I'm extremely compelled to elaborate further on my earlier posting today. I was talking to another friend who was down in the slump in his relationship (well, I suspect the gf is cheating on him with another while still stringing him along). Anyways, it just suddenly occur to me the similarity of how if one is going seeking for employment (while still under the employment of another) is the same as someone being in a relationship, but seeking a potential new relationship at the same time). In both situation, it is called cheating or some people like to call it - stepping on two boats.
I can't help but to wonder if that is the case for most people. When someone is not happy in a relationship or not happy in their job, they tend to look for greener pasture (i.e. better partner to date, better job ; so it seems) - but in the meantime, they will not let go of their current attachment. They will string it along until the better someone or better job comes along. Then they will kiss the old partner or old job - adios! Without the slightest feeling of remorse.
So will you cheat on your partner ? If you won't cheat on your partner, so why would you cheat on your employer ? Don't forget employers can cheat on you too - employers will string employee along until they find a better employee and then they just kiss off. Because a wise man once told me, "no one is indispensable". And I had to agree.
Friday, March 19, 2010
employee vs. employer
Looking back at those years when I was working a 5 day, 9-6 job - I can't help but to wonder how laid-back and easy life was back then. I never had to worry about the business (cos I don't own it - it's not mine). My job description are in black and white, so quite simply, all I need to do is do what I'm paid to do. I took leave when I want to, without worrying about affecting company's productivity - or quite simply, when I feel lazy or when the "I don't feel like going to work today" feeling creeps in. Even better, when you start to get bored with your job - you start job-hunting while holding on to your current job. You still collect money from your current employer and get paid for job surfing and attend interviews on a working-day ! And you call in one day to request for a "emergency leave" with excuses like period cramp, feeling under the weather or something more severe- family matters to attend to. (cos you know employers can't be unsympathetic about this). I then welcomed each public holiday with elation and loud proclamation of how wonderful it was that its going to be a long weekend ! And there were those days when my bosses came in with sombre expression and called for a meeting that raised issues such as sales etc etc. At that point of time, I seriously don't think I care so much as whether sales is good or bad - because it was quite simply not what I'm paid to do - and once again, it is not my company. As long as they continue to pay me, I'm happy.
As an employer myself, I now see the frustration my employers were going through then. I can even relate to what crossed their mind when I pull in that sickie or sudden application of leave. Employer's need is never aligned with employee's need. The latter serves to work for an employer that can help her reach their life goals (i.e. make money or a stepping stone to something better and greater). The former on the other hand, can help solve employee's problems (by paying them salary and they get money!). But how often it is when employee can see your company objectives and work relentlessly to help you(employer) to reach your goals (i.e. make more money, increase market share, increase sales etc). My point is if employee works for an employer because he/she needs money - shouldn't they realise that without them doing their job properly, the company (i.e. employer) will be unproductive because the employer has to waste time worrying about the employee rather than focusing on the business.
Writing this blog makes me think back of my first job after my graduation. I was attached to the company for a good 3 years before we go our separate ways. Towards the end of my 3rd year, I was head hunted by another company and they offered me a good position with a better income. Obviously, since my objective (as an employee) is to get more pay, I accepted the offer. I was disappointed that my employers didn't took it well. (Duh!) My boss was upset with my decision - as later I found out he has so much trust and hope in me. How was I to know all these when I'm obviously more obsessed with more money - and yes, I thought the grasses were greener over the other side. It took me 5 years down the road to understand why he was upset that I left - his hopes were pinned on me and I disappointed him. No wonder he never wished me well when I packed my stuff and left the building.
And just yesterday, the board of directors were just discussing about promoting an employee (i.e raise of salary) when that particular employee had to do something that revokes his/her right to that promotion. That leads me to believe that it is not always the employer's fault (as employees always rants on that) - it is in fact your (employee) actions and doings that determines it.
As an employer myself, I now see the frustration my employers were going through then. I can even relate to what crossed their mind when I pull in that sickie or sudden application of leave. Employer's need is never aligned with employee's need. The latter serves to work for an employer that can help her reach their life goals (i.e. make money or a stepping stone to something better and greater). The former on the other hand, can help solve employee's problems (by paying them salary and they get money!). But how often it is when employee can see your company objectives and work relentlessly to help you(employer) to reach your goals (i.e. make more money, increase market share, increase sales etc). My point is if employee works for an employer because he/she needs money - shouldn't they realise that without them doing their job properly, the company (i.e. employer) will be unproductive because the employer has to waste time worrying about the employee rather than focusing on the business.
Writing this blog makes me think back of my first job after my graduation. I was attached to the company for a good 3 years before we go our separate ways. Towards the end of my 3rd year, I was head hunted by another company and they offered me a good position with a better income. Obviously, since my objective (as an employee) is to get more pay, I accepted the offer. I was disappointed that my employers didn't took it well. (Duh!) My boss was upset with my decision - as later I found out he has so much trust and hope in me. How was I to know all these when I'm obviously more obsessed with more money - and yes, I thought the grasses were greener over the other side. It took me 5 years down the road to understand why he was upset that I left - his hopes were pinned on me and I disappointed him. No wonder he never wished me well when I packed my stuff and left the building.
And just yesterday, the board of directors were just discussing about promoting an employee (i.e raise of salary) when that particular employee had to do something that revokes his/her right to that promotion. That leads me to believe that it is not always the employer's fault (as employees always rants on that) - it is in fact your (employee) actions and doings that determines it.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
a journey with many ups and downs
Being an entrepreneur may sound very exciting and glamorous to some. Before I took on the challenge of having RedRibbon Days, I have always look on the positive side of things - very seldom I will think of the risks and the negative aspects of it. Having the courage to start your own business is simply not enough to make a business work. There are so many ups and downs, challenges, and setbacks that will crunch you. Speaking from my own personal experience, RedRibbon Days is coming to 2 years of age and I am proud of where she stands today. But I have also faced many rejections, sneers and discouragement not only from people whom you want to work with but also from your closest friends and even family members. I survived from all these attacks and brace forward. I continue to put my head high and to each rejection - I swallowed it and took it as a valuable lesson to improve myself and how we convey ourselves better.
When sales are slow, it will push you to the edge as well. You will start wondering if you are doing the right thing and if you should continue running the show. And when the business grow, you will need to think of hiring people to work for you - and saying so, this is the most daunting task ever! Getting the right people to fulfil a role is the hardest job of all. The numerous interviews, trainings and if you are lucky - you will find the right person without much difficulties. I remembered when we first put up ad to hire an administrative staff with an online recruitment company - that charges you a good RM400 for one position ; and your ad for this position runs for a month. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, be prepared to get all sort of resumes - from all sort of applicants. And what amazed me was some resumes that was forwarded to our HR department was completely not relevant to the position that we advertised for. You would be lucky to get at least 2 or 3 suitable candidates. So I've learnt from this and never advertised with an online recruitment company ever again. I put up my advertisement in Facebook which was free of charge - and I found myself a fabulous staff !
2 years down the road, the journey has been fulfilling though not completely rewarding - yet. I believe there are plenty of room to grow for RedRibbon Days and the journey ahead of me is getting harder, and not easier. Over the course of time, the dynamics of the business will change, and so will the direction of the company. At present, I'm faced with the challenge of educating Malaysians about experiential gifting and of course- the importance of giving a memorable gift. Yes, two years down the road- and I'm still on the course of doing so. The journey of an entrepreneur is of one that is always about learning new things, experience new things, you may fall, you may fly - but the result of this will make you stronger and wiser.
I do get bogged down relatively quickly - whether it is from an unhappy customer or a sale that did not go through. This I have learnt to take it as it comes. The most important I've learnt so far is to learn to know how to stand up when you had a bad fall and continue to walk to your destination. Picking up yourself after a fall is never easy - it may take you just couple of minutes to see the positive side of things, it may take you days or weeks. But most important thing of all , never stop what you are doing and continue the journey even if you have to limp. What lies ahead may be blurry, but your destination could be just a limp away. And remember, tears will flow and they should not be spared - but you must know when to stop.
When sales are slow, it will push you to the edge as well. You will start wondering if you are doing the right thing and if you should continue running the show. And when the business grow, you will need to think of hiring people to work for you - and saying so, this is the most daunting task ever! Getting the right people to fulfil a role is the hardest job of all. The numerous interviews, trainings and if you are lucky - you will find the right person without much difficulties. I remembered when we first put up ad to hire an administrative staff with an online recruitment company - that charges you a good RM400 for one position ; and your ad for this position runs for a month. Over the course of the next 2 weeks, be prepared to get all sort of resumes - from all sort of applicants. And what amazed me was some resumes that was forwarded to our HR department was completely not relevant to the position that we advertised for. You would be lucky to get at least 2 or 3 suitable candidates. So I've learnt from this and never advertised with an online recruitment company ever again. I put up my advertisement in Facebook which was free of charge - and I found myself a fabulous staff !
2 years down the road, the journey has been fulfilling though not completely rewarding - yet. I believe there are plenty of room to grow for RedRibbon Days and the journey ahead of me is getting harder, and not easier. Over the course of time, the dynamics of the business will change, and so will the direction of the company. At present, I'm faced with the challenge of educating Malaysians about experiential gifting and of course- the importance of giving a memorable gift. Yes, two years down the road- and I'm still on the course of doing so. The journey of an entrepreneur is of one that is always about learning new things, experience new things, you may fall, you may fly - but the result of this will make you stronger and wiser.
I do get bogged down relatively quickly - whether it is from an unhappy customer or a sale that did not go through. This I have learnt to take it as it comes. The most important I've learnt so far is to learn to know how to stand up when you had a bad fall and continue to walk to your destination. Picking up yourself after a fall is never easy - it may take you just couple of minutes to see the positive side of things, it may take you days or weeks. But most important thing of all , never stop what you are doing and continue the journey even if you have to limp. What lies ahead may be blurry, but your destination could be just a limp away. And remember, tears will flow and they should not be spared - but you must know when to stop.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Payment Gateways in Malaysia
On some days, I absolutely adore my job and on some like today, I loathe it. I loathe it because I'm faced with problems which are beyond my control. When these "beyond my control" problems clogged up, I wish and wish that our business is not based in a country like this. For those that own an online business, you are well aware of the need of having a 3rd-party payment gateway in order for your online business to accept credit card payment. And these payment gateway will then impose a transaction fees on each sale transacted through their gateway. And these transaction fees are shockingly high, mind you. Some payment gateways imposed a 4% transaction fee and some as high as close to 5%. And yes, RedRibbon Days happens to use the provider that charges a 4% transaction fee for each transaction.
So for a 3rd party that impose such "high-fees" on your business, you would expect them to provide the best customer service and be professional in their area of work. Shockingly, this is not the case. Our provider (whose name I had chose not to disclose yet at this point of time) had the audacity to not bear any responsibility for a technical glitch that happened earlier today. Many phone calls and emails were exchange between us today and after a heated 8 hours of "ping-pong-ball" communication, there is still no solution to the problem. We have proved on our end that there was completely nothing wrong on our end , and it is obvious that the problem is on their end - yet they have decided to sit on the fence and deny all responsibilities and adamant that they are not at fault. How can they not be at fault when they have clearly chose to perform a system upgrade on their end without notifying us in the first place? They even admitted in their email that it is their fault for not informing us of their upgrade, hence the error - yet they are not going to be liable for the problems caused. (i.e. disburse on any discrepancies)
It almost drive you nuts when you are liaising with people like that. They are almost impossible and preposterously hard to work with. This really makes me wonder about the quality of customer service in Malaysia. Are they purely "lip-service" and when it comes to crunch time to deliver the so called "after sale service" - it is simply not in within their job scope anymore?
I'm appalled with this type of customer service and makes me wonder if it is worth to continue using their services especially when you have to pay give them a 4% of each transaction made.
So for a 3rd party that impose such "high-fees" on your business, you would expect them to provide the best customer service and be professional in their area of work. Shockingly, this is not the case. Our provider (whose name I had chose not to disclose yet at this point of time) had the audacity to not bear any responsibility for a technical glitch that happened earlier today. Many phone calls and emails were exchange between us today and after a heated 8 hours of "ping-pong-ball" communication, there is still no solution to the problem. We have proved on our end that there was completely nothing wrong on our end , and it is obvious that the problem is on their end - yet they have decided to sit on the fence and deny all responsibilities and adamant that they are not at fault. How can they not be at fault when they have clearly chose to perform a system upgrade on their end without notifying us in the first place? They even admitted in their email that it is their fault for not informing us of their upgrade, hence the error - yet they are not going to be liable for the problems caused. (i.e. disburse on any discrepancies)
It almost drive you nuts when you are liaising with people like that. They are almost impossible and preposterously hard to work with. This really makes me wonder about the quality of customer service in Malaysia. Are they purely "lip-service" and when it comes to crunch time to deliver the so called "after sale service" - it is simply not in within their job scope anymore?
I'm appalled with this type of customer service and makes me wonder if it is worth to continue using their services especially when you have to pay give them a 4% of each transaction made.
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