and analysis made by consultant, to merge large chunk of the subsidiary business back into parent company. I was tasked to do the migration for almost 650 employees back to the parent. My problem at that time was at the same time the merger was to take place, the parent company was undergoing IT transformation exercise and all HR data were to be migrated from Peoplesoft to SAP. Therefore, we were instructed to hold the data migration for another 6 month at least for SAP to be stable before the 650 data from the little subsidiary could be keyed in into SAP one by one (data migration was not allowed). By the way, the employee migration was set to be on 1/1/2007, and the data migration for parent company would took place in December 2006.

After much deliberation, I decided to transfer all 650 employee data from subsidiary into the parent with 25K employee data with effect from 16/11/2011, two weeks before the NO NO date. My argument was, if I wait, there'd be nobody to take care of the 650 employee data in the Peoplesoft while another 25K employee data were already migrated to SAP. Even though the letter to employees were dated 1/1/2006, in actual fact, their data had already been migrated with effect from 16/12/2006. Legally that was wrong but I had to decided to a little wrong to avoid a huge issue ahead. It was done smoothly and only a few individuals within the parent's migration team noticed about the transfer. However since I promised to assist themt o do the checking and data varification for a few nights aftre 1/12/2006, they accepted my decision. We passed the test with flying colours, however there's a few teething issues especially with dependants data not fully migrated or rather detected by outsourced medical management organization. However those were not major issues and we had to tackle the issue on a case by case basis.

In general, the migration was successful (however, Finance had to do some adjustments later due to charging and accvount code; but it's ok as long as it didn't affect employees badly).

In HR, whatever we do, it should be employee first...:D

Implemented Performance Improvement Plan at HK office

When I join this organization in 2009, HK office performance was really bad. After year end, its performance only managed to hit barely 50% of target given. HK office was OK prior to that year but somehow, misunderstanding and commotion between sales staff and the country manager got out of control and had affected overall sales performance. The employees were given minimal bonus due to Board's consideration however something must be done to ensure the performance was back to track. HR was involved togather with Finance Unit in HK and Sales Management Office in HQ to identify the weaknesses and draft perfoemance improvement plan for HK office. All sales staff including country manager were issued a show cause letter to explain why their performances were bad. They were also given a short term target to improve on month on month basis for the next 3 months. They were asked to discuss and if agreed to sign off the target given, and they were also asked what required from the management to ensure they achieve the targets given. They were then strictly tracked and monitored on a monthly basis. A month later some of them failed to achieve the monthy targets given, hence they were issued another warning letters. After 3 month ended, only one sales staff couldn't make it and she later resigned from the company without action being taken against her based on non performance. Otherwise, she must be given a chance to explain her reasons for not achiev ing the monthly target given 3 month in a row and if the explanation given was not satisfactory, she could be terminated based on non performance. Luckily that year, HK office managed to score 100%of their target given to them.

Sometimes, people need to be reminded before they can put performance and personal issue separately. If they were not 'hit', they'd not feel the 'heat'. The performance improvement program set, even though it looks more like disciplinary, but it's very detail and measurable as well as agreed by all parties. It's basically a SMART target which could be achieved if they were focused. It worked!

2010 was a good year for them and it continued in 2011. Hope HK office will also perform better this year.