Managing Your Stakeholders

I came across executives, managers and in fact senior managers who just don't bother to vet through and validate their work before it is sent to their superior or worse, the senior management team. Data is not validated, summarised, and presented well. I would say avoid giving raw data to them (unless specifically requested), instead give insightful statistics. Something that your superior or senior management team could relate to and use to make informed decisions at one glance. That is how you could add value to them.

I seriously believe that you should be careful when you deal with your superior or the senior management team. Wrong impressions could be formed that would not do you good. I came across raw data with numbers and colour codes that I didn't understand. Documents with no headers or titles. Jargons that just made my eyes spin backwards. 

What I would be looking for would be just a simple breakdown data by department, by categories, or just a simple percentage. A header or a document title would be very useful. Some analysis on the percentages would also be nice. And if the situation warrants, some recommendations would be great too.

Funny how some executives just cannot read their stakeholders well. What they would find useful in a report. They are not being fussy or difficult. They just don't have the time to massage the data given in the report. A dashboard type of report will be very appreciated by them as they could see the different trends, glaring issues that would need to be brought up, anomalies, etc. They could then use the intelligence that they have in front of them to make decisions, plan ahead, etc.

Other things that we could do to ensure our stakeholders are well taken care of include finding out in advance how they would like the statistics to be presented to them. In terms of the layout, font / font size, filtering, etc.

Just some of my observations... After all, our superiors and the senior management team would be the ones who would be looking at our performance at the end of the day. So, why would we want to give them the impression that we have low emotional intelligence?

Ieja

Life As It Is

It is that time of the year  again where employers review their employees' work performance and reward them accordingly. And of course, all this is at the discretion of the employer. So, in self reflection, do I feel like I have done my best in 2012. And do I feel like I have been rewarded fairly by my employer?

When I came onboard, I told everyone that I had never experience such extensive appraisal on my work performance. Sure I've been appraised before and sure I've been rewarded with bonus. But I had never felt this kind of level of intensity that people feel about year-end appraisal and about bonus payout as when I am with this company.

When I got my first bonus with the company, I said alhamdulillah and was very happy. I felt that my effort in that particular year was well rewarded. And I kept saying that it didn't matter to me because I had not experience this kind of monetary reward before. Furthermore, I was promoted within a year I was with the company. So, there shouldn't be any complaints, right?

Then, come the second year. I was rated as a high performer still, and the same bonus payout exercise  was done. Then, the letter came with the bonus figure. And this year, I didn't get the $$ as good as last year, and that didn't feel good. I thought, hang on... I performed better than last year and why my bonus was not as good as last year then? There is doubt...

My reaction was perfectly well understood (after a few days of self reflection). I had a good taste of bonus payout, and my expectation had gone up one notch. And when my expectation was not met in terms of $$, I was disappointed. What I failed to remember in the first place was that:

1. bonus was solely at the discretion of the employer. They have the rights not to pay any even if they make loads of money that year.
2. When the employer decides to give bonus to the employee, they have the rights to determine how much.

So, as much as I dislike the fact that I didn't get as much as last year, I forgot that I had not had this for a long time, and that I should be grateful for whatever that I receive. And that whatever amount that was credited into my bank account and was shown on my pay slip, I should have said alhamdulillah first and say thank you to my boss (which I did a bit later, and still was the first one to do so according to him). I should have also not succumbed to the culture of "I deserve the bonus, the company must pay bonus, and I deserve to get more or better bonus despite my average performance."

Thank you Allah for the rezeki you bestowed upon me.

Ieja

How's Life Treated Me So Far

I started 2013 in a high spirit, having had sent Abang Iqie to his first ever primary school, and Afeeq to his kindergarten. 

Then, on the second week of January (13 Jan 2013), I received a call in the middle of the night from my sister in Rawang telling me that my half brother Musa bin Ahmad had passed away in a car accident. We rushed back to Kluang and witness his burial. May Allah bless his soul.

When we came back to KL, I just had such bad feelings about things. I had the urge to talk to my dad about things, but I never made the attempt. I called him a few times after that, but didn't manage to talk to him. There was one time though, I think it was on Wednesday, 16 Jan 2013, that he called me back. We talked briefly, then I passed the phone to my three kids as he always wanted to talk to them, Abang Iqie especially. 

Then on that fateful Friday (18 Jan 2013), my sister text me saying that Abah was warded in the hospital. I called my mum and we talked for a while. Then, I called Abah himself. We had a good chat, and as always I tried to make him feel bad about his smoking, and he jokingly said that he had threw all his cigarettes away. But he also mentioned that he was affected by a few of his friend's deaths after my brother's departure. The whole while we were on the phone, I could hear him trying to catch his breaths. Before putting down the phone, I told him to get some rest and that I would be seeing him soon. 

After talking to him, I just couldn't shake that worry away, like I already knew. And I actually cried in the office. My heart actually sank, and I immediately called my eldest sister, begging her to go back to Kluang and see how Abah was doing in the hospital. I was crying all the time. And when I was doing my Asar prayer, I felt that tingling feeling in my heart, and I was crying in my prayer.

Later that evening, my eldest sister called me to tell me to come home, to see Abah. She said that Abah didn't really look that good, that he was not his usually self.

When I was in the car with Hubby, I told him what I felt and that I wanted to go back that night to see Abah. But he dismissed my feeling saying that I got carried away, and that it was probably nothing. We had an argument in the car, and I will never forget what I said to him then. Though I was still feeling unsettled, I didn't press the issue.

Later that night at 2.30 am, 19 Jan 2013, the call came from my sister saying that Abah had been called by the Almighty. Only He knew how I felt, and how crushed I was...

Six days apart from arwah Musa bin Ahmad, and buried side by side...

Ya Allah, ampunkan lah dosa mereka.

Ringankan lah siksa kubur dan neraka.

Kau tempatkan lah mereka di kalangan orang2 yang beriman.

Al-Fatihah 

Mohd Syirhu bin Ahmad

Nazri bin Ahmad

Musa bin Ahmad

Ahmad bin Jaafar