When Tears and Sweat Paid Off

In the company, end of March every year is a very significant time. Tension builds up, anxiety heightens and anticipation triples. All because of yearly performance bonus. You'll hear nothing but the talk of bonus everywhere you go - in the meeting room, at the corridors, at lunch, and even in the restrooms. That is the hottest topic of the month - every year. Now that March is almost over, (almost) everyone is relief. They know now whether or not their tears and sweat paid off.

Priceless..!

I for once was very happy. The first time in my life, I was rewarded far beyond my expectations. At times, I felt like pinching myself to make sure that I'm not in a cruel dream. In February, I was recognised as a Future Leader by the management in a special ceremony. What I've done for the company has been specifically mentioned either by my Head of Department or personally by my CEO. It felt good...

By then, my Head has started to drown me with a lot of assignments. And so far alhamdulillah, his comments were positive. And then, on 26 March, I was called to his room for a chat. That was when he told me his plan for me in the company. I was to assume bigger role and responsibilities in preparation for me to run the department :)) How big is that...?? And I have only been in the company for 1 freaking year ;)

Then, came the letter... it said I was promoted to a higher position and that my bonus and increment were THAT MUCH..!! Another OMG...!! In my 12 years of working experiences, I had never been rewarded THAT MUCH... Again alhamdulillah. I thanked Allah, I thanked my Head and lastly, I text my CEO to personally thank him. He called me to 'deliver his key messages' - he wanted me to stay in the company longer!

You know what... in 1 day, all those late nights, those blood and tears spilled seem to worth it. Now I know why people stay in this industry. And the looks on  the faces of the people in the department - priceless!!

Ieja

The Appraisal of Life

It's that time of the year where most people who are the employees of an organisation need to do this exercise at least once every year. I am no exception. Yes... it's December and most companies close their financial year by end of December. Hence, those who are in charged of the performance and rewards are now busy with staff appraisal to justify their work performance, which eventually will affect the staff's salary increment or bonus.

I am never a fan of this kind of system. However elaborated your justification is to show how you are indispensable or an asset to the company, it all boils down to certain figures or ratings that are used by the company to see if you really are eligible for that extra compensation.

I have always been in companies that did not have a standard practice of compensating the staff with annual bonus. So, this is something  new to me. What I notice is that those who are in the companies that practice this annual bonus as part of their competitive rewards scheme would not take it well if they feel that they are not being given as what they expect to get. In other words, they think it is given, or it's the company's obligation to give them all this annual salary increment or bonus. When they don't get those, this is when I see some of the hell doors break open.

What they don't realise is that it is at the company's discretion that they actually get those bonuses, where the fine print always says "subject to the company's financial performance, and individual employees' work performance". If they are labelled as 'below threshold', in which God's universe would the company is obligated to award them with the annual bonus.

The funny thing about all these people is that the talk about their "work performance" and the subject of "bonus" only comes out when it is time for them to be appraised. Whatever happens in January to November? Have you done your reality check with your bosses if you actually meet their expectations at all?

Oh well... I hope I'm not going to be affected by these people. I haven't been given bonuses for God knows how long. So this year, if I really do get that kind of rewards, that really is a "bonus" for me :)

ieja