God's gift

Carly Fiorina (ex-HP’s CEO) said that : "What you are is God's gift to you. What you make of yourself is your gift to God."

Do you give God a gift today?

Proud of becoming employee #4

I have my department feedback today….I try to ask my peers and employee feeling. Are they proud? What make they proud?

Everyone said they are happy to be in my department and they are very proud to be here. I certainly don’t know in which level their feeling is…but here is some of their thought. One person is happy and proud because this place give him enough room to grow, enough room to “raise the bar”. It is a words that he use to describe “make thing better, and extraordinary”. So for some people make a contribution and being rewarded for that is one way to make they proud. Give attention to them and make them realize how valuable they are is the way to keep this kinda person happy and proud. Be carefull not to lead them proud to themselves or their jobs, but rather to have proud to their company that recognize them and respect them.

Other person said they feel happy and proud because they have a role model in this company. One thing that come up into my mind is that how we as a leader become their perfect role model? To make them proud the important thing is to feel proud yourself. Do you feel proud of your company? Do you feel proud that you worked for this company? Do you feel proud that you work with these guys? If you feel so, than I think one requirement for being a role model is done. Of course that you need more than feeling proud to become a role model. But feeling proud yourself is a good start. Be carefull if their role model is someone that have an opposites characteristics compare to you……remember that people doesn’t leave company, people leave their manager.

Another person that I met today said that one thing that make they proud to be in my department is vision. Many books / statements may be has told us how to create a great vision, “Big Hairy Audicious Goals” for example ? But one thing that cross in my head this afternoon is how we need to communicate it this vision to them. How to make them feel that this is also their vision, their dream. If they already feel that then is up to your vision, if your vision is great enough then I think that they will also proud to become an employee in a company that have such a great vision. Vision is one thing, implementation is another thing. A great vision must be follow by a great actions.

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A Quiz....a stupid quiz

This morning I start my day quite early, so I make my stop to a noodle house…small one…just near of my office.

While waiting for the breakfast that I ordered, I read a newspaper that laid there….what newspaper? It doesn’t matter, I just hear the name, so I think it isn’t famous. But something just grab my eyes, in the lower left side of this newspaper laid some number. Hummmm I think it must be “judi togel” that quite famous right now. One of gambling game that required you to post some number, any number, and the one that lucky and guess the number right will get some money. But that is not the one that stun me…it is the small words below it. It is a quiz….stupid one I think….ok, here you go the question and answer from last week quiz :

-          Placed in front of your house, what is it? ….. and the answer is : doormat

-          Make sound in the morning, what is it? ….. and the stupid answer is : Nuri (a bird)

-          And some other questions…..crazy question that even kids can think about the answer, but still it depends on your luck

Why I think this is a stupid – unhealthy – mind freezer quiz? Ok, let me give you another questions that laid there for this week….”It is inside of a market, what is it?”

Damned, even a small kid can answer that, but is he get the prize? NO….because the answer is not it…..

I think that a quiz that only laid on someone fortune is not a healthy quiz…How could Indonesian could ever increase their knowledge, their ability to think, to make a logic calculation if this kind of quiz is being consumed for a daily life?.....Jeezzzz I swear I ask my employee not to answer and join this kinda quiz….

Love 'Em or Lose 'Em #2 - Buck

Buck – You are matter.

Survey / Research shows that people don’t leave organization, they leave their managers. It is not everybody fault if one of your employee left the company, it is mostly your fault as their manager. A good boss who cares about keeping good employees will help them find what they want from their workplace.

It is true that it is not managers responsibility alone, senior management, organization’s policies, system and culture also have impacts. But managers still have the greatest power (and responsibility) for keeping your talented employees. As a manager for managers, it is also your responsibility to make sure your managers knows that they have the ultimate responsibility to keep their sub-ordinates.

Try as hard as you could, implement as many as possible 26 strategies in this books to keep your best employee to stay. You’re matter.

Love 'Em or Lose 'Em #1 - Ask

I read a book called “Love ‘Em or Lose ‘Em. Getting good people to stay”. Here I summarize each chapter that I read….read the books, it is really a great book J

1. Ask

Don’t estimate or guess what will make you employee stay and what will make them go away, but ask them. Ask them :

- What will keep you here?

- What might entice you away?

- What is most energizing about your work?

- Are we fully utilizing your talent?

- What is inhibiting your success?

- What can I do differently to best assist you?

If you know what is important for them, than you know what to do to make them stay.

Proud....#3

I read my case study this night…..it is about Virgin Company….and it is GREAT !!!!! It give me another perspective regarding what make employee proud of their company they worked for. The issue that I start to think about since these past few weeks…

 

It start with their boss (Richard Branson) thoughts and acts :

-          He done so many things, spend so many time just to find small things that will make his employees’ jobs more pleasant. Even a little suggestion like “the blouse is too thin” or “the shoes are uncomfortable”

-          He write to his employee every couple of months. In the last paragraph he wrote “if you have any ideas or suggestions, this is my home address, please write”…..isn’t great? A chairman write a letter for each of his employees, how much a moral boost that could be produced from that acts? Enormous I think J

-          Once a year he make a party where everybody gets together. Not just an ordinary party, it’s being held in his house in the country side. It’s last six days since 70.000 employees come to his place. And he try as hard as he can to shake everybody hands and mingled with them. Whoa….what a great leader he is.

-          He make sure he read any letter from staff member by himself. Not only that, he try as hard as he could to fulfill their request. His philosophy is to look for the best in people, give them the benefit of the doubt and you get the best in return. If you give people a lot of trust and praise, people give their all back. A philosophy that has slowly fade away in my company? So sad to realize that….

-          “My people first, customers second and shareholder third”…………..dream company ?

 

He manages to do this by making his companies (Virgin is a multi companies – it has so many brand) small enough to keep entepreneurial culture alive. He make that every single person in his company is proud to say that “I worked in Virgin”. He listen to everyone, make them comfortable, do so many things just to make them proud of their company. Every single person in his company feel that their company is the best in their particular field. He knows exactly that there are other people out there in other companies that are just as good as his people, it’s just they’re not as proud as his employee. For his key executives he make a special profit share schemes. He said “Never begrudge people; never begrudge writing out a cheque for 75m pound to one person – once that person has made us 500m pound”

 

What is the point here? I think it’s all about strong vision, will and efforts to make a great place to work. Not just words, but also great attempt and money.

 

You should read it more in it’s articles….but things that pop up in my mind are :

-          Do you willing to sacrifice anything … I mean anything … to make your employee happy and proud? This is our tasks as a leader, as a manager, as an “owner” of your company. We work for our company, so be proud of it, and make your sub-ordinates proud to become a member of this company by becoming your sub-ordinates. Not just because you’re smart, not just because you’re his/her manager, but more than that is because you are care for them.

-          Create a small, unique, positives things that make your employee proud to you, to your department, to your division and especially proud to your company as a whole. I try this a long time ago (when I wrote this I thought that I need to repeat it again sometimes). I go camping, I play soccer, I go to their home when “Hari Raya” comes, I go out and eat with them when one of them is having his birthday, etc. I learn them, sometimes copy them, but it works.

-          We are a manager so behave like it. And we are a leader, so make your sub-ordinates follow you with all their heart. Sun Tzu said that “A great leader is the one that make his sub-ordinates died with a happy smile in his face”

-          Proud to yourself, proud to your sub-ordinates, proud to your manager, proud to your department, proud to your division, proud to your company…than you shall bring massive change to your environment.

 

Long way to go for me, it is definitely not easy, it is definitely need a lot of hard work and time….but I know that I will never hesitate make my sub-ordinates proud of what they did for this company, it is the company that they will love….

These day....

Hummm these day is fun, I go to my project sites outside the city. It’s fun…see everything has gone a massive changes for the past couple weeks.

I bought a lot of cookies too….hehe

Damned IndosatM2 !!!!!!

One of my company websites is hosted in IndosatM2, one of “big” hosting company. But up ‘till now it’s been 4 times that my websites is banned because of their administration problem. See, they’re the one that don’t send the invoice. They’re the one that calculate it wrong. But without any warning they cut my websites…they banned my websites because of their mis-administration in their billing system.

 

I really gonna sue them after this, and move my websites out of there….definitely !!!

 

*(^@*&#B!@KJEHG!UI@#YE@!(*#& - mad man !!!!

Kisah bocah pemain piano

Kisah ini terjadi di Rusia...
Seorang ayah, yang memiliki putra yang berusia kurang
lebih 5 tahun, memasukkan putranya tersebut ke sekolah musik untuk
belajar piano. 
Ia rindu melihat anaknya kelak menjadi seorang pianis yang terkenal.
Selang beberapa waktu kemudian, di kota tersebut
datang seorang pianis  yang  sangat terkenal.
Karena ketenarannya, dalam waktu singkat tiket konser telah terjual
habis.
Sang ayah membeli 2 buah tiket pertunjukan, untuk dirinya dan anaknya.
Pada hari pertunjukan, satu jam sebelum konser dimulai,
kursi telah  terisi  penuh, sang ayah duduk dan putranya tepat berada
di sampingnya.
Seperti layaknya seorang anak kecil, anak ini pun tidak betah duduk
diam
terlalu lama, tanpa sepengetahuan anaknya, ia menyelinap pergi.
Ketika lampu gedung mulai diredupkan, sang ayah terkejut menyadari
bahwa
putranya tidak ada di sampingnya.
Ia lebih terkejut lagi ketika melihat anaknya berada dekat panggung
pertunjukan, dan sedang berjalan menghampiri piano yang akan dimainkan
pianis tersebut.
Didorong oleh rasa ingin tahu, tanpa takut anak tersebut duduk di depan
piano dan mulai memainkan sebuah lagu, lagu yang sederhana, twinkle2
little star.
Operator lampu sorot, yang terkejut mendengar adanya suara piano
mengira
bahwa konser telah dimulai tanpa aba-aba terlebih dahulu, dan ia 
langsung
menyorotkan lampunya ke tengah panggung.
Seluruh penonton terkejut, melihat yang berada di panggung bukan sang
pianis, tapi hanyalah seorang anak kecil.
Sang pianis pun terkejut, dan bergegas naik ke atas panggung.
Melihat anak tersebut, sang pianis tidak menjadi marah, ia tersenyum
dan
berkata "Teruslah bermain", dan sang anak yang mendapat ijin,
meneruskan
permainannya.
Sang pianis lalu duduk, di samping anak itu, dan mulai bermain
mengimbangi permainan anak itu, ia mengisi semua kelemahan
permainan anak itu, dan  akhirnya tercipta suatu komposisi permainan
yang
sangat indah.
Bahkan mereka seakan menyatu dalam permainan piano
tersebut.
Ketika mereka berdua selesai, seluruh penonton menyambut dengan meriah, 
karangan bunga dilemparkan ke tengah panggung.
Sang anak jadi GR (Gede Rasa), pikirnya "Gila, baru belajar piano
sebulan  saja sudah hebat!"
Ia lupa bahwa yang disoraki oleh penonton adalah sang pianis yang duduk
di  sebelahnya, mengisi semua kekurangannya dan menjadikan permainannya
sempurna. 

Apa implikasinya dalam hidup kita ?
Kadang kita bangga akan segala rencana hebat yang kita buat, 
perbuatan-perbuatan besar yang telah berhasil kita lakukan.
Tapi kita lupa, bahwa semua itu terjadi karena Tuhan ada di samping
kita.
Kita adalah anak kecil tadi, tanpa ada Tuhan di samping kita, semua
yang kita lakukan akan sia-sia.
Tapi bila Tuhan ada di samping kita, sesederhana apapun hal yang kita
lakukan hal itu akan menjadi hebat dan baik, bukan saja buat diri kita
sendiri tapi juga baik bagi orang di sekitar kita.
Semoga kita tidak pernah lupa bahwa ada Tuhan di samping kita.

Being a proud employee #2

Some thought just pop up into my mind so I try to write it down before I forget…

 

Just yesterday I have a class, it is about Organizational Behaviour. It is a very interesting topics, but yesterday it become even more interesting since one of the lecturer come from a well-known corporate, Toyota. Toyota is one of a big company in the world focusing on manufacturing automobiles. From its scale no wonder that they have such a strong Human Resources policy and method. It is also no wonder that their employee is so proud they could be one of their team members.

 

But something more interesting just recently pop up into my mind. The lecturer is a manager in Toyota, she has already worked there around 16 years before she get the position that she held right now. It is a tremendous time compare to what we have in our company. In Toyota someone has spend minimum 5 years before he/she get promoted into managerial position. And 5 years not only just an easy day-to-day working, but a busy day, full of training and improvement.

 

Compare it to our company that 5 years of busy day-to-day work with some “in-adequate” training and self-improvement will send someone to become a senior manager. Proud to become a senior manager? The answer is yes if the capabilities that could be show is comparable with other senior manager that come from dimilar industry. But it could become a blunder if the person that we give this title is not ready yet. Some of my friend could not stand with a straight-head in front of the other manager, just because they feel they not deserve their manager title. They’re to young, knows nothing, etc. So where is the proud now? No proud, even sometimes they downgrade their own title when introduce themselves to the other. Their title is manager, but when introduce themselves they pronounced that they are an officer.

 

Funny isn’t? How a procedure to give a title could impact so much for the proud of an employee? My thought is that a title should be given only and only to them that deserve that title. Someone who could really show up their capabilities in managing themselves, managing their tasks and most important managing people. Someone who feel proud for what they are. All of these because they know exactly that what they are today is not given, but they fight for it. And it is not easy, it is full of tears and blood, but they feel that the they deserve to have the title.

 

This could be achieved not only by themselves, but most important of all is that company need to help their employee to achieve this satisfaction. Company should help their employee in the long journey to become a great manager, a star. Training and development need to be carefully planned. Rewards need to be given wisely. Encouregement need to be placed where it belongs. Many things….but remember that title must not be given so easily…..make your employee proud for what they are.

Transfer it smoothly....

There are some experience in my working environment that indicate difficulity to transfer a position to a successor. Take an example many of my bosses kinda loss track, and even have a headache when got the job. Since everything is blurry and not well-defined…So I take a lesson here :

1. Keep it all documented and well organized, it will make your sucessor easier to take your place.
2. Keep it as formal as could be. Don’t make it un flexible, but procedure and standard operational procedure is required to keep your department way of work is stable even in the middle of massive succession.
3. Plan your succession early morning, meaning that you need to have a successor as soon as possible. Train them, nurture them and make them understand completely what environment that he/she will be handle someday.
4. Increase the degree of involvement of your successor day-by-day, you he/she know better what is the background of each decision and respect it. It will increase the probability for him/her to continue your plan.

 

So…I think it still going around of planning (a succession) and standard huh ?

What a leader is ....

GOODDD MORNING…..

 

What a lovely day, I start my day with reading part of my college book. It’s about leadership…hummm then I realized that leadership is not that easy though…it is about how to create a vision, embracing subordinate’s motivation. I also suddenly realized that quite sometimes that I haven’t coach and speak in front of my crew.

 

Well, I gonna do it again….speak in front of them make them realized what is our department purposes, and motivate them to keep on doing their job better and better, to keep on developing themselves to become one of the best department ever…..so LET’S GO TO WORK SHALL WE?

Don't take every penny....

I once read an articles, said that in the middle of a negotiation you should not take every penny that are laid above the table.

The idea behind this sentences is easy, each negotiation is a beginning of a partnership. So don’t make it become even worst. [If] You take every penny today, than you should feel it too one day, when your partner take every penny.

 

Life is full of up and down, but isn’t easier if we together keep it as steady as possible. Meaning that even in the worst situation, it is not that worst afterall…

So rejoice, and give something to your partner. Don’t take every penny………….

Proud to become an employee #1

Proud terhadap perusahaan terbangun dari beberapa hal such as :

1. Team & peers, bagaimana kerjasama, kualitas rekan – rekan dalam tim, dll
2. Leader, bagaimana direct & indirect leader, kualitas mereka, apakah jadi role model, dll
3. Company, seberapa terkenal perusahaan kita dan produk-produknya di mata masyarakat umum
4. Community, misalnya kegiatan – kegiatan seperti acara 17an, Corporate Meeting, lalu perlombaan bola dll yang unik dan positif
5. Kompensasi / reward / fasilitas juga punya peranan dalam membangun tingkat proudnya
6. Recognition
7. Hope, atau harapan ke depannya. So ini bisa mengenai career track, growth dari company, dll
8. Eksistensi pribadi kita dalam perusahaan itu, apakah suara kita di dengarkan, bagaimana sumbang sih, dll

 

So kesimpulan awal yang bisa ditarik proud bisa dibangun dari :

1. Sesuatu yang unik dari perusahaan kita, yang sifatnya positif
2. Sesuatu tersebut selaras dengan value dari individu dan dengan demikian di persepsikan positif

 

Success is ....

Success is a four dimensional thing...is not all about money. It is about :
1. Happiness, derives from being content with one's life
2. Achievement, comes from setting and reaching admirable goals
3. Significance, involves doing things that positively affect friends, colleagues and family
4. Legacy, which one's values and achievements are put to good use to help other succeed in the future

...so what is success for you?

Sigh...

I kinda have a headache today, there are 2 problems arise yesterday that I need to address today. Problems problems and ... problems sigh....

One of my vendor proposed a system that at first having a delicate total price...but unfortunately having even higher cost. This hidden cost almost make my project cost double. Yesterday I postponed the project...sigh...haven't tell this to my boss yet.

The other stuff is my server room is not adequate...the server room is to small for the raised floor that I want to implement in the next 2 months. What a weck....I forget to remember that raised floor each is a tile that have a dimension 60 x 60 cm. So I cannot put anything above it.

O yea...my deal with my vendor it seem running well...hehe I will contact her again next week. Hopefully in good return :p

Hidden Loss in Company

Do you ever think about how your company profit structured? Is it only profit / loss = revenue – operational cost? Well, I think it isn’t.

I think that company profit / loss most of the time forget about hidden cost. This hidden cost could be anything. From structural cost, under utilization cost or even turn over rate cost. So profit / loss = revenue – operational cost – hidden cost.

One of the hidden cost that I would like to elaborate here is turn over rate hidden cost. In the company that I work with once there is a period of time where turn over rate is quite high. The reason behind this high turn over rate is numerous, and this is not the case. The problem with high turn over rate is quite clear. But do we calculate it well?

Every company spend some money / capital to increase its employee knowledge, whether through expensive training, conference, working experice, etc. The idea is to keep this cost documented, the cost for training, conference and many other thing, even experience gain from the daily work. If you have this cost documentation for every person that leave your company, than you certainly have something to calculate about the loss that turn over caused. The cost is equal to every penny that your company spend over this person.