++ yet another time of the year ++

A vicious cycle, i suppose

U slog, U get tired of slogging, U contemplate leaving, then the bonuses comes.

This is like the first bonus of the calendar year, the 3rd/4th lovely time of the financial year for me.

Yes Performance Bonus came in. and also announcement of the increment.

So im feeling kinda rich now. so rich that Dan n I decided to stay up late and watch more FRIENDS episodes last night. We dont need sleep, cos we are rich.

haha

Just forget about work. Here are some photos from 2 weeks ago when neither of us had to work and we decided to bring Sugar to the beach for some sun and sand

i found it hard to relate to the enthusiasm i once had for this job

Next month i'd be a one year old PLO
Is my interest span that short?
Or am i too greedy?
too idealistic?

am discouraged by the reality of certain bosses who you once thought was understanding and principled. its hard to accept now that none of those two attributes were even existent

Principled my ass.
Conveniently covering up your part in creating the potential energy of a ticking bomb, then pushed 2 innocent subordinates to cover up the whole thing under
"Service Lapse"
and not even by you

Seeing 2 of your officers walk in together as a suspected couple somehow also reminds you that you will need to work one of them to death.

refusing to respect our rights to private time. private life

If you care to know why im staying
1. The awesome friendship i have with the 2, which i think is out of your realm of comprehension
2. The money. For average income family member like me and many others, the graduity you are offering is the freaking saving grace.


1 year almost down. 3 more years to go.

All my energy..
is being put into keeping my sanity in this workplace

+ How is your job? +

To one of the few people i rarely converse with, a cordial catching up on msn when she asked me the typical "How is your job?" question.

Not so shocking, my reply to her


Mambo no. 7.... says:
i'm with spore life saving society

Mambo no. 7.... says:
same, i told u right

++ GoonDoo + says:
yup

Mambo no. 7.... says:
non-profit organisation

++ GoonDoo + says:
meaningful?

++ GoonDoo + says:
mine is an all profit organisation

++ GoonDoo + says:
both monetary terms and physical labour terms

++ GoonDoo + says:
they wun let go until they squeeze the last cent out of people and the last breath out of their workers


That is probably what i will ever perceive of my job from now on.

Today i realised

- that boss has lost that last piece of respect that i had left for her. incidentally, by not respecting her employee's right to a personal life at 7+pm.

- that you cannot stop word from spreading no matter how hard you try

- that being on top of the charts does not matter anymore

- that even if i did my best like the best performer ever, i will still be exposed to her crap

- that i have to tolerate having idiots throwing crap at me without self-awareness. I used to detest ppl who lack self awareness. i couldnt stand them. but now i know, i have to live with them being around me every single working day, so id take it


I also realised

that all these made me so thankful to God for

- my wonderful sisters... laoshu pigu jelly and sa tours. inconvenienced them so much sometimes because they have to help hide my r/s

- Dan, for being there to help me retain my sanity.

+Management Tactics REVEALED +

yesterday, our unit held this briefing after massive team reshuffling, new roles allocated, new "point system" implemented...
Point of briefing to all, presenting the hierachy (kindly termed as the organisation chart) and introducing our new point system that holds a striking resemblance to the BETA system we had back in our secondary school days

Back in schools the management was blatant and blunt. MISBEHAVE AND WE WILL GIVE DEMERIT POINTS. ACCUMULATE THEM AND WE WILL SEE YOUR PARENTS. MORE OF YOUR CRAP AND A WHACKING ON THE ASS FOR YOU IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL.

Now we have something which, quoting Iron lady
"is implemented because due to the nature of our jobs, it is hard and almost impossible to get external compliments"
"this is an additional bonus for us to show our appreciation for your work"
"a chance to obtain recognition, and give due credit"
" encouraging us to lead healthy lifestyles"

Ok so with light champagne and caviar cakes, what we have now is this bonus point earning system
- team with no latecomers for the month - 6 bonus points
- team with no service lapses - 6 bonus points
- team handling most cases - 12 bonus points
- team attaining service standards for 99% of the month - 12 bonus points
- team with no mc or urgent leave taken - 6 bonus points

WOW!!!!

what the fuck. come on... Let realism translates the rules
- team with no latecomers for the month - 6 bonus points - IT MEANS NO LATECOMING, IF NOT YOU DONT GET POINTS. YOU LOSE!
- team with no service lapses - 6 bonus points - BETTER WATCH YOUR BURNING ASS AND COVER IT. ONCE DISCOVERED YOU FORGOT TO TOGGLE THAT SCREEN RESULTING IN LOSERS CRYING TO MAMA, YOU LOSE!
- team handling most cases - 12 bonus points - PULL UP YOUR SOCKS AND TAKE MORE CASES!
- team attaining service standards for 99% of the month - 12 bonus points - WATCH YOUR TIMING. NO TOILET BREAK DURING DUTIES, COS WE ARE WATCHING!
- team with no mc or urgent leave taken - 6 bonus points - HEALTHY LIFESTYLE MY ASS. TAKE MORE MC AND YOU'D GET IT FROM ME

(soon, they'll probably implement chopping fingers for taking maternity leave "we are lightening your burden"....)

So after the nice pep talk, dep sup asked all AOs to stay and made us watch a 10 min excerpt from Gladiator. and made us try to give smart analysis of the conversation between the King and Maximus...

Supposedly, he wanted us to go and think this question
WHY AM I HERE?
(aka.. finding your purpose)

----
Dan sent out a fantastic critical review of the clip via email to a bunch of us. Hats off to his cynicism...



Dear all,

Watching the 10 min clip yesterday put me in a very thoughtful mood. Upon reaching my humble abode, i proceeded to meditate on the discourse that was exchanged between the 2 protagonists and have arrived at a revelation. I hereby present to you Gladiator - An in-depth ANALysis

Despite the relatively short length of the clip, we can deduce the following: That the entire exchange between Marcus and Maximus was basically one between a boss and a subordinate...i.e. a PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL. We see that Maximus has just come back from the front lines weary but victorious to an audience with Marcus (kudos to Marcus's efficiency, the man doesnt waste any time). Nearing the end of the exchange we see Marcus asking Maximus if he was willing to be the Protector of Rome upon his death. In otherwords, Maximus was to be promoted to TEAM LEADER of Rome. Obviously, Maximus has proved his valour and competence as a general in the past wars, hence Marcus firmly believed that he was ready to TAKE ON MORE RESPONSIBILITIES.

From the clip, we know that Marcus is a cunning manipulator of men. In the middle of the clip, Maximus claimed that he has thousands of soldiers critically wounded from the recent battle, with thousands more who would not last the night. He commented with passion that these soldiers, like Marcus himself, fought for the ideal of ROME. Yet many of these brave men have never been to Rome, and would probably never get to see it in their lifetime (postcards weren't invented yet). Despite this small fact, they were prepared to sacrifice themselves in order to fulfill Marcus's will. They were completely taken in by Marcus. These brave men not only helped Marcus to accomplish his vision, but also had the consideration to help him CUT COSTS by dying so that Marcus would not need to waste food or medical supplies to keep them alive.

To be fair, credit does go to Marcus for his management skills. He was constantly in control and leading Maximus thoughout the entire conversation. Yet Maximus apparently did not notice. Why? Because Marcus was a master of communication skills. Lets have a look at their exchange:

Maximus: You called for me Ceasar?

Marcus: Yes, come, sit.....let us talk together...simply as men
(see what he was doing here, he was giving Maximus a false sense of security....knowing full well that he has to put him at ease before he pops the big question)

Marcus: Tell me about your home....
(Marcus was using the popular tactic of PRETENDING TO CARE, which was designed to instill a false sense of comfort in the listener. This tactic is very effective and goes way way back to the time the first caveman set up his business to sell clothes, which consisted of leaves from random plants held together by grass, and hired his fellow cavefolk to help him. As there was no PERFORMANCE BONUS or APPRAISAL SYSTEM back then, this method was the only way the caveman could get his employees to do what he wanted)

Marcus: You do not accept this great honour that i have given you?

Maximus: With all my heart no....

Marcus: Maximus, that is precisely why it must be you!!
(This is another popular strategy. By emphasizing his importance, Marcus is giving Maximus the impression that there is no one else in this world who can do the job except him. People with excessive EGO development would fall for this easy. Incidentally, this is also the same tactic used in the pre-flight briefings of Kamikaze pilots, or the pre-mission briefings of suicide bombers)

From the above, we can see that there is a lot that we can learn from our fellow man. Both in terms of management skills, as well as human behaviour. But the most important part of life is having a sense of humour.....if we can't even laugh at ourselves or the things around us that constantly affect us.....then it won't be long before we're put in a cell with padded walls. By then, we'll definitely be lauging alright.....but there will be no one to laugh with you.

--------

this just became my favorite email of the year.
So proud of him...

im just glad for his presence in the midst of all these crap. Being bitter together seemed to make it alright somehow...