stacysin’s blog

Recently I felt so down especially reading some external news that my company will file for “chapter 11″.  Thank God, this article dropped into my mail box to advise me to stay competitive and positive rather drown in the negativity.  Hope this piece of information could help some iLand readers.

It’s very hard to concentrate when your employer tells you layoffs are coming but won’t say when or whether your own job is safe. It’s a nerve-racking time. Here are tips for making the best of it.

Avoid gossip

It may seem impossible, but try to avoid chattering with co-workers about what may or may not happen. It will only stress you out and make you lose focus on your job. Don’t whine, either. Even though everyone is on heightened alert, when a cubicle-mate notices two managers conferring behind closed doors, don’t fuel the rumor mill by furiously e-mailing back and forth. It won’t help anyone.

Be your own advocate

Once word gets out that layoffs are imminent, you know the bosses are busy deciding who will stay and who will go. Poor performers will be the first out the door. Refresh the bosses' memories of all the good work you’ve done this year. Start by saying how much you enjoy working at the firm, and let them know you’re willing to try new roles within the organization. Recall the goals that were set at your last performance review and show how you’ve met them. Pass along compliments on your work from clients.

Do good work

Get your work done and do it flawlessly. Ask for new projects and pitch ideas that will either earn money or save it for the firm. Ask your manager what else you can do to help.

Support the boss

Help the boss meet his or her own goals. There’s no better time to make yourself indispensable. Point out solutions, not problems.

Network

Of course, dust off your résumé. More important, network. Attend industry lunches to mingle with other people in your field. Contact your mentors and former bosses and colleagues. Find out who is hiring and what the growing areas of your field are. To expand your contacts, get a profile on the networking site LinkedIn, if you don't already have one.

Don’t job hunt at work

Of course you’re looking for a new job–you’d be irresponsible not to. But don’t do it at the office. (Or at least keep it to a minimum.) You never know when your company might be monitoring online activity, and you don’t want to get caught spending two hours on job boards or printing out your résumé. You do want to be viewed as intensely loyal.

Preserve important items

Once you know there’s a possibility of a layoff, copy anything personal you might need from your work computer, such as examples of your work and contact information, and put it on your computer at home. Just make sure you're abiding by company policy.

Due to the global financial crisis, many people are affected.  Companies start to cut cost and headcounts.  Job cuts caused many families to tighten their belts.  More extreme cases were people started to end their lives.  People are stressed out due to the uncertainities towards the future.  For those people who are still with their jobs are hovering around with negative thoughts, facing more challenges as more tasks are piled up on their desks with the job cuts.  However, they are not sure when they would receive the termination letter. 

Somehow, I cannot escape I am definitely one of the people who are affected in the latter mentioned group of people who are struggling with my works.

But when i wake up every morning I thank God and I feel bless because I could get up to go to work because I still have a job.  Market is down, but it will climb up again.  Let’s me to ready, do the best I could to live up each day.  Perhaps it is not easy when I sit down at my office desk and start the day with that endless works.  I continue to fight with my boss, because he doesn’t listen to my advices most of the time due to his ego.  I never stop trying as I trust my intution which I believe is important in my daily life.

Last week, he mentioned to me that his performance review was really bad, we ought to change the way of work otherwise we would be doomed.  I replied I never thought I was not in trouble.  He followed by some new instructions and asked me to follow up. It was not pleasant to change the entire way of work, I still ought to take it because I needed my salary though it would be another year without increment. (Sigh)  Sometimes, I wonder why boss(es) are so difficult to please….

Later I received a phone call, my church buddy, asking for help on the project.  They are short-handed.  Well, knowing the tight schedule of this year, I already rejected them twice.  It was a third call.  I obliged even though it was really hard to accommodate with the busy work schedule.  Friends are hard to please too… they do not understand my working stress and problems.

Everyday when I reach home, I do not feel like doing anything anymore.  I stare blank outside my balcony wonder when all these troubles gonna to end.  I am feeling tired, pains are over all parts of my body. I finally fell sick….

Until I read the following quote, I found some peace from it. I would like to share with all of my iLand friends may encounter endless problems.

What then are we to do about our problems? We must learn to live with them until such time as God delivers us from them, we must pray for grace to endure them without murmuring. Problems patiently endured will work for our spiritual perfecting. They harm us only when we resist them or endure them unwillingly.

GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU, MAY HIS GRACE BE WITH YOU ALWAYS.

Yesterday lunchtime after having the Soya-bean cuisine at Geylang, my superior, Alpha, suggested driving and showing my Philippine colleague the Red Light District in Singapore at Geylang. Since we were in his car we had to tag along with his agenda.

It was 1 pm in the afternoon while we drove along the Red Light District. While driving he described the area like a professional tour guide. I was wondering where he gathered the information, or was he one of the patrons who patronized such places. I recalled he also shared with us when he visited Amsterdam, he also took a short walk around the Red Light District. Why such places are so interesting for men? Perhaps they have no guts to engage their services, they very much would like to admire the voluptuous ladies stood along the road to quench their desires and satisfy their lust in some ways.

As we drove along the streets we saw Thai, Chinese, Malay girls were standing. While my colleagues were curiously asking questions, in silence I could not stop pitying the ladies. Somehow my guilty conscious curdling in my stomach, looking at them in the car as if watching tigers, lions, elephants, giraffes in the Africa Safari. Alpha explained to us these ladies were holding social passes in order to stay in Singapore for just a couple of months. After then they would have to go home or cross over to Malaysia so to stamp their passports at the Immigration. Although they earn up to S$10,000 per month, in my opinion this huge sum of money to exchange their body, integrity and dignity is not easy earned money. Once a woman falls into this trade, there is no turning back. Not many ladies are as fortunate as Julie Robert starred in 'Pretty Woman', would meet Richard Gere, the rich guy and changed her life ever after.

In the car as Alpha mentioned the types of girls and services, the prices and their operating hours, the various ways of how people evaluate their services. It is operated like a normal business. How would this guy know so much about this business? Is he somehow involved in the operation or engage their services? Obviously I dare not question, later over the conversation I realized he did a research over "Prostitution in Singapore". He probably wanted to share his knowledge over the research, unknowing that his excitement revealed on his face was lust and pride. He also told us that there was a guy, Samuel Leong, set up a website provide the reviews and profiles of these prostitutes.

How could people so numb about such operation? Don't they know it is humiliating to take it as a normal business? As I pointed out, another colleague replied: "Stacy dear, prostitutes existed for more than 2000 years. These women in such trade are discriminated ever since. Hence nothing we can do about it". Came to this point, I kept myself quiet and rebuked within, "Then we should not even encourage by running through the street mocking, laughing and discussing in the car."

It saddened me till I went back to the office. Trying to forget my emotions and thoughts about what I saw, I soaked myself into my heavy workload. Suddenly Alpha started to remind me about the incident. "Look Stacy, as you know Jesus will return not just for the saints, He will come for the sinners like those prostitutes." I replied: "I do not really know who Jesus will bring up with Him when He returns, I just feel guilty and sad of just viewing but cannot change the situation. I am no saint, not even near it. The scene made me puke. It is due to poverty the ladies forced to be into such trade. On the other hand, we should not encourage or even mock in that way we just did." I wish to reserve my comments however as a woman in this century I felt insulted whereby I could not hold back anymore.

Due to some restructurings in my company, I felt demotivated at work somehow. Saying ‘no time’ to blog is an excuse, I am drained by so many uncertainties in my daily life for the moment. There are many things happening around, I ask God “why”?

Somehow, I receive answers to my questions and doubts through many ways. One of them is the below article. It mades me understood why companies were doing certain things. It taught me how to move on with the organization strategically. Hope it would help some of you in some ways.

God love us.

Race ahead during the economic downturn with strategies to perk up your organization's efficiency.

In the aftermath of the United States sub-prime mortgage crisis and with oil and commodity prices escalating, the global economy is getting gloomier.

As part of the global business community, your organization has already or will most likely be impacted. How makes the best of the change in the economic climate?

Here is a list of steps you might want to follow to prepare your organization for a rebound:

(1) Focus on improvement

Take advantage of the slowdown to improve your products, services staff on your skills will be even stronger when the economy improves and your business gets better.

(2) Add value

When it comes to business, do not confuse creativity with invention and innovation. Creativity is related to people's mindsets and about making new connections. Invention is related to skill sets and about creating new things in a physical reality.

Innovation is about thinking up new ways to add value to other people's lives. Innovate with a clear focus on increasing your top line, bottom line and customer engagement or you end up wasting time and money.

(3) Make informed changes

Seize the opportunity to get customer feedback. Do not ask your customers directly what they want through surveys as they do not understand your business as well as you do and cannot see it from your perspective.

Get your employees to ask your customers what they want. Then get your employees to improve on their demands.

(4) Embrace the age of disruption

This is an age of disruption, short attention spans and faster half-lives. Pay closer attention to value propositions and core values. Learn to build greater value propositions and observe how people are actually buying to coincide with their core values. This will give your subsequent marketing a new competitive edge once the economy picks up.

(5) Make a commitment to excellence

Discover what the greatest leap forward is and strive to excel at it. Collaborate with willing parties, bring together value propositions, clarify individual and collective gains and you will magnify your chance of success.

People are far more willing to collaborate in bad times, when a new angle is needed, than boom times when everyone is too caught up with doing business.

(6) Do what is necessary first

In sporting jargon, 'downtime' is called posted-season and a time for athletes to recuperate followed by a pre-season, a time for them to train and shape up. In business jargon, 'down-time' refers to a downturn and 'pre-season' a tough.

Focus on your core business. Identify the few thins you need to do well right now and get it done. Do not try to do everything. Concentrate on the vital aspects first.

(7) Stop selling

To benefit from a lasting value proposition, you need to stop selling and focus on having people fall in love with you, your ideas, products, services and experiences instead.

This is the time to ignore fads and look for the established principles that has given rise to them. Stop attempting to get people to buy what they do not want and figure out what they need, want and desire instead.

(8) 'Would not it be great if '

Work with your team and identify 10 propositions that would be great for both your customer and the company. Then look for ways to implement them.

Conduct a 100 New Ideas and Ideals Workshop and focus on the few that you and your staff think is best to work on.

(9) Evaluate your people

Do a quick evaluation of all your people. What are their strengths and weaknesses? What personality traits do you think would make your business grow and what personality traits can you do without? Who is living up to their potential and who is not?

All these are important questions as your people are either your competitive assets or liabilities. Invest in research, development and innovation so you can compete better when the economy picks up.

Here is a joke about “Prayer Wanted”…

As the storm raged, the captain realized his ship was sinking fast. He called out, “Anyone here know how to pray?”

One man stepped forward. “Aye, Captain, I know how to pray.”

“Good,” said the captain, “you pray while the rest of us put on our life jackets - we’re one short.”

After reading this joke, reminded me about the “poor” coffee machine which was yelling for HELP this morning. It was so pathetic, full of coffee waste in the disposal bin, and also the pan filled of smelly and dirty rinsed water. It’s so sad to work in this company where most of the people are so reliance on other people because they decided not to employed an extra cleaner to clear our daily mess at the pantry. My dear colleagues are so efficient and diligent who concentrate in their jobs, even if they see the coffee machine which is shouting for “fill me with WATER or fill me with COFFEE BEANS these guys just simply walk away, then hoping the next kind soul would take up the extra task which is 15 minutes job.

Neither I am praising myself as a kind soul nor I am so great to sacrifice my valuable time for my ignorant colleauges. But because I am a coffee drinker and I love the coffee machine which serve me for years. I decided to spend that 15 minutes to clean it up.

Have you heard about the man who was shopping with his baby boy? The obviously distraught and screaming child sat in the shopping cart.

As the man walked up and down the aisles, he calmly and patiently repeated, “Don’t yell, Bobby. Calm down, Bobby. Don’t get excited, Bobby.”

A woman standing next to him turned and said, “You certainly are to be commended for trying so hard to soothe little Bobby.”

The bewildered man looked up and said, “Lady, I’M BOBBY!”

It all gets a little much sometimes. Have you taken inventory of the stress in your life? Stress can come from work. It can come from family. It can come from the places we live and the lifestyles we choose.

In a recent survey, 60 percent of respondents said the city in which they live is noisier now than five years ago. The other 40 percent? They didn’t hear the question.  How much stress do you feel? Though not all stress should be avoided, too much pressure can cause lasting harm in practically every area of your life. The solution is to take control.

Robert Reich did just that. As Secretary of Labor in the Clinton cabinet, Robert B. Reich, in an article published in the Op-Ed sections of the New York Times and Washington Post, told of his decision to resign from the stressful job. He said, “I have the best job I’ve ever had and probably ever will. No topping it.” It was true.

He seemed to love his job. But he added, “I also have the best family I’ll ever have, and I can’t get enough of them.” And there was the problem — too much of a good thing. He could not give himself to his family and to this particular career at the same time.

So Reich said, “I had to choose. I told the boss I’ll be leaving, and explained why.” His boss, of course, was the president of the United States. And the country took notice. Some people were stunned. Here was a high government official who made a decision to step out of an important and powerful position in order to spend the more time at home. He took control.

That is the first step to freeing ourselves from unnecessary stress: take control. Make the tough decision. It may be a decision for less money, a smaller home, a new location, a different job, less prestige, or a simpler lifestyle. But one thing I believe: it will be a decision you will never regret.

Written by Steve Goodier

Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” — Hebrews 13:5