Keep motivated!!

In the workplace, it can be very difficult to obtain staff motivation. There are many factors that play against staff motivation. It really is the manager's responsibility to motivate the employees. This can be very challenging at times.

There are six guidelines that a person can follow to achieve staff motivation.

1. A friendly working environment is extremely important to a positive attitude in the workplace. Socializing should be acceptable in most cases. People can work and socialize at the same time. There has to be interaction between the staff in order for them to form a bond and relationship to become a team.

Also, if coming to your job everyday is never fun, then you will have some very unmotivated workers on your hands. It must be an enjoyable place to spend 8-10 hours per day. This is crucial for staff motivation.

2. Helping the employees set goals for themselves is very important to gaining staff motivation. Everyone needs to know what his or her expectations are as well as their job description. A weekly staff meeting could be beneficial to a productive work place. It is a good idea to get their input and listen to any complaints.

3. The open door policy with management is a must. The staff must be able to come and discuss any problems or even ideas with the management, in confidentiality. They need to be able to give their feedback on issues. More importantly, the management needs the feedback.

4. Rewarding your staff with bonuses, promotions, employee of the month awards or raises will help motivate them. Even praise is encouraging to the employees. It lets them know that they are valuable to the team.

Without these rewards or praises, the staff will feel unappreciated and worthless. If they have these feelings, then they will not have any pride in their work and you will probably get low quality work.

5. Understanding that everyone works at a different pace and with a different style is a key to success, as well. There are many different personalities in one work place. It is the Managers job to listen and understand that everyone is different. To be flexible and understanding is another key to staff motivation.

6. It is so important for the Manager to leave room for error in every line of work. We are all human. There will be mistakes made. It is up to the boss to have an alternate plan in case of an error. A plan B to correct the problem.

All these ideas are a good place to start in achieving staff motivation in the workplace. Different things motivate different people. Staff motivation can be achieved by following these guidelines.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Murphy

LIVE BY THE SWORD AND DIE BY THE SWORD

All the brouhaha about Datuk Shahrir Samad quitting the post of Backbencher Club Chairman after failing the gain the support of his members, to follow-up Datuk Mohd Said Yusoff (BN-Jasin) over his remarks to “tutup sebelah mata” to the Customs.

The issue begins when one company in Malacca reports to Datuk Said over the company particular shipments of timber that being held by the Malacca Customs because the shipments exceed the specified requirement set by the Customs department itself.

So the perihatin Datuk went over to the Custom Department and complained about this, when the Customs officer said that rules are rules, he cited that they should turn a blind eye because it is just a small discrepancy.

When the news reached the opposition spearheaded by DAP, the motion was mooted in Parliament saying that the MP has stepped out of line by exceeding his capacity as an MP i.e. pulling the necessary strings to benefit certain party. Datuk Shahrir Samad supported the motion in Parliament but his members didn’t support his stance.

Realising this, he quit his post becoz he felt that he acted on his conscience, his mandate comes from his constituency but will be discipline because he did not acted within the party line.

My take is this, this is not the first time when MPs voted out of the party lines. In 2004, two Gerakan MP choose not to vote a motion in Dewan Rakyat becoz they felt their constituency will be at a disadvantage. The result, they were suspended for 12 months for failing to toe the party line.

In 2005, Datuk Sothi from MIC, was suspended for arguing with the Education Minister over the Russian Medical University fiasco. He argued that why did the Education Ministry approved the Russian College in 2002 then withdrew it approval in 2005. He pitied the students and parents who will suffered directly because their degree is no longer recognized by the govt. They will not be able to practice, rugi la kan…

Now this…

What happen about character, pure chivalry, and principles? If the MP is elected by the people, he should acted by the people consensus and behave accordingly. When an MP felt that some should “turn a blind eye” over one issue is a man of little ethical beliefs and a man of no integrity. This type of MP should be forced to resign because his blatant disregard of the law! The law is to protect the people and his behaviour acted against the wish of the people!

While a man like Datuk Shahrir Samad and Datuk Sothi are being suspended because they stood on their grounds, believe in their principle and knowingly acted in the best interest of the people.

All we learned in school and university about standing up for what we believe, acting on our principle are all a dream. We can no longer think beyond the boundary of what the govt. wanted us to think. The ruling party is absolute and absolute obedience is required.

What about our duties to the nation? To our beloved country? We love William Wallace in the movie “Braveheart” because he live and die on his principle that Scotland should be independent from England, We support Jerry Mecguire becoz he believe what he wrote and acted on it. Ellin Brokovich?

But now, we are told that all this can only happen in movies. The drama…and the triumph of good over evil is all bullshit. In reality perhaps, the bad guys win!

Alas…I believe that finally we have reached the pinnacle of our country governance, where principle and ethics are dead. We can no longer dream that one man can make a difference ..because you obviously can’t because you will acted out of the party line.

Ah…the euphoria of being controlled spiritually and physically!!

Change of time...

Had a long discussion with a couple of buddies of mine, not that we haven’t met each other for a long time but it is just a topic that came on its own.

In life, upbringing and surrounding plays an important part. In the old days, 10 years after independence, people especially malays tried to crawl of poverty. After independence, there were approximately 10 English schools throughout Malaya, there has been more than 5 chinese schools but there officially, there is only 1 Malay school.( based on some readings these guys had…)

So, malay parents who were predominantly farmers tried to get the necessary education for their children, to elevate their purchasing power and frankly, better future for them. Education was paramount and getting a job was like a dream come true.

Chinese was and still very dominant in commerce and trade, so money is something very precious for them. From hardship in mainland China, they migrated and make something of themselves here. People like Loh Boon Siew, who came with a biscuit in his pocket and a plain shirt on his back, managed to have 18 buses when he reached 18 and the rest is history ler…Lim Goh Tong also had the same background, they had hardship and made it on their own.

People need goals and ambition, they have desire and needs, Abraham Maslow’s though so, Herzberg felt the same way, it’s basic and it’s rule of the world.

So that’s why we are wondering why they are some part of the society lost their way after our earlier generations fought and built this nation?

Do we get complacent? Are we already achieved social euphoria? Have we achieved zero poverty? ( Tgk la “ Bersamamu”-masih lagi ramai yg miskin)

Kenapa anak2 melayu kita masih lagi hayal dgn bermotosikal? Budak2 muda sama ada sekolah menengah atau university sibuk berkonvoi entah ke mana, berlumba haram, membingitkan suasana entah utk apa, budak2 sekolah rendah sibuk main basikal, meniru gaya abg2 mereka yg wheelie ataupun gaya superman! Ini jadi idola mereka …Mawi jadi idola mereka biarpun Mawi curang pada tunangnya kerana usha Diana Rafar? Heh..heh saje aje tuh. Melayu kan suka hiburan?? Kan..kan...

Kenapa anak2 Cina sibuk berdisko, main ”ice” dan berlumba kereta? Duit yg ibu bapa beri dihabiskan ke kelab2 malam, disko and berkaraoke. Ada yg sudah tidak mampu menanggung gaya hidup hingga Ah Long jadi rakan baik mereka, tidak mampu bayar hingga mahu terjun bangunan tinggi?

Kenapa anak2 India tidak habis sekolah hingga terlibat dgn jenayah? Ramai yg berpeleseran dan rata2 tak tahu hala tuju hidup mereka. Adakah kerana ketua masyarakat mereka tidak memainkan peranan utk membentuk minda dan kehidupan sosial mereka? Jika kita tgk berita pun, keluarga india banyak yg masih duduk setinggan, ramai yg masih buat odd jobs...kenapa?

Maka kami pun berpendapat bahawa ada benarnya bila The Star menyatakan Malaysia menghadapi brain drain yg dahsyat, kerana Malaysia gila membina World Class infrastructure tetapi lupa membina mentality first class. Hospital canggih tapi jururawat ramai yg masih tak faham erti customer service, pegawai kerajaan yg tinggal di Putrajaya, ibu kota penuh prasarana yg hebat namun masih pergi minum pukul 10 pagi hingga jam 12.

Ini mewujudkan ”false” pretense seolah2 kita sudah berjaya sedangkan pembangunan infrastruktur tidak semestinya membangunkan minda rakyat. Kita sebenarnya memcemburui Singapura, sebuah negeri kecil, tidak mempunyai banyak resources seperti Malaysia, namun lebih jauh maju dari segi physical dan mental. Malah pasukan bolasepak mereka pun sudah hentam Malaysia berkali2..bayangkan Malaysia mempunyai 25 juta penduduk berbanding Singapura?

Di mana silapnya kita? Situasi masih sama....anak2 melayu kita masih juga mencari kerja biarpun kelulusan universiti, masih alpa dgn hiburan dan cerita2 artis, umur sudah menjejaki 30-an, masih belum mampu memiliki rumah sendiri, melangsaikan hutang kereta ..ada yg belum bekeluarga pun kerana masih tak cukup simpanan. Apa sudah jadi?

Mana perginya syarikat2 bumiputra yg sepatutnya memberikan peluang pekerjaan kepada anak2 melayu kita sendiri? Oh lupa...biasanya org2 melayu yg menerajui syarikat2 bumiputra ini sudah lupa bahawa mereka melayu, malah ada yg menyatakan mereka malu kerana mereka melayu. Saya pernah mendengar dgn telinga saya sendiri seorg ketua pegawai eksekutif Melayu menyatakan saya hanya memilih org yg mampu buat kerja, org melayu mudah leka...so saya cuba elakkan jika boleh.

Sedih juga tetapi itu realitynya, I am all for racial integration namun saya tidak akan terima racial discrimination, apatah lagi yg melakukannya org kita sendiri, kulitnya sama, bangsanya sama tapi lagaknya lebih dari org putih. Perhatikan sendiri, org kita tidak lagi senyum pada pelanggan, org yg lebih tua, utk menyatakan terima kasih kepada juruwang di Giant ataupun Carrefour jauh sekali kerana mungkin ramai yg rasa dia hanya seorg juruwang, aku gajinya beribu ...masakan aku kena mengucapkan terima kasih?

Kami bersurai tanpa sebarang pengertian mahupun hala tuju yg nyata. Tapi saya akui saya kecewa dgn apa yg berlaku ketika ini...entah apa yg terjadi di masa hadapan, jika org kita masih lagi alpa dgn AF4, One in A Million, Jom Heboh tapi kurang minat pada kunci khazanah, kuiz2 ilmiah.

Fikir2 kan ....