Understanding In The Workplace

You see that little link on the right? The one that says "Where I work"? Have you clicked on it yet? Well if you have, you'd have an idea of what I do at work. Pretty impressive huh? It gets a little more impressive when people in my appointment do a little math and realise that we are answerable for an average of half a million dollars in revenue every 12-hour shift. Haha. If only even a fraction of that revenue were to come to our pockets. Bleah.

Anyway, considering that the company that I work for is considered one of the premier companies in Singapore, and a leader in the industry in the world, you'd think that its HR practices are amongst the best in the world; and to a certain extent, and with certain yardsticks, I believe it really is. My company pays really competitively, there are a host of benefits, from medical and dental, company chalets, insurance coverage, etc and the view from atop some of our quay cranes are downright breathtaking.

So why is it that in my department, in my appointment alone, were there 5 resignations within two months? Considering that in my particular appointment there are only 20 people, 5 is like 25%. What is wrong with my company that makes us want to leave? And I make no bones about it. At this exact point in time, if there was an opening for me with a similar pay scale, I'd be off in a flash. I have actually been thinking about leaving for a time, but never has the feeling been stronger than in the last 6 months.

Strangely, this feeling of wanting to leave coincides roughly with the arrival of our newest and latest department head. She happens to be a pregnant female, but I strongly believe that is besides the point. The main grouse I have is that she has had no operational knowledge at all in the first place. She has tried to learn a lot I have to admit, but all that she's learnt thus far are theory lessons, with absolutely no practical basis. As such, instructions have been given which are sometimes weird at best and over-reactionary at worst (I'd love to use the word disastrous, but so far we have been able to avoid that). In addition, when we run into problems and try to explain to her, we either run into a brick wall, or simply get questioned in return.

I thought that one of the responsibilities in the role of being a leader was to provide guidance? Well, we certainly aren't getting all that much of it in this instance. Instead all we get are more questions that exasperate us and tell us our leader is as confused or more than we are. It doesn't help that when she questions, some of the questions are so basic that we are afraid of telling her the truth for fear of insulting her intelligence. To cut everything short, all of the people in my department are suffering from a state of anomie.

As I continue working, I am starting to believe that the main way to promote a healthy working environment and to have a happy workforce is very simply, to provide the workers with understanding; understanding of the problems we face, and the knowledge to provide constructive and creative suggestions on how to handle those problems, not simply to throw those questions back in our face. Yes, the position of a leader can oftentimes be a lonely one, and it is one with responsibility. Acknowledging that, it is time that corporations choose their department heads with more care, in order to address what I feel are the most basic needs of a worker: the need for empathy and understanding.