1 Company Person or a Job hopper?

Photo Credit to Resources.workable.com

I had a drink with an ex colleague last night and he was telling me about how disappointed he is with the company now and management has totally lost touch with people on the ground. He shared what happened during the townhall when the country director reminded everyone that they should ask questions that are relevant to the big picture of the company and stop asking questions like " Do we have a pay raise this year", " Will there be promotions this year?".  

This is not the first time he is doing it. I attended 1 of the townhalls ( I normally dont attend since it's a waste of time mostly. ) in 2021 when things were extremely difficult due to Covid. Just prior to the townhall, there was an "anonymous" survey and it's categorized by country.  Country A gave extremely negative rating and was very vocal during the townhall with regards to their concerns and the country director indirectly told everyone to shut up and stop asking questions that are not relevant to growth of the company. I was flabbergasted .

A quarter later, another survey was carried out. This time around Country A's participant dropped from 80% to 20%. The Q&A session of the townhall was extremely quiet as well. The country director got what he wanted. A quiet townhall for him to present so that he achieved his KPI of showing that the company cares for the employees and regularly provide updates of the company's global achievement and share price. 

I call this a charade of wayang. To pretend that they care but they actually dont care. Like what i told my ex colleague, they have mastered the way to gently cook the employees, the employees dont even realize they are being cooked alive until they are dead and burnt out and quit.  Abit like frogs. Amazingly it worked on majority of the employees. Alot of sticks and abit of carrot along the way.  This way of treating employees trickled down to the middle management. 

Long story short, our dept head was supposed to mediate between 2 ex colleagues who had a big quarrel. Dept head spoke to them individually and ended up telling 1 of them it's not his job to mediate, so he is already getting his hands dirty to help, so please be mindful of who they are talking with. I was flabbergasted again. 

End of the day, it is just business. Every man for himself especially if times are not good. I recently read this entry from woke salary man. I am sure it resonates alot with most of the people.  I belong to the millennial generation. I changed jobs 4 times in the past 14 years. I stayed in my first job after graduation for 5 years before I quit. I had alot of fun there, great colleagues, alot of parties, flat management style. Totally like a family, but my salary and position was stagnant. I had a 1.5% increment once. That was like 45 dollars. I was told company wasnt doing well.

On the other hand, Managers were brought in from the outside and I was told to "guide" the managers so that they can be my managers. Some of them stay at The Sail, just beside MBFC.  Abit weird leh dont you think? I can do what the manager is doing but I wasnt given the opportunity to move up. If the manager screwed up, the dept head comes to me and ask whats going on instead of asking the manager. 

Slowly i realised i am kept on the ground because i am a good foot soldier and i will never ever move up if not nobody will do the dirty job and still listen like a good boy. I also find my self becoming a saikang warrior. Things that cannot be solved by others will be given to me. There is a chinese saying 能者多劳。Direct translation is  "able people do more work". Slackers on the other hand, continue to slack. No managers like to be the one who sack people , so slackers continue to stay and the good workers have to deal with the fallout.  

I moved on. I was told i will regret. I never looked back. It was the best move in my life.  If you are wondering, all my bad experience are with local bosses. 

From then on, every 2-3 years Ill move to another company, I became a mercenary and i know that loyalty doesnt pay. Money talks. If I am supposed to do the same shit, i might as well do it with more money. I dont need a pat on my back or a gold star on my home work. Show me the money or at the very least benefits. In a way, I became the manager that was being air dropped into the new company. 

Credits to Woke Salary Man. That guy coming down from the helicopter? That was me. 

The ex-colleague whom i had a drink with has been in the Company for 15 years but he had to report to me. He is hardworking, he had good knowledge and good attitude but was never given the chance to move up, because he was like me, a very good foot soldier. You point him the direction, he will chiong for u. However, he is almost reaching the breaking point from what I see. My advice for him is to look for other companies. 

When i was a young graduate, i always thought that loyalty pays. You stick with a company, they will look out for you, take care of you. I was so wrong. It is a dog eat dog world. You fight for your own benefits and rights. If you are able to jump to another company that pays you better, do so. Dont regret it 5 years later thinking what if I made the jump then? Dont get me wrong, there is no need to job hop if the Company is treating you well and you are happy with what you are doing and what you have. The problem comes if you find yourself burnt out and you keep doing more and more with no adjustment to your remuneration package. 

What about you? Are you a loyalty person or a job hopper.





Comments

  1. I enjoy reading your article and you case is very relevant to me, I am with my current coy 20+ years now, although the reward is OK, but the job sucks, reason being the old bird, I am expected to solve problem be it work or staff issue, perpertually everyone will come to me instead of my head since they are relatively new and not knowing what is going on, so the choice is obvious for me to move on but the mthly 5 figures paycheck is poisonous...not something I could get out there so I am kind a stucked :p

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for reading my blog. If the company has toxic environment but pays well and the person is contented with it, there's no problem with it. The worst is what my ex colleague is facing now. Toxic environment, no progress, lousy pay. All he is holding out for is the boss suddenly realised people are leaving because of the poor condition which i told him...better take the initiative to go look for better prospect.

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  2. IMO most of us who are in the market for a while now all know the hard truths. Job hopping will definitely get you more money. There is seldom a co-relation between salary and your competency.

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    1. Indeed. Totally agree with you. I was naive when i first started working but im glad i didnt stay naive for more than 5 years.

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  3. Nice read. I’m a millennial like you but I haven’t reach million dollars in REIT yet. Haha. I have job hopped 4 times now to reach a 5 figure pay. Loyalty does not pay unless the company sees u as a high potential and groom you and promote you every 2-3 years.

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    1. I have been promoted 2 times over a span of 8 years with the company. Am I considered as high potential? But my pay don't have 5 figure, only medium pay...

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    2. Internal promotion normally doesnt include substantial pay raise. At least, that's mine and my wife's experience. Also need to see promote to what level? From junior exec to exec to senior exec? Or form exec to managerial role, or from managerial to director. This is based on the structure of the companies i am in, so may not be relevant to everyone. I know for banks, anyhow also have VP level..but doesnt mean pay is high.

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    3. From senior executive to managerial role. Don't think a manager can get 5 figure, Director yes.

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