Wednesday, April 28, 2010
I'm Loving It
My manager is on leave and that has left me with a lot more hours to work. Most people might grumble, but I'm actually loving it, and it's not because I'm getting more money out of it. Noooooo.... I'm actually loving the fact that I end up going home tired. Tired enough to fall asleep while thinking of the next line to type. At least it leaves me with less rubbish to think about, gives me a bit more sleep, and definitely giving me a lot more fun out of my day. Yay!
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
What Am I?
Am I not human? Do I come across as a person who does not have emotions? Do I look like a walking ear? Or am I just some machine on the other end of the line, recording your bitching, never to talk back or give any opinions?
What you did the other day was just bloody RUDE, and for you not to realise that I was pissed with you is just plain stupid. On top of that, even after sending you a message, you still didn't seem to take any initiative to even apologise. Worst of all you got the cheek to ask what can you do now, then ask if you should apologise, and then give such a shitty, non-committed apology that it was as though I was forcing it out of you. Seriously, I could have just kicked your balls in when you said that but you're lucky you were seated next to me and not across.
You say that you and your friends would argue about things and then forget about it the day after. But when, within the last 5 days, other than the exchange in the car, did I even get to argue anything? So maybe I'm not your friend, but do you ever stop and listen? The whole point about arguing is that you get things out in the open, that you voice what each of you think is wrong. Even in the car, what did I get to say? Honestly? All I got out was that I'm pissed off about the incident and then I was basically cut off, once again, by you saying that it's "such a small matter".
When you're the one being rude, it doesn't affect you as much as the one on the receiving end of that crap attitude. How did you like it when I didn't want to answer your questions? Did it feel like "some small matter" or did you start wondering if I was pissed off with you or something else? Did it feel nice that I didn't want to talk to you? Why all the questions to find out exactly what the problem was then?
I understand you're tired, that you've said your peace, but what makes you think that I've got nothing to say? What makes you think that just because you've reached home that it's alright to just cut me off and decide when, to your liking, that we would pick up the conversation again? If you wanted to bitch and not have any feedback, I suggest you start a private blog. But don't treat me as if I have no thoughts of my own, no feelings, no opinions. Don't treat me as though I'm some machine on the other end of the line to just hear what you have to say and then switch off once you're done.
Although I've gone through listening to so many people gripe, none have made me felt so used as you have. The worst part of it all is how disappointed you made me with the way you just think that it's some issue to be taken lightly, that apologising seems to be too much for something so "trivial".
What you did the other day was just bloody RUDE, and for you not to realise that I was pissed with you is just plain stupid. On top of that, even after sending you a message, you still didn't seem to take any initiative to even apologise. Worst of all you got the cheek to ask what can you do now, then ask if you should apologise, and then give such a shitty, non-committed apology that it was as though I was forcing it out of you. Seriously, I could have just kicked your balls in when you said that but you're lucky you were seated next to me and not across.
You say that you and your friends would argue about things and then forget about it the day after. But when, within the last 5 days, other than the exchange in the car, did I even get to argue anything? So maybe I'm not your friend, but do you ever stop and listen? The whole point about arguing is that you get things out in the open, that you voice what each of you think is wrong. Even in the car, what did I get to say? Honestly? All I got out was that I'm pissed off about the incident and then I was basically cut off, once again, by you saying that it's "such a small matter".
When you're the one being rude, it doesn't affect you as much as the one on the receiving end of that crap attitude. How did you like it when I didn't want to answer your questions? Did it feel like "some small matter" or did you start wondering if I was pissed off with you or something else? Did it feel nice that I didn't want to talk to you? Why all the questions to find out exactly what the problem was then?
I understand you're tired, that you've said your peace, but what makes you think that I've got nothing to say? What makes you think that just because you've reached home that it's alright to just cut me off and decide when, to your liking, that we would pick up the conversation again? If you wanted to bitch and not have any feedback, I suggest you start a private blog. But don't treat me as if I have no thoughts of my own, no feelings, no opinions. Don't treat me as though I'm some machine on the other end of the line to just hear what you have to say and then switch off once you're done.
Although I've gone through listening to so many people gripe, none have made me felt so used as you have. The worst part of it all is how disappointed you made me with the way you just think that it's some issue to be taken lightly, that apologising seems to be too much for something so "trivial".
I'd sooner be stupid than rude.
Stupidity can be forgiven, but unnecessary rudeness is rarely forgiven or forgotten.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Interesting Point
Why do talented employees leave companies?
The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition . "People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue." If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers . Are they driving people away?
Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors . You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one.
Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.
Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield:
Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks. In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself. Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage begun cracking up too.
Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting at an empty table. I knew
nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."
Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents.
When this goes on too long, an employee will quit -often over seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you."
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the
replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.
"Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies"between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy travelling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home. That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.
The answer lies in one of the largest studies undertaken by the Gallup Organization. The study surveyed over a million employees and 80,000 managers and was in a book called First Break All The Rules.
It came up with this surprising finding: If you're losing good people, look to their immediate supervisor. More than any other single reason, he is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why they quit, taking their knowledge, experience and contacts with them. Often, straight to the competition . "People leave managers not companies," write the authors Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. "So much money has been thrown at the challenge of keeping good people - in the form of better pay, better perks and better training - when, in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue." If you have a turnover problem, look first to your managers . Are they driving people away?
Beyond a point, an employee's primary need has less to do with money, and more to do with how he's treated and how valued he feels. Much of this depends directly on the immediate manager. And yet, bad bosses seem to happen to good people everywhere. A Fortune magazine survey some years ago found that nearly 75 per cent of employees have suffered at the hands of difficult superiors . You can leave one job to find - you guessed it, another wolf in a pin-stripe suit in the next one.
Of all the workplace stressors, a bad boss is possibly the worst, directly impacting the emotional health and productivity of employees.
Here are some all-too common tales from the battlefield:
Dev, an engineer, still shudders as he recalls the almost daily firings his boss subjected him to, usually in front of his subordinates. His boss emasculated him with personal, insulting remarks. In the face of such rage, Dev completely lost the courage to speak up. But when he reached home depressed, he poured himself a few drinks, and magically, became as abusive as the boss himself. Only, it would come out on his wife and children. Not only was his work life in the doldrums, his marriage begun cracking up too.
Another employee Rajat recalls the Chinese torture his boss put him through after a minor disagreement. He cut him off completely. He bypassed him in any decision that needed to be taken. "He stopped sending me any papers or files," says Rajat. "It was humiliating sitting at an empty table. I knew
nothing and no one told me anything." Unable to bear this corporate Siberia, he finally quit.
HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find public humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought gets strengthened. The third time, he starts looking for another job.
When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information. Dev says: "If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."
Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, too nit-picky. But they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents.
When this goes on too long, an employee will quit -often over seemingly trivial issue. It isn't the 100th blow that knocks a good man down. It's the 99 that went before. And while it's true that people leave jobs for all kinds of reasons - for better opportunities or for circumstantial reasons, many who leave would have stayed - had it not been for one man constantly telling them, as Arun's boss did: "You are dispensable. I can find dozens like you."
While it seems like there are plenty of other fish especially in today's waters, consider for a moment the cost of losing a talented employee. There's the cost of finding a replacement. The cost of training the
replacement. The cost of not having someone to do the job in the meantime. The loss of clients and contacts the person had with the industry. The loss of morale in co-workers. The loss of trade secrets this person may now share with others. Plus, of course, the loss of the company's reputation. Every person who leaves a corporation then becomes its ambassador, for better or for worse.
We all know of large IT companies that people would love to join and large television companies few want to go near. In both cases, former employees have left to tell their tales.
"Any company trying to compete must figure out a way to engage the mind of every employee," Jack Welch of GE once said. Much of a company's value lies"between the ears of its employees". If it's bleeding talent, it's bleeding value. Unfortunately, many senior executives busy travelling the world, signing new deals and developing a vision for the company, have little idea of what may be going on at home. That deep within an organization that otherwise does all the right things, one man could be driving its best people away.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Sometimes Things Just Appear At The Right Place, Just At The Most Perfect TIme.
"Don't let the last person that hurt you, rob you of loving someone new with ALL YOUR MIGHT"
"Keep an eye on ur happiness, if sum1 enters ur life, don't let em leave with it!"
Just when I wondered if I should let open up a bit more space for another person to add to my special list of best friends, and out pops little quotes that help answer the question. People say that we just twist things to suit our needs, but who knows if things do just land right in front of you at the right time?
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