Pro-Labour

Ernie sent me something about improving yourself on the job:

1. I believe that everyone gets a letter of appointment stating
their responsibilities and duties. So it’s quite mind-boggling when people
don’tdo what is fundamentally expected of them. So when you don’t do what
you’vesigned on the dotted line to do and let go of your
responsibilities expecting the company or your boss to understand then you’ve
done theunthinkable – which is to take them for granted. If it’s sales that
youhave to do – get it done and bring in the numbers – get on the phone andmake
those calls till the phone is hot to the touch. Be committed.

2. Not appreciating the opportunities you’re given is another warning
sign.If you’ve got it good – by the current situation standards, I mean youstill
have a job that pays and you still grumble about having to go to work– then
you’re an ungrateful fool and deserve to be left out in the cold.

3. When you have a team of mentors who are doing what they can to make
sureyou get better at your job and you just refuse to improve on your
attitudeand work style, then you are stupid. Because, why should other people
carefor you when you don’t give a damn – if you know you have to change andwant
to be a stubborn mule about it – then you have taken these people andtheir
untiring efforts to help you for granted.

4. There is a fine line between being witty and being a smart aleck
wholikes to mouth off. You think you’re saying something about your colleagueor
boss in a joking manner – but remember a joke told once too oftenbecomes dull
and if you continue trying to be “smart” about it then thejoke will eventually
be on you. You are really dumb if you think thattalking about your co-worker or
boss will make you come across as beingclever. It’s a stupid thing to do and
you’ll just look stupid because infact, you are.

5. When you make everything about you. Saying that you only want to
focuson one specific area and don’t want to help out the team – when you
haveskills that you don’t want to share, when you spend the entire day
bitchingabout it when somebody sets you right because you bloody well deserved
it.When you have this attitude, “I have come into this company to serve
myselfand see what it can do for me” – then you have taken it for granted.

Maybe I'm a critical thinker and pro-labour. Don't you think sometimes
all these materials is trying to train you tothink like "employer is always
right and employee is the one who's having problems?". This is a tool to
manipulate workforce. It's for the employers to get the most out from their
employees.

By the way, my thoughts on the points is as below:

1 - Most of the time our responsiblities are not stated clearly and is always
generalized. This means that the boss can just dump any work to you and say it's
related to your job. The output of some job (like mine) is very intangible. It's
not like sales number where it clearly corelates one-on-one with our hardwork.
Also, our output is very team based. There's no good way to measure each person's
performance.

2 - Yes, everyone of us gets opportunities to grow, which I appreciated
it very much. The opportunity sometimes may turn into failure because of
other out-of-control and external factors. Employers must understand and
have faith in the employees that they have tried their best. But don't
attributea ll failure entirely to that employee and said that they don't
appreciate opportunities.

3 - Yes, I agree that mentors are very useful. But in this modern
things,almost everyone has their own hidden agenda. We can't exactly agree
with them all the time. We must be wise enough to know what is a sincere
advice and what is the advice that gets your to work for their own agenda.

4 - For me I don't really enjoy joking with my colleagues because it
oftenscan turn into insults and offensive. But, when someone is sarcastic at
you,wouldn't you retaliate? Because if you don't, some of them will just
geton to your nerve all the time. I would retaliate, signalling them that
it'snot something I like and stop doing it to me next time. I'm not being"small
gas" but I'm just expressing clearly to you what I don't like. Ifyou have
problem with it, then treat me like a colleague and don't treat me like a friend
:-)

5 - I think this should be a two-way situation. Yes, we must contribute
and always put company's benefit at forefront. Hence it is ok to have
some expectations from the company itself. Because where hard work meets,
the rewards must be given. It's a widely accepted value. SO it is not wrong at all
when employees have some sort of expectations. Also, a good employer and leader
will lend a good ear to employee. Maybe they will give insights in how the
company operates. Don't just regard employees who bitch all the time as someone
who's not productive. All big and modern companies agrees that their employees are
their main vehicle to move the company forward. So if the company has faith in
people, the employee will naturally move with you. Don't simply label the
employee as being bad. "Have faith in them" is the keyword. Nobody wants to be a
bad person.