New office

Today is my second day at the new office (new office, but still the same employer ;p).

What I like about the new office:

-         -Yummy (free) coffee at the pantry – I’ve (unfortunately, perhaps) acquired the taste of coffee around a few months ago

-          -More accessibility to other places by public transport (eg LRT to KLCC, commuter to Midvalley), and other facilities in general eg shops/banks/post office

-          -Easier to collaborate because of the open concept
- Closer to team of support staffs, some of whom I work quite closely with
- Great view from higher level - love the floor to ceiling glass wall

What I dislike about the new office:

-         - Longer walk (hence takes longer time) to get lunch, but yes, perhaps more variety. Awkward to lunch alone, hence extra hassle to arrange for lunch company.

-          -Very little personal storage

-         - No anchored desk (floating desk system) so can’t personalise desk or leave anything there

-          -More things to carry around the neck – security cards and keys

-          -Must always remember to take out smart card from laptop because it also doubles as security card

-          -More walking – walking to the locker, further from carpark to desk, to surau, to lunch etc – but yes, good as exercise

-          -Probably will take longer to commute because of traffic. It’s still ok now, but probably only because it’s the school holiday. I’ll only know the true picture next year.

-          -Less privacy – even more open space. People can view your monitor easily.
- No docking station - tedious to plug and unplug 5 or 6 cables everyday

Seems like the second list is longer eh? But it’s still early days.

Looking for 'the one'

I want to fall in love.
Hopelessly in love, head over heels.
I want to give my heart, my soul, my all.

But.
I'm still looking for 'the one'.

May Allah help me and guide me.

A short story of 'me and him'

We haven't gotten along too well the past few years. So much so that I have been contemplating on leaving him.

Yesterday, it struck me that I have known him for more than half of my life, seventeen years to be precise. Wow - that's a long time. He started by giving me 50 ringgit allowance per month when I was sixteen, more like a gift, not expecting anything back from me. I dreamt of studying abroad, and he agreed to finance it, thereby making my wish come true. Now, he's giving me thousands of ringgit per month and expected a lot from me. I felt suffocated sometimes, and I felt like I can't be my true self when I'm with him. I wanted out.

But recently, I realised that I still need him, so I've got to make it work again between us. I might not be able to make myself fall in love with him, but at least we can try and be cordial with each other. Thank you Allah for his presence in my life - it is all due to Your boundless mercy. Help me mend things, ya Allah.

(Just to be clear, 'him' here is NOT referring to my husband :) )

Post rojak

Mula-mula, tiup habuk dulu. Fuh fuh ... Lama tak post apa-apa dan tiba-tiba nak buat post rojak sikit.

1. Ok. I really like this illustration. Alamak, kecik lah pulak. Hope it's still legible. Those of you who are my FB friends might noticed that I've recently shared this. Siapa tergolong dalam category 'Bliss' tu cuba angkat tangan sikit? Me? Rasanya cuma di subset 'Career'. Would loovveee to move to 'Passion', 'Vocation', 'Satisfaction', 'Fulfilment' or paling best sekali 'Bliss', but so far I'm still 'working on it'. Sudah bertahun-tahun, masih 'working on it' ya. Anyway, this image is credited to Ashtanga Yoga Workshop (whoever they are).

2. A quote that I like, from Seth Godin via swiss-miss.com. Still in the same 'theme' as point 1.

“The opportunity of a lifetime is to pick yourself. Quit waiting to get picked; quit waiting for someone to give you permission; quit waiting for someone to say you are officially qualified and pick yourself. It doesn’t mean you have to be an entrepreneur or a freelancer, but it does mean you stand up and say, ‘I have something to say. I know how to do something. I’m doing it. If you want me to do it with you, raise your hand.’ ”

Do. Do. Do. Just do it. Execute. Tunggu apa lagi? Tunggu ada masa? No such thing. Masa harus dicari, kak!

3. Ok, tema lain pulak. Still rasa excited sebab ada rezeki beli perabot murah daripada ofis lama adik ipar yang bakal ditutup (maknanya used furniturelah) - sampai semalam. Tee hee.. rasa semangat sikit nak mengemas rumah hari Sabtu ni.

4. Dan paling utama tentunya, nak ucapkan Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin kepada kawan-kawan sekalian! Mari kita sama-sama cuba mengekalkan momentum Ramadhan selepas ini (ingatan untuk diri sendiri!) dan semoga kita dipanjangkan umur bertemu Ramadhan tahun hadapan. Jemputlah datang rumah, ya? :)

How I utilise the Flexi-work Policy

The handful of you who have been reading my blog for many years would know that flexi-work is a benefit that I really truly value and something that I would like to see being adopted by more companies, as well as (dare I hope?) the government sector in Malaysia. Whenever I talk to my friends about the flexi-work policy of the company I'm working for, most of them would be so impressed and ask "Is there any vacancy that I can apply to?"

Flashback to almost 5 years ago, this is where I outlined the policy, and most relevant for the context of this post are flexible working hours and working outside office. But for this post, I would like to elaborate a bit on how I have utilised the flexi-work policy.

When MHH was away studying in Penang, I discussed with my boss and he agreed to let me work from home in Penang one week in a month. Because I would also need to look after Munief who was about 6 months old then, I offered to use up one day of annual leave for each week I stayed in Penang to make up for the times I am attending to Munief instead of doing work. But after Afiefah was born, I discontinued this practise because it gets more challenging to look after a 2-year-old and a baby and get all the tasks done. I might need to use up more annual leave than I could afford to.

In early 2010, I accepted a new role that requires me to publish a set of reports every day by 8.30 am.  I negotiated with my boss and he agreed to let me do those at home before leaving for work. I appreciate this because I was able to settle the time-sensitive task first, and then I am able to spend time with my family, get the kids ready for school, bathe the little one, fix a simple breakfast for them, and sometimes even get house chores done (usually it's sidai baju). I also love being able to save time by skipping the peak hour heavy traffic. I wrote about this here. When I send Hasief to his care-giver at 9 plus, the neighbour (who are my parents' friends) or friends visiting the care-giver would sometimes remark, "Lambat pergi kerja hari ni?" And then I would explain that I've worked at home earlier, and even talk a bit about the flexi-work policy.

Sometimes, when I need to look after my kids at home (for example, when one of them is ill, or when their care-giver have some business to attend to ask for 'cuti') yet can't afford to spend too much annual leave, I would do a 'half-day + WFH' (work from home). It doesn't have to be 'morning off' or 'afternoon off' - I could be working an hour in the morning, an hour in the afternoon, one hour in the evening, and one hour at night. Unless there's a meeting, then of course I would need to cater to the timing. I was aghast when MHH explained that in his workplace, when you take half-day in the morning, the other half needs to be taken in the afternoon, and the pair have to be within the same month. That's so rigid! For the school holiday that just passed, I utilised a few of this 'half-day + WFH' so that we can take the kids out someplace interesting in the afternoon.

Afiefah finishes kindergarten at 11.30 (Munief chose to stay-on till 6). Since MHH's workplace is nearby, his daily routine would include picking her up and sending her to her care-giver's house (to join her little brother). Sometimes MHH is not able to because he has to be someplace further for the whole day (course, function, work etc). He would notify me early, and I would plan accordingly  and take over. I would send Hasief at 9 plus as though I would be going to the office, but I would come back home and work there till 11.30. Then I pick up Fifa, send her over, and then go to the office. I have also done this when I was taking turn picking up my little brother from school.

Things like coming to the office a bit late or leaving a bit early because there's something to do, and then making it up at night or during weekend is a common practise. Here are some of the other examples of how my colleagues or their friends utilise flexi-work benefit.

After sending her kids to school, she would go to the office (different location than mine), one of the earliest at 7 plus. She leaves to pick up her kids at 1 something, cook them lunch, get them ready for sekolah agama in the afternoon. After sending them, she will continue her work, from home, till evening or night (with breaks in between, of course).

A friend of mine has a regional role so she didn't need to be present at the office often because she communicates with colleagues from other locations (countries). So, she works mostly from home. She doesn't have kids yet.

I met a lady who works fulltime at home because her home is 3 hours from the nearest office (London) and she doesn't want to move. It's feasible because she has a global role. Indeed there are some posts (not many) in the company vacancy page that list the location as 'Virtual'. Like my friend, she also has no child yet. She did however admit that she finds it distracting when there's any other person at home (she lives alone), for example when her mother comes to visit and stay with her.

Don't be mistaken into thinking that only women utilise the flexi-work policy. I recently worked (for a short project) with a guy who works mostly from home. I could hear his kids' sounds in the background during our calls. He said it took some time for his family and friends to get used to it. Sometimes they'd meet him at some coffee shop with his laptop and assume he wasn't working, but he was.

So, what does it take for a flexi-work policy to be able to be implemented successfully?

Firstly, technology is a key enabler. There is virtually no difference between working from home or at the office in terms of access, connectivity, documents and softwares. Communication is also convenient and cheap (free, even) with tools like instant messaging, computer call, desktop sharing, video conferencing, live meeting etc.

Secondly, the employees must act like responsible adults who can be trusted to complete their tasks, accountable to manage their time, and not abuse the privilege. A healthy performance-based culture helps.

Granted, flexi-work policy is not suitable for some tasks, and also not suited to some people, but I earnestly believe that having it in place will be a boon, blessing to working parents (or anyone really) in their quest to have work-life balance and lead a full, rich lives, and it will definitely be a value proposition for the employers to attract and retain top talents (especially women).

I will end this already-too-long 'essay' by repeating what I have mentioned in the first paragraph, that I would love to see flexible working policy being adopted by more employers in Malaysia, gradually becoming a normal working culture. I would also like to share that my dream (wish?) is to work part-time (my attempt in 2009 to ask for a 4-day work week was rejected) - a case of 'diberi betis hendakkan paha'!

Masih ada tapi

Hati bagai sudah tidak tertahan-tahan lagi.
Tapi ...
Ya, masih berselindung di sebalik 'tapi-tapi'ku.

It looks like something I might like

An ideal job to me would have the following criterias:
i) it's something that I really enjoy doing, something I'm passionate about (I think people who are doing something they are passionate about is sooo lucky!)
ii) it's something where I can contribute, something beneficial to society and my deen
iii) it's flexible - I can choose when and where to work, and for how long (yes, this part is a bit of wishful thinking, or rather, this part implies that I need to be self-employed)
iv) I can earn a reasonable income (last and least)

I'm still hoping to get there, but in the meantime, I think I'm a bit 'stuck' (mentally, perhaps?) in the company where I'm currently working. The current job I have at the moment is okay. There's part of it I enjoy, and other parts I don't (biasalah tu). I don't get stressed often, I don't get excited often. It's all getting a bit of a drab. It feels like a 'job' and I feel like I'm working for money and that's not nice. If I use the P (physical), I (intellectual), E (emotional), S (spiritual) aspects as written in Ustaz Hasrizal's article, I'd rank this job as high in P and I but very low on E and S.

Three weeks ago my boss asked me, "So, what is your plan for your next assignment?"

I said, "Hmm... I'm not sure."

"You're not interested in sales and marketing, right?"

"Not really."

"Then what's left is support functions." (Yes, that's how it is here. Those who 'bring in the money' is considered core, and the rest are just supporting functions.)

He asked, "Engineering? Finance?"

I was silent.

He said, "At your age, you should know what you want to go for. Have a career plan."

I know he's just looking out for me. Thank you, Kxx Txxxx. I'm so lucky - all 3 supervisors I've had in the 8 years I've been working in this company has been kind to me.

But he's right. At 31, I feel that I'm past my youth. My mother's passing at such young age last year had affected me deeply. I feel like the clock is ticking. Time is running out. It's quite frustrating not to know for sure what my calling is. What do I want to do? Who do I want to be?

Last Monday, I saw a position being broadcasted in the internal open resourcing system. It looks like something I might like. I clicked the link to read more. Yes, it definitely looks like something I might like. It might not be 'a calling', but it looks like something I can be passionate about, something I can gain emotional satisfaction from. It doesn't make sense career-wise, and I might need to travel more than I do now, and there might be part of the jobscope that I would enjoy less than the rest, but ... IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETHING I MIGHT LIKE.

My heart was beating faster. I was not able to focus on my work that Monday morning because I was quite excited about the prospect. Referring back to the PIES, I think this position might score lower on P and I, but will score quite high on E and there will be slight improvement for S.

At the moment, I have not decided. I told my boss of my intention just now, and as expected, he said it might not be a good career move, but he's supportive of whatever my decision is. The closing date is this Monday and so far 4 people have applied. So, even if I apply I might not get it. (Yeah, but if I don't apply, I won't get it FOR SURE, duh.)

It looks like something I might like. But, what if it's NOT? What if I do this, and then regret the decision for whatever reason?

WHAT IFs are paralysing me. Arghh! Should I? Should I not? Should I? Should I not?

Ya Allah, please guide me. If this is better for me, please make the path easy for me...

Back to the office

Tomorrow I will report back at the office after a three-month maternity leave.

I will certainly miss being at home, it suits me I think. But I am grateful to Allah for my job through which He is giving me my rezeki. A few 'blunders' happened while I was away, which caused the team a significant loss of margin. Though I am not directly responsible (since I was on leave and off duty), I feel accountable for them since I was supposed to train the person who covered some of my roles during my absence. I am not looking forward to mitigating the 'mess' but I accept that it's something that I have to do.

*sigh* The blues is creeping in, but I must ward it off. Think positive, Mynie!

What are you working on?

One of the blogs I subscribe to is Seth Godin's and I would like to share here 3 of the posts that I really like (means that I keep the emails and didn't delete them after reading them):

One

Reasons to work

1 For the money
2 To be challenged
3 For the pleasure/calling of doing the work
4 For the impact it makes on the world
5 For the reputation you build in the community
6 To solve interesting problems
7 To be part of a group and to experience the mission
8 To be appreciated

Why do we always focus on the first? Why do we advertise jobs or promotions as being generic on items 2 through 8 and differentiated only by #1?

In fact, unless you're a drug kingpin or a Wall Street trader, my guess is that the other factors are at work every time you think about your work.

Two

Where do ideas come from?

1 Ideas don't come from watching television
2 Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture
3 Ideas often come while reading a book
4 Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them
5 Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom
6 Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide
7 Ideas often strive to meet expectations. If people expect them to appear, they do
8 Ideas fear experts, but they adore beginner's mind. A little awareness is a good thing
9 Ideas come in spurts, until you get frightened. Willie Nelson wrote three of his biggest hits in one week
10 Ideas come from trouble
11 Ideas come from our ego, and they do their best when they're generous and selfless
12 Ideas come from nature
13 Sometimes ideas come from fear (usually in movies) but often they come from confidence
14 Useful ideas come from being awake, alert enough to actually notice
15 Though sometimes ideas sneak in when we're asleep and too numb to be afraid
16 Ideas come out of the corner of the eye, or in the shower, when we're not trying
17 Mediocre ideas enjoy copying what happens to be working right this minute
18 Bigger ideas leapfrog the mediocre ones
19 Ideas don't need a passport, and often cross borders (of all kinds) with impunity
20 An idea must come from somewhere, because if it merely stays where it is and doesn't join us here, it's hidden. And hidden ideas don't ship, have no influence, no intersection with the market. They die, alone.

Three

What are you working on?

If someone asks you that, are you excited to tell them the answer?

I hope so. If not, you're wasting away.

No matter what your job is, no matter where you work, there's a way to create a project (on your own, on weekends if necessary), where the excitement is palpable, where something that might make a difference is right around the corner.

Hurry, go do that.

What am I working on? I'm working on some six or seven things at the moment. I only have time to physically work on three or four at the moment, but the remaining three remains lurking in my head. I think about them often, for example when I'm driving (a lot of thinking can be done in one-hour solo journeys, really). And Seth Godin is so right about the excitement being palpable. I hope some of these things I'm working on will come to fruition this year, insyaAllah.

Drilling oil & selling fuels

When Ummu Auni Afif shared some photos of the exchange and network room of the telecommunications company where she works, I viewed them with the interest of someone who read engineering (but didn’t really practice much of the technical stuffs learnt). Here’s a brief sharing of the industry I’m in, as promised to her.

The oil and gas industry is broadly divided into upstream and downstream. Upstream is the ‘getting the oil from under the ground’ part, from searching for potential area, designing and building the oil rigs, and the drilling operation itself. Once the oil out of the ground, it will go to a refinery, which is already downstream – ‘getting the oil to consumers’ part. Then the refined products will be shipped to terminals (or sometimes direct to customers) and then distributed to consumers from there. We’re more familiar with fuels being sold via retail stations since we pump petrol into our cars, but I sit in the commercial sector – my department sells fuels for use in boilers and other equipments in factories, transport companies, fishing boat, agriculture trucks and machineries, logging tractors etc.

The fuels price is dependent on published market rates, and in the case of Malaysia, we refer to Mean of Platts Singapore (have to subscribe to see the published numbers). In Malaysia, the price for certain sectors is regulated by the government using the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM). The difference between the pump price and the market price (simplistically put, there's actually a formula to this) will be paid to the oil companies by the Ministry of Finances. Other than the retail stations, the other sector that receives government subsidies are fisheries, transport companies that meet certain criterias and express boats (ferries in Sabah & Sarawak). There are quotas tied to each companies or organizations just as there are quota for diesel at each petrol stations, as a government measure to prevent subsidized diesel being (illegally) used in the commercial sector. The ministry who monitors this is MDTCA – Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs.

Now on to a current issue, most of us would already be aware of the recent oil spill (major leak!) on April 10, almost two months ago. Taken from here:

An explosion on the BP operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed eleven crew members on April 20, 2010, sparking the greatest environmental disaster in United States history. Current estimates put the amount of oil being discharged from the broken well at above 1,050,000 US gallons per day! There are over 400 different species of animals living in the area affected by the spill. 248 sea turtles and 33 dolphins have been found dead within the spill area.

More on Reuters here.

Here’s a photo to illustrate an example of the impact to the environment, taken from here.
A bird covered in oil flails in the surf at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast Thursday, June 3, 2010. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

BP share prices has dropped dramatically, some staffs have left, they are spending billions to rectify as well as to pay fines, and their public image has been tarnished. But the other oil majors are feeling the impact too. They try to help BP clean up the mess as much as is reasonable. They will be watched by the authorities and the public more closely. At the ground level, we are constantly reminded to put safety first in whatever we do. I hope such disaster (or any accident for that matter, big or small) will not happen again.

Working from home one hour a day

When I took over a new role early this year, one of the tasks I have to do is to compute and publish (via email) a set of figures every morning by a certain time. I struggled to meet that daily timing. So, I tried a different strategy. I completed the tasks first at home before leaving for the office. I connect to the network via VPN or virtual private network where I am able to access all the tools required like emails, software, shared folder etc. Thankfully, the company I’m working for support flexible working arrangements. So far it works out well (in terms of me being able to complete this task early enough every mornings), Alhamdulillah.

Since I leave for the office later, I’m no longer trapped in the morning peak hour traffic! I save 30-40 minutes a day. That’s about 3 hours a week and 13 hours a month! If more companies allow (dare I use the word ‘encourage’?) their employees to work from home and flexible hours, it’ll help to reduce the congestion problems our capital city faces. This ‘extra’ time allows me to bath and feed my kids (as opposed to bundling them from the bed straight to the car), do chores, and sometimes even run errands.

However, to be fair, it’s not all beds of roses. Working from home (for an employer) does have its setbacks.
- Broadband connection may be slow, especially when sharing. There is risk of getting disconnected in the middle of a task.
- Limited resources. For example, about two weeks ago, there is a problem with my laptop and I couldn’t switch it on at all. It was too late to drive to the office to find a spare machine. Luckily, I have a backup who could help with my time-sensitive task that morning. But that’s only for emergencies (which that was), meaning I can’t expect this person to help out often. Besides, I don’t want to be perceived as unreliable.
- The kids may bug me either for my attention or my laptop when I was in a crunch time.

Because the task is quite time-sensitive, it could get quite stressful. When it takes 1 minute to click open a file, I’ll start worrying and fidget a lot. There’s this one time when my backup was not available and I had problems to access some information I need to complete my task, so I rushed to the office, but obviously I was very late. Some staffs in my departments had to stay back till 8. I felt very guilty.

I guess what I’m saying is, whilst there’s clear benefits to working from home, it also presents its own challenges. It’ll be nicer to have tasks that are not too time and operation-sensitive, but these are part of my roles, so I’m okay with it.

4-day work week

Interesting concept! When I first read the term ‘4-day work week’ (before clicking to read the short article), I thought it meant 4 by 8 hours-day with equivalent pay cut (like one I'm looking for but haven't been successful so far), but what they did was to introduce 4 by 10 hours-day as opposed to 5 by 8 hours-day. So that means coming to work at 8, say, and then leave at... 7. Would you choose this option if it is available to you?

About a year ago Utah Governor Jon Hunstman introduced the 4 day work week, and it has proven to be a success. The Working 4 Utah initiative put 17,000 out of 24,000 executive branch employees on a 10 hour a day, four day work week, with a three day weekend, and it seems the employees are liking the change.

Not only are the workers able to avoid rush hour, but it seems the four day work week also lead to energy savings. State officers in Utah reported that Fridays at home cuts state energy use by 13%. Utah also saved $1,8 million in operational
costs.

Other states, among them Texas and Florida, are in the process of
introducing similar programs.

Credit to Nik Nazmi for the news/link (via FB).

Is this it?

August

After my boss rejected my request to work part time, I updated my resume on the organisations resourcing system, and started to look around. I was excited to come across one job which is virtual, meaning the person is designated to work from home. But the job description is not that attractive, involving systems change management. Blergh. Besides, the person would have to travel frequently to affected countries. Another blergh. I check from time to time, but nothing.

October 8

My colleague, F said to me with a smile, “I’ll be going back to Sabah soon.”
“Really? You’ve found something?”
“Not really, but I’m working on it. Looks like you might take up my position sooner than expected.”
“Well, it’s not really firm.”
“I’m recommending you. You basically know everything, except that one item RM. During the meeting in Kuching also, boss also hinted as much.”
I smiled, but didn’t reply. Perhaps F noticed that I wasn’t as enthusiastic about the good news as I should be. “Why?” he asked.
“I don’t know - I’m quite certain that I want to do part time. If I take up your post, I’m quite certain I won’t be able to. I’ve already asked boss.”

October 12

A colleague, K, whom I regard as a mentor, called to catch up. She just got back from a 2-year unpaid leave and is now working in Indonesia, looking after supply planning for 8 countries.
“How many years have you been in your current job?” she asked, after we exchanged pleasantries and news about our families.
“Four,” I answered.
“That’s quite long. Aren’t you looking at the resourcing system?”
“Well, I think I’m designated to succeed F.”
“Ah... that’s good.”
“But… I’m not sure. I want to work part time and my boss said no. I wanted to ask around, but I don’t know how.”
“Hmm… Are you sure that’s the wisest thing to do? As you know, we are going through a major reorganisation – things are not stable. You might send the wrong message. Perhaps you can just sit through this one, and wait for awhile.”

October 14

I received the email about noontime. It was an automated notice listing available vacancies. Because of the reorganisation, the HR arranged for a big round of vacancy posting. Usually, an email would notify me of 3 or 4 vacancies, but this time, there’s 120! Is there something there for me?

I went to the website and started viewing selected vacancies. One stood out. Under the field ‘Flexible work option’ it stated there ‘Both full time as well as part time and/or job share possible’. It’s the only one stating that, out of the twenty or so positions that I viewed. The job itself is not too bad - I think it’s something I can manage (hopefully). I would be far more comfortable taking up F’s position of course, but I know that in order to get what I want, I need to get out of my comfort zone. Another setback is the job group. If I apply and somehow get this job, it will be a lateral move, something highly uncommon in this organisation. F’s job would be a promotion. Another thing, the listing clearly stated that preference is given to candidates with MBA, which I don't have. How much chance do I have? I noticed that 2 people have submitted their applications. Of course I can still try.

Is this it? Should I go for this? Should I tell my boss if I do? Am I prepared to jump outside my comfort zone and take the risk? What if I don't like this job?

Dub dab. Dub dab. Dub dab.
The deadline to apply is October 25.

Building Visibility and Networking

I attended a lunch and learn session earlier today on the topic of Building Visibility and Networking (what a coincidence), and would like to share some of the tips given by the presenter, which was the country chairman. The tips given are for working context, but some can be applied to personal context as well.

- High performance is a base/must. If you are a high performer, you will be noticed.
- Persuade your supervisor to allow you to give presentations.
- Be active (other than work) for example volunteer to organize events, or join a club and volunteer to be the committees etc, participate in events
- Find/create social opportunities eg lunches/games
- Break the ice (when approaching someone you don’t know) by commenting on situational topic (eg about the food during lunch/dinner), or current issues (try not to talk about work)
- Be knowledgeable, read up, keep to-date with topics of interest (including current affairs) so that you can contribute to conversations
- Try to guess what topics the other person might be interested in. If the topic doesn’t work, change to another topic.
- Take turn listening, don’t just talk all the time
- Don’t try to show off / be ‘too clever’ / offer ‘too much’
- Get rid of the mindset that being friendly with colleagues (esp bosses) equals to ‘buttering up’
- Build relationship

Don’t think of visibility and networking just as a mean to advance one’s career, good networking can also help to create a condusive environment which can help us perform better, which I’m sure everyone appreciates, regardless of one’s ambitions and aspirations.

Rejected and dejected

End of last year I told my boss I’m interested to work 4-day weeks.

My request has been rejected.

Huaaarggh :(
(belum ada mood nak belajar buat html icon nangis-nangis ;p)

Refurbished mother’s room

Mother’s room is the official name for the room provided by the company I work with for mothers who wishes to express breastmilk at the office. Recently it’s been refurbished, tastefully at that, thanks to the room focal point who had been persistent in asking and asking again for the budget. The number of cubicles (separated by curtains) was increased from 3 to 4 (due to increased number of users). New furnitures (bearing the IKEA lables) and equipments were procured, including a bigger fridge-freezer, a steam sterilizer, LAN points for those who likes to multitask, and – get this, a hospital grade Medela Lactina! Mothers who are interested to use this only needs to purchase the individual kit which consists of the breastshield funnel, tubings, valves, and bottles. Looks like I can put my plan to purchase a Pump-In-Style for the next baby on hold. Yesterday, the vendor came to show how to install and use the Medela Lactina. I asked how much it was, and the answer was - RM3800, and that’s after discount (mahalnya). Anyway, the pretty room and the complete facilities have motivated me to keep on pumping, eventhough I don’t get much anymore nowadays.


I know there’s other blogs out there who talks more about breastfeeding, but just in case, I’d just like to mention here that it is possible to continue breastfeeding even if we work outside the home fulltime. All you need is a breastpump, a cooler bag, a good coolant (if the office don’t have a fridge), and the will and basic knowhow.

I’m officially no longer bonded!

Today is a significant day for me – I have officially worked for this company for 5 years, meaning I have served their scholarship bond! Alhamdulillah. I am so lucky, to have had the opportunity to study overseas, something I wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. I am so lucky, to have had the opportunity to work in this company, when there are so many people out there struggling to find jobs after graduating. I’m so lucky, because the bond is only 5 years, much shorter than some other people. Alhamdulillah, to Allah I return all praises and thanks.

So, what now? I am now free to go. Will I leave to look for greener pasture? I’ve thought about this, naturally. What I like about my current job:
1) good remuneration, benefits and perks
2) good organisational ethics, culture, and environment
3) workload and nature of my current assignment is reasonably good

What I dislike about it:
1) it’s too far from home! I spend about 2 hours a day on the road on average (that’s 8% or my time a day!) and there seems little chance of them moving closer to my home
2) there is no bia’ah solehah here
3) also very few like-minded, or should I say ‘like-soulled’, friends here

Conclusion, at the moment I think I shall remain here.

But what I am looking at, is to reduce my working hours (and hence, also reduce my salary accordingly), under the flexi-work policy. I spoke to my boss about a month ago. The conversation went something like this:

“K, erm, I was wondering, with the organisation doing the re-matching of roles and jobs, um, and a portfolio will be taken from me, um, perhaps I could apply to work four days a week? Under the flexi-work policy?”

K paused for awhile before answering. “There’s no issue regarding the portfolio being taken from your role. There are other things that I would like you to do, it’s just before this, there’s not enough time.”

I said, “I understand. I myself would very much appreciate the additional time I would have to study certain things in greater depth. But portfolio X did take a lot of time before, so even with four days, I would still have that time. I just felt that this reorganisation gives me an opportunity to apply to do part time, to spend more time with my family.”

“Well,” he said, “If your family really needs you, then we will consider. Because afterall, our HR policy does provide for it.”

He used the words ‘needs’, as if to impress me, that there has to be a specific reason. Perhaps, a sickly child or parent, or a child sitting for exam. No such thing as simply ‘to spend more time with my family’.

“I’ve always thought that it would be nice to have more time,” I started, but was cut off by K.

“Exactly – there’s so much we can do if we have more time. We can do a lot of initiatives to add value to to the business.”

“I meant – time for myself. Outside work. To do other things! To live life!” And I did say these with exclamation marks! Not in an angry tone, I was just a bit excited.

K was stunned for while. I think I got a bit carried away, especially the last sentence. I looked at K and saw a man so passionate about his work. He is where he is for very good reasons.

“I’m sorry,” I apologised. “That wasn’t too appropriate for me to say probably.”

“Okay,” K said. “I’ll discuss this with boss (our GM).”

I haven’t heard from K about this since then, but I’m still optimistic about it. Wish me luck, ladies! Wouldn’t it be nice to work only four days in a week, and have the remaining three for yourself?

My streetsmart brother

“What would you do, if there is a swarm of bees during the opening hours, when customers are shopping?” my brother (#4) M asked while we were having some tea in the kitchen some time ago. (Note: ‘some time ago’ is and will continue to be a commonly-used phrase in this blog). M is working in the management team of a departmental store.

“Hmm.. what about using honey to attract and drive them away? Hahaha,” I ventured a not-too-intelligent guess. (What do I think this is, The Bee Movie?)
“Well, we used a bright pendafluor lamp covered in blue plastic to attract them, and then trap them using a mosquito trap device,” M said.
“And it worked?”
“Yes.”
“And the light was your idea?”
“Yes.”
I was pretty impressed.

In fact, I’ve been impressed with M in quite a number of occasions before. He is one of those who are not booksmart, but is really streetsmart. He struggled to get good grades in school, but he’s always been handy and always found it easy to do ‘real’ things. He’s really good with hands-on things, problem solving, and dealing with people. But you ask him to study or write a report, he might not impress you much. And yet, I think he’s the kind of employee that many employers would covet for. He gets things done. That’s why his employer raised his salary when he told his boss he wants to quit. (I think his salary is still low compared to the hours he put in, though. I wish he could get a better job elsewhere.) Some of the things he has dealt before at work in this past one year include ‘gangguan makhlus halus’, stolen goods, and credit card fraud with insider accomplice.

How would an employer know whether this straight-As grads can ‘get things done’? Streetsmart as well as booksmart? Interviews nowadays usually include a simulation session where the candidate would be required to perform a task similar to that he would be doing for the job. But it is still a controlled environment. It is still an assignment. How would an employer know whether this candidate whose paper may not look as good, but will flourish in the field? I guess they have trained observation, and combined with their experiences. I do hope that candidates like my brother M, who belongs to this category, will get their chances to prove their talent. That their resume won’t just get chucked in the bin just because there’s not enough As or points.

Me? I think I’m more of a booksmart rather than streetsmart, unfortunately. (Wouldn’t it be great to be both?) That’s why I’m more harmonious with my current job, doing analysis, telling my boss why the profit last month was not high enough, rather than my previous job, managing engineering projects, when I have to worry if there is going be any safety incidents if I vent out flammable gaseous when there’s a ship discharging nearby. It’s less stressful to worry about profit than it is to worry about the possibility of hurting anyone, or disrupting operation. Hahaha.. I’m such a ‘chicken’, I know.

Talking about job fit, I am reminded of a folk story I read when I was small, in a ‘koleksi cerita rakyat’ or some sort if I’m not mistaken. Perhaps you have read it too.

One day (retold in my own words), a king was travelling in a boat with his advisor shaded under the roof. He overheard the boat rower complaining to his fellow boat rower. “It’s so unfair. Why are we doing the hard work rowing the boat under the hot sun, and the advisor gets to relax with the king under the shade?”

When the king gets to his palace, he called the rower and asked, “I heard some noises. Can you find out for me what caused it?”
The rower left to investigate and came back. “It was a litter of kittens, my lord.”
The king asked, “Oh. And how many are there?”
The rower left again and returned. “There were 5 kittens, my lord.”
“And were they males or females?” the king asked further.
The rower left again and returned again. “3 were males and 2 were females, my lord.”
The king asked, “And why were they making so much noise?”
The rower left again and returned. “I don’t know, my lord. Maybe because their mother was not there.”

And then the king called his advisor (who wasn’t present earlier) and asked the same question. “I heard some noises. Can you find out for me what caused it?”
The advisor left to investigate and came back shortly. “It was a litter of kittens, my lord.”
The king asked, “Oh. And how many are there?”
“There were 5 kittens, my lord.”
“And were they males or females?”
“3 were males and 2 were females, my lord.”
“And why were they making so much noise?”
“They were hungry, my lord. So I got some milk from the kitchen and gave it to them, and now they have stopped crying.”

The king looked at the rower and said “Now you know why you’re my boat rower and he is my advisor.”

Of course, you can argue that the advisor is trained from his experience for the ‘test task’ set by the king, but let’s not make matters complicated, shall we? Oh, and the last part about the advisor giving milk to stop the kittens crying was added by me, just to exaggerate further the ‘quality’ of the advisor, hehe. Well, I hope I will be good in the things I choose to do. And the wish goes to you too!

Women and flexi-working

I heard in Radio IKIM this morning that today is the sambutan Hari Wanita 2008 Peringkat Kebangsaan held in JB. The theme is ‘Wanita Menjana Ekonomi Negara’. So to you ladies out there, Selamat Hari Wanita! We all contribute to the progress of our nation, regardless of what we do – housewives (very important group!), employees, self-employed, entrepreneurs etc.

Last week, I read in the paper about Najib backing women flexi-hours in his speech at the Women Summit 2008, and his statements are, naturally, supported by women groups. Of course, it’ll be good if he could do more than ‘back or support’ this by actively championing for this, starting with the public sector! I still remember the positive move for the extended maternity leave, and options for career breaks for government servants being announced sometimes last year. Is it on or is it still being studied? Anyone can enlighten me on this? Speaking in a Women Summit, I guess he understandably say ‘flexi-hours for women’. But I think, men also would appreciate the same benefits – let’s not exclude our important teammates here.

I’m also pleased to read the article on the example of several companies already on flexi-hours. I hope there’ll be more articles highlighting working practices like flexi-hours, working from home or teleworking, job sharing, etc which are non-traditional way of working. This can help to enhance visibility of such practices, and can help other companies to adopt them when they see their benefits and that other companies have implemented those successfully.

In the spirit of Olympics

Just sharing a short note from my HR lady. Although targeted for workplace, I think these points are applicable to other aspects of our life as well.

Creating the Spirit of the Olympics in the Workplace

In the Olympics, we see a lot of the same human issues that confront us in the workplace. If you look carefully, you will find that the ways world athletes behave before, during, and after the Olympics offer us a lot of lessons we can learn from to improve people's performance in the workplace. After all, sports have always offered us metaphors and models for coaching and leadership. Here are ways to create the spirit of the Olympics at work.

• Every Four Years, Not Every Quarter: Most organizations put too much focus on the quarterly reporting of results. Real change in human performance requires a longer view of things.


• Coaching for Performance: To perform at their peak, people need to be coached, not managed. The Coaching process of tough yet friendly feedback, modeling of desired behavior, constant guidance and continuous, incremental improvement is a model that works well at work too.


• Practice Makes Perfect: No athlete will perform in the actual competition without years of rigorous practice. At work, people cannot suspend work to practice. They must work and practice at the same time.


• Build Teams, Not Individuals: Even competitions that do not involve a team require effective teamwork between the coach and the athlete, and perhaps other people as well such as the managers, administrators, and the medical team. No Basketball team or Soccer team can achieve much without effective teamwork. How much training on team building have you participated in at work lately?


• Motivation and Rewards: The motivation for the Olympic athletes is never money. It's the global recognition of being the best. It's the satisfaction of beating the previous world record, and going just a notch beyond what was previously possible. That's the kind of culture you need to create at work.


• Failure Is The Beginning, Not the End: No athlete will strive to participate in the Olympics just once in a lifetime. Most keep going back and trying more. If they fail, they strive harder to win. If they win, they try harder to break their own record and win even bigger.