Whither our priorities?
Aug 20, 2008 in Life-logger
It baffles me how it is possible for someone to claim to have aspiration and goals of going up the corporate ladder, but when it comes to personal sacrifices, the unwillingness to 'pay the price', like working late, taking on more projects, taking time off for seminars, paying first for networking meals, or even not claiming for RM1 parkings, these little details seep into the behaviourial practices.
Can you bring XXXX out for a drink tomorrow? Thank him for his work, update yourself on what's happening…
Errr can claim ah?
Whatever the employee handbook says…
Pay with what first?
Cash.
Must use my cash ah?
Credit card also can. Whatever works.
OK , parking, driving, can claim ah?
…
Two minutes later after the discussion, an email appears in your mailbox.
Can you write a e-mail to me asking me officially to take the person out. It's easier for me to claim later.
Gosh. Do you get this from your team sometimes?
At performance appraisals, we discuss vision and goals, and the presented list sounds like the norm - ambitious with specific examples of achievements hoped to be realized by a particular date. They understand the targets, they understand the relevance of what 'success' means in this corporate world, but then when it comes to the delivering the results, they're hampered by the little priorites that seem to overshadow the road to victory. And when you give very, very honest feedbacks at appraisals, like 'you need to own the company', 'if you want to go up the ladder you need to start behaving like you belong up there', they can't seem to accept it. They want positive appraisals, but they are just unwilling to pay the price to acquire a positive appraisal.
Team management is the most frustrating and tiring responsibility, ever. Can I give this up?