How Good is Good Corporate Governance?

Corporate Governance definition:
The set of processes, customs, policies, laws, and institutions affecting the way a corporation (or company) is directed, administered or controlled.

Corporate governance also includes the relationships among the many stakeholders involved and the goals for which the corporation is governed. The principal stakeholders are the shareholders, management, and the board of directors. Other stakeholders include employees, customers, creditors, suppliers, regulators, and the community at large.(Source: Wikipedia)

Good Corporate Goverance (GCG), The Big Three Words in corporate world since the collapse of giants corporations in U.S. due to fraudulent activities and financial reporting that may cause hundreds of employees lost their jobs and their pension fund.

It is closely related to a term Whistleblower: 

A person who raises a concern about wrongdoing occurring in an organization or body of people, usually this person would be from that same organization (Source: Wikipedia)

Objectives of GCG & Whistleblowing system:

Now, let's take a look what motivates companies to establish this system. It should be noted that this interpretation is purely based on my observation on 2 big companies that implemented GCG and Whistleblowing system in this country.

1. Both companies have a purpose to ensure a clean and transparent operations in the company. This system is proven to help the companies to deter any frauds occur in the companies, which could result a tremendous monetary loss. The fraud can be done internally (employees) or externally (customers, suppliers.

2. By preventing or taking action in response to any fraudulent activities, the companies could gain more profit especially when the written agreement has the provision to penalize the accused as many as 2 times or even 10 times from the calculated loss (this may include interest rates).

3. GCG and Whistleblowing system definitely could boost company's image by raising public confidence in the company's transparency to disclose any wrongdoing that may affect shareholders' profitability.

Moral responsibility:

Making Choices

My department where I work now currently has 9 vacancies. My boss asked us to refer our friends to fill the positions. Many of my co-workers don't want to offer this to their friends because they think working in here is not a really good option. By referring friends here, it means dragging them to "hell".

I used to think like that. But hey, this is real life. Nothing is perfect. We always perceive what we don't have is better than what we have. People often fail to see the positive side and be grateful for what happen in their life.

It's our choice how to perceive things. There are many things that I found unsatisfying. I can create a long list of negativity in my workplace. But, I can still learn something good from what I do now. How I handle myself in this situation is also a learning experience.

When there's a better option out there (again, this is based on perception, and hopefully right about it), I can move out to another company. Hence, it is okay to present the positive and the negative side of our workplace to our friends. Let them decide what's good for them.

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Why quitting from your job?

 In the last 6 months, there are 4 out of 18 people resigning from my department. In average, 1 person resigned every 1.5 month. Is it normal? Or is there something terribly wrong?

Following is my observation. The reasons they choose to work in the new company or to open his/her own business are:
1. Higher salary
2. Better benefits (health care, travel allowance, etc)
3. Flexible time and higher income

In summary, the reason of resigning from your job is MONEY.

There are so many self-help book about motivation at work that says money is not the real motivation. True! Our productivity at work depends on many factors other than money: the people, work environment, company's culture, job significance, career advancement, appreciation, etc. Our performance can be high or low based on those factors. But, what makes people decide to stay or leave is back to its root: monetary factor.

We never know what the new company's environment and culture would be like other than what is being said by the interviewer. Thus, our decision is made based on tangible factors.

For bosses out there, it is important to create a conducive work environment by providing intangible benefits. However, reviewing tangible benefit is no less important than the previous one.

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Professional or Loyal?

30 October 2009

Definition:
Professional - expert or specialist in the field one practice professionally
Loyal - faithful or devout to a cause

What I mean about professional in here is doing what you are good at, eg: marketing, logistic, etc. And loyal means being faithful to the company where you work or even to your boss.

What are you?
Which side do you lean on?
Why do you think that one is more important than the other?

4 Nov 2009

Responding to @ptbkr comment:
Yeap, you're right about my definition that is far too extreme :) I just wonder how far people are willing to abandon their professionalism for loyalty. Sacrificing professionalism might jeopardize work performance. Unless, you really like the new experience you're doing now.
I, myself, am a follower to your short-term loyalty idea. To be exact, I'm loyal to myself. I can stick with what I am good at or even try new profession at a new workplace. It gives us a broader knowledge about stuff happens in life.

So, here's the next question:
As a boss, what do you demand more from your subordinates? Loyalty or professionalism?