“The gap between the management and staff is too wide. Bosses must change their mindset they need to identify and understand their workers' needs” - Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC)

Sunday October 16, 2011

Bosses Day sparks little enthusiasm among employees

By CHRISTINA CHIN

sgchris@thestar.com.my

GEORGE TOWN: It's Bosses Day today but not many employees will be celebrating it with their employers.

Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) president Mohd Khalid Atan said Bosses Day was not popular here because workers were not treated as “social partners”.

“The gap between the management and staff is too wide. Bosses must change their mindset they need to identify and understand their workers' needs,” he said.

“Workers here respect their employers but the latter need to improve communication with their staff before Bosses Day can gain popularity.”

Malaysian Employers Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said while bosses were not always popular as they tended to push their employees to the limit, it did not mean that there were no good employers.

He, however, acknowledged that there was room for management to improve.

“Bosses need to have realistic and reasonable expectations.

“Setting unattainable targets only stresses out the employees and backfires on the company as productivity drops,” he noted.

Shamsuddin said increasing productivity was as simple as creating a happy environment.

“If employees wake up and dread going to the office, you may end up with a drop in productivity.”

Permodalan Nasional Bhd president Tan Sri Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman stressed on the need for an innovative culture in management.

“Society has changed. Businesses, managers and leaders ignore these changes at their own peril,” said Hamad, who received the Business Person of the Year Award 2011 from the Asian Academy of Management and Universiti Sains Malaysia on Friday.

Related Stories:

Bosses love them or hate them?

Confessions of a tyrant boss

________________________________________

© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)  

Sunday October 16, 2011

Confessions of a tyrant boss

By MOHAMAD AZAM ALI

ON special occasions like Mothers Day or Teachers Day, we are usually feted with inspiring stories of how amazing our mums or teachers are. But there is also the occasional horror tale, as told by the honoree, with headlines that scream “10 Signs Your Toddler Is A Flesh Eating Alien” or “Eight Ways To Detoxify Home Science Cooking”.

Some of these accounts move us, bring back memories of incredible people in our lives, and stay with us for a long time because these stories are also our stories. However, special days and special people may lose something in translation when packaged in best and worst categories. We will also lose something if validating signs and evaluating ways become our best approach to living.

In celebrating Bosses Day today, let us all return to something that is simple, pure, and good. Or, like me, defend yourself by writing an article when you have been outmanoeuvred in an argument.

The Crying Office

I was the last to realise my office was dubbed The Crying Office in the last two organisations I worked with. The name caught on and after many nudge-nudge, wink-wink, false coughs along office corridors whenever I walked by but failed to register, I found out.

“Do you know why?” I asked the whistleblower from Human Resources.

“You make everybody cry,” she whispered.

“Men too?” I asked.

“Men too,” she confirmed

“Cool.” And I began to think of ways to make this a glorious war story to share with my buddies that weekend.

“Focus. These are days of 360-degree evaluations, talent profiling and what-nots. It is a very, very serious matter. No one can save you,” she hissed.

“If it is 360 degrees, we will be back exactly at where we started. Shouldn't it be 180 degrees? Is HR, somehow, excluded from drug testing?” I was genuinely curious.

She glared at me, snorted and walked off in a huff.

The first two times the crying happened, it was unnerving. After that, in all honesty, I totally forgot how many more cried. Although I did remember storing jumbo packs of tissue in the cabinets.

A performance consultant provided this insight when I shared this with him as a case study.

“They came and talked to you, up to the point they broke down in front of you. That is very difficult to do if they had felt you were not someone they could still talk to or share things with or still trust. Of course, at that point they would have made the decision to leave.

“What you can do to address this is to encourage your existing team to give their perspective on this matter. It is an open secret, and you seem to be rather famous because of it.

“Let your team members talk without interrupting them, don't rationalise or justify. Ask short, direct questions if you need clarification to their comments. Next discuss their feedback, work as a team to agree on solutions drill it down to three critical solutions.

“Next, work together to implement, monitor and maintain. Add this item to your weekly Work-in-Progress meeting with your team. This way, you would have developed effective intervention that helps you and your team at the right time, before it escalates into another crying-and-leaving situation.”

After the team sharing and implementation, a young, rising star in my team, way too cheeky for his own good, designed a poster with the message “Stop Your Crying”.

Laughing never felt so good when I first saw it on my office door. Not to be outdone, another team member started distributing “No Crying Zone” cards to his colleagues which soon decorated cubicles, some not even in our division. The CEO mentioned it several management meetings later.

More importantly, the approach did not stay or weigh down as an additional top line task. It filtered down to specific projects and helped resolve implementation issues among team members. It also seemed to improve communication between team members, keeping it more centred on solving and hedging problems.

After some time, the office felt fresher, seemed brighter, less tense a credit to my team which by that time was smaller but with members who are more relaxed and cheerful despite getting more projects. I didn't notice when the poster disappeared from my door and the “No Crying Zone” cards decorated fewer cubicles.

How did working through “No Crying” help me? It certainly was not a Hollywood type of performance. It helped by making me realise that when your team have problems with you, it is not diminishing or threatening, or intimidating to go to them and work with them to resolve the problems.

As a team leader or a boss, you should worry when you start feeling you are alone at work, doing everything yourself and keeping your star status with your boss but not your team. Then one night after working late, you come home and just as you are about to kiss your sleeping four-year-old angel, you start noticing the “10 Signs That Your Toddler Is A Flesh Eating Alien”.

> With 22 years' experience in media and public relations, including mergers and crisis management in the UAE, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei, Mohamad continues to be surprised when bosses, staff and interesting women do not get him.

Related Stories:

Bosses love them or hate them?

Bosses Day sparks little enthusiasm among employees

________________________________________

© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)

 

Bosses – love them or hate them?

Sunday October 16, 2011

Bosses – love them or hate them?

By CHRISTINA CHIN

sgchris@thestar.com.my

Unlike Secretary's Day, most Malaysians are unaware of Bosses Day which falls today.

HAVE you sent your boss a bouquet or gift yet? Or a Happy Bosses Day greeting?

Although Bosses Day has been recognised and celebrated in the West for over half a century, not many Malaysians are even aware that it exists.

One reason could be that great bosses are hard to come by and getting a gift for the head honcho is definitely not on the cards for many down the line.

Ask about good bosses and few will speak out. But get started on horrid bosses and there will be no end to the many tales, some exaggerated, about the boss from hell.

Comic relief: The recent Hollywood comedy Horrible Bosses, which follows the adventures of three friends who decide to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses.

The recent Hollywood comedy Horrible Bosses, which follows the adventures of three friends who decide to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses, drew praises for convincing acting though some felt the jokes were racist, homophobic and misogynistic maybe because it hits too close to home.

Sales executive Trinity Tan says her company in the Klang Valley is filled with funny characters but one common thread that unites them is the office manager.

“As colleagues, we don't really hang out but everytime the topic of the wicked one' comes up, we sing in a chorus of unison.”

Tan describes her boss as someone who is so paranoid he thinks the world is out to get him.

“He will call to check up on you every second of the day if he could. It's insulting when your boss still treats you like a child up to mischief,” she gripes.

Tan says she loves her job and works hard at it but is frustrated with having to deal with a difficult boss.

“What am I getting him for Bosses Day? A box of rubber snakes,” she says, half in jest.

Graphic artist Alex Saw, 38, recently quit his job after suffering for years under a female boss whom he describes as a moody tyrant.

“Once, she brought a pile of work to my house when I was on a week-long leave for conjunctivitis (the agency didn't even pay for the medical bill) and expected me to complete it all before going back to work.”

Looking back, Saw admits he learnt a lot in those four years. Although his boss had no regard for employee welfare, she was extremely capable, smart and willing to share her knowledge.

“But I realise now that learning does not mean having to put up with a bully. The lessons were invaluable and I gave everything I had to the agency. By the time I left, I was mentally and physically drained,” he recalls.

National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) Kuala Lumpur branch secretary A. Karuna questions the significance of Bosses Day.

She says that unlike Workers Day which has a great impact and significance on society, Bosses Day has no historical relevance.

“As far as we are concerned, even managers are workers. Unless you own the business, and how many actually do, you are not a boss,” she proclaims.

She says certain banks hold special celebrations in honour of the founders because of their contributions to the workers' welfare but it “doesn't make sense” to have a special day for all bosses.

Corporate communications executive June Eng claims her boss is a chauvinist and hates fat people. “The comments he makes are outrageous he refuses to hire people who are even slightly overweight although the applicant may be totally competent and suited for the job.”

Company secretary K. Ana, who works for a multi-national company in Kuala Lumpur, says that if she were to list out all her boss' inappropriate behaviours, it would be longer than the Great Wall of China.

“My boss is Caucasian and thinks we Asians have low IQ. He struts around acting like he is of a superior race and we are his little minions,” she complains.

Karen Tsuen started work as an administrative officer with a development firm after leaving college. She had no idea her job duties would include doing the schoolwork of her boss' son.

“The Datuk would come to the office and start distributing his son's homework among his administrative staff.

“I was good at language so I ended up with the English exercises,” says Tsuen who has since left the company.

Paralegal officer H.B. Ho, 33, says her boss is so cheap, he makes Scrooge look like Santa Claus. “He has no qualms raiding our personal food stash at the office even though he earns double what we do,” she claims.

But not all bosses are bad, clinic assistant Haniza, 20, points out. She says her doctor boss may look grumpy most of the time but has a kind heart.

“He not only takes the effort to teach me but makes sure that the seniors guide me as well. And when he found out that I come from a broken family, he tries to help financially. When I wanted to buy a laptop for my studies, he offered to give me an interest-free loan.”

Jenny Ong, 30, doesn't believe in Bosses Day but thinks it's important to acknowledge good bosses.

“Giving gifts or cards on a specific day can be misconstrued as apple polishing. I think a good boss knows that he or she is appreciated when employees are working extra hard and taking the initiative to do more than what is expected,” says the copywriter who counts herself lucky to have worked for bosses who care enough to point out her mistakes and help her grow. “A good boss is one who helps you sort out the problem rather than just blame you for it.”

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan believes it will take some time for Bosses Day to gain popularity here, adding that employers are probably not the most popular people around.

He advises bosses to have realistic and reasonable expectations. Citing an example, he says key performance indicators (KPI) need to be fair and easy to understand.

“Have objective criteria rather than subjective ones so that it is clear to the employees how they are being rated. Sometimes KPI can be a cold' way of evaluating someone because it makes employees more individualistic and the team suffers. You need to make exceptions to the general rule.”

Asian Academy of Management (AAM) executive committee member and past president Prof Datuk Dr Ishak Ismail says bosses here should embrace Malaysian family values rather than the Western concept of management.

Dr Ishak, who is also the Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) School of Management dean, believes that no matter how big a company is, the open door policy must prevail. Otherwise, employees will distance themselves.

“Treat your staff like they are your extended family. If they feel like the management is unapproachable, they won't be productive,” he advises.

Emmanuelle Ng, personal assistant to a managing director of a biotechnology company in Bukit Jalil, says the foundation of a good staff-management relationship is trust.

“It's no different from any relationship in that you need to trust the other person. If you are going to doubt your employee's sincerity and be paranoid every time you delegate a task, you might as well just fire that person,” she adds.

Alanis Hong, who manages a gym in Kuala Lumpur, has the enviable job of working with buffed trainers in muscle-tees but admits that dealing with human resources is the most challenging part of the job, especially as her employees were formerly of the same rank.

“We started in the industry on the same level as friends so when I became manager, the transition was very difficult on the friendship. I've lost many friends from the early days and my popularity in the group has suffered although some friendships have remained intact,” she shares.

Hong, 30, says it's important to appreciate the staff with little gestures like remembering birthdays or getting them gifts for Christmas although it can sometimes work against you.

Employees sometimes don't understand that no matter how nice a boss is, he or she will still chew your head off if you mess up.

“Sometimes, my staff don't get why certain policies are implemented but my job is not to justify my decisions to them because, ultimately, I need to consider operations and what's best for the company.

“People's feelings sometimes get hurt in the process but I can't be at the mercy of the staff because at the end of the day, we are all answerable to someone higher up and no one is indispensable, including me.”

She compares it to being an EPL football manager when you substitute a player and the team wins, the press has a field day with how unfair it is to leave the star out. But if he is not taken out and the team loses, the manager is crucified.

Hotel public relations manager Queenie Hoen advocates “bitching sessions” to bond.

“My team is small and they don't give me grief it's dealing with the other departments that is tricky. So, our department has regular us vs them' bashing sessions to bond! Nothing unites a team more than having a common enemy.”

Related Stories:

Confessions of a tyrant boss

Bosses Day sparks little enthusiasm among employees

________________________________________

© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)


Comic relief: The recent Hollywood comedy Horrible Bosses, which follows the adventures of three friends who decide to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses.


The recent Hollywood comedy Horrible Bosses, which follows the adventures of three friends who decide to murder their overbearing, abusive bosses, drew praises for convincing acting though some felt the jokes were racist, homophobic and misogynistic maybe because it hits too close to home.

Sales executive Trinity Tan says her company in the Klang Valley is filled with funny characters but one common thread that unites them is the office manager.

“As colleagues, we don't really hang out but everytime the topic of the wicked one' comes up, we sing in a chorus of unison.”

Tan describes her boss as someone who is so paranoid he thinks the world is out to get him.

“He will call to check up on you every second of the day if he could. It's insulting when your boss still treats you like a child up to mischief,” she gripes.

Tan says she loves her job and works hard at it but is frustrated with having to deal with a difficult boss.

“What am I getting him for Bosses Day? A box of rubber snakes,” she says, half in jest.

Graphic artist Alex Saw, 38, recently quit his job after suffering for years under a female boss whom he describes as a moody tyrant.

“Once, she brought a pile of work to my house when I was on a week-long leave for conjunctivitis (the agency didn't even pay for the medical bill) and expected me to complete it all before going back to work.”

Looking back, Saw admits he learnt a lot in those four years. Although his boss had no regard for employee welfare, she was extremely capable, smart and willing to share her knowledge.

“But I realise now that learning does not mean having to put up with a bully. The lessons were invaluable and I gave everything I had to the agency. By the time I left, I was mentally and physically drained,” he recalls.

National Union of Bank Employees (Nube) Kuala Lumpur branch secretary A. Karuna questions the significance of Bosses Day.

She says that unlike Workers Day which has a great impact and significance on society, Bosses Day has no historical relevance.

“As far as we are concerned, even managers are workers. Unless you own the business, and how many actually do, you are not a boss,” she proclaims.

She says certain banks hold special celebrations in honour of the founders because of their contributions to the workers' welfare but it “doesn't make sense” to have a special day for all bosses.

Corporate communications executive June Eng claims her boss is a chauvinist and hates fat people. “The comments he makes are outrageous he refuses to hire people who are even slightly overweight although the applicant may be totally competent and suited for the job.”

Company secretary K. Ana, who works for a multi-national company in Kuala Lumpur, says that if she were to list out all her boss' inappropriate behaviours, it would be longer than the Great Wall of China.

“My boss is Caucasian and thinks we Asians have low IQ. He struts around acting like he is of a superior race and we are his little minions,” she complains.

Karen Tsuen started work as an administrative officer with a development firm after leaving college. She had no idea her job duties would include doing the schoolwork of her boss' son.

“The Datuk would come to the office and start distributing his son's homework among his administrative staff.

“I was good at language so I ended up with the English exercises,” says Tsuen who has since left the company.

Paralegal officer H.B. Ho, 33, says her boss is so cheap, he makes Scrooge look like Santa Claus. “He has no qualms raiding our personal food stash at the office even though he earns double what we do,” she claims.

But not all bosses are bad, clinic assistant Haniza, 20, points out. She says her doctor boss may look grumpy most of the time but has a kind heart.

“He not only takes the effort to teach me but makes sure that the seniors guide me as well. And when he found out that I come from a broken family, he tries to help financially. When I wanted to buy a laptop for my studies, he offered to give me an interest-free loan.”

Jenny Ong, 30, doesn't believe in Bosses Day but thinks it's important to acknowledge good bosses.

“Giving gifts or cards on a specific day can be misconstrued as apple polishing. I think a good boss knows that he or she is appreciated when employees are working extra hard and taking the initiative to do more than what is expected,” says the copywriter who counts herself lucky to have worked for bosses who care enough to point out her mistakes and help her grow. “A good boss is one who helps you sort out the problem rather than just blame you for it.”

Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) executive director Shamsuddin Bardan believes it will take some time for Bosses Day to gain popularity here, adding that employers are probably not the most popular people around.

He advises bosses to have realistic and reasonable expectations. Citing an example, he says key performance indicators (KPI) need to be fair and easy to understand.

“Have objective criteria rather than subjective ones so that it is clear to the employees how they are being rated. Sometimes KPI can be a cold' way of evaluating someone because it makes employees more individualistic and the team suffers. You need to make exceptions to the general rule.”

Asian Academy of Management (AAM) executive committee member and past president Prof Datuk Dr Ishak Ismail says bosses here should embrace Malaysian family values rather than the Western concept of management.

Dr Ishak, who is also the Universiti Sains Malaysia's (USM) School of Management dean, believes that no matter how big a company is, the open door policy must prevail. Otherwise, employees will distance themselves.

“Treat your staff like they are your extended family. If they feel like the management is unapproachable, they won't be productive,” he advises.

Emmanuelle Ng, personal assistant to a managing director of a biotechnology company in Bukit Jalil, says the foundation of a good staff-management relationship is trust.

“It's no different from any relationship in that you need to trust the other person. If you are going to doubt your employee's sincerity and be paranoid every time you delegate a task, you might as well just fire that person,” she adds.

Alanis Hong, who manages a gym in Kuala Lumpur, has the enviable job of working with buffed trainers in muscle-tees but admits that dealing with human resources is the most challenging part of the job, especially as her employees were formerly of the same rank.

“We started in the industry on the same level as friends so when I became manager, the transition was very difficult on the friendship. I've lost many friends from the early days and my popularity in the group has suffered although some friendships have remained intact,” she shares.

Hong, 30, says it's important to appreciate the staff with little gestures like remembering birthdays or getting them gifts for Christmas although it can sometimes work against you.

Employees sometimes don't understand that no matter how nice a boss is, he or she will still chew your head off if you mess up.

“Sometimes, my staff don't get why certain policies are implemented but my job is not to justify my decisions to them because, ultimately, I need to consider operations and what's best for the company.

“People's feelings sometimes get hurt in the process but I can't be at the mercy of the staff because at the end of the day, we are all answerable to someone higher up and no one is indispensable, including me.”

She compares it to being an EPL football manager when you substitute a player and the team wins, the press has a field day with how unfair it is to leave the star out. But if he is not taken out and the team loses, the manager is crucified.

Hotel public relations manager Queenie Hoen advocates “bitching sessions” to bond.

“My team is small and they don't give me grief it's dealing with the other departments that is tricky. So, our department has regular us vs them' bashing sessions to bond! Nothing unites a team more than having a common enemy.”

Related Stories:

Confessions of a tyrant boss

Bosses Day sparks little enthusiasm among employees

________________________________________

© 1995-2011 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd (Co No 10894-D)