Miles and miles of heart...

Today, the 7th of July is my mom's birthday and also a memorable day for me. They say that there is a first for everything... and rightly so too... in my entire 21 years of full time employment, this is the first time that I have not received my salary. As I blog this... the money is in my account but it won't be accessible till Friday. So, if I can't use it then technically I have not received it. If I remember correctly the law requires that an employer pays their employees no later by the 7th of each month. In this context I would assume the law meant 'clear for use' and not bank in a cheque by the given date. My claims for two months have not been reimbursed and my EPF not credited since I started with them.

Alarm bells ringing no? Yeah... if it was just anyone else then yes. I took this job knowing that there would be some risks. I checked with my colleagues who have been with the company longer... they say that so far this is the worst case... they have experienced all this before but it was cleared every three months or so. So far this is the longest... from January they say.

On Monday, when I still did not receive word on my pay I called the boss and asked what's happened? I was told that the big boss would be in the office on Monday to sign the cheques but he didn't turn up. Apparently, they were summoned by the co-owner to discuss a meeting they were going to have with the banker on Tuesday. This meeting was after the involvement of the VVIP that I mentioned last week. So, Wednesday  is  when he will sign the cheques it seems... ok... what can I say?

So... yesterday evening... curious on how things went I sms-ed my boss...

Me: No news?

Boss: No bad news but will need some time for the CEO to work it out.

Me: As long as you, Big Boss and Dato are acceptable with the resolve then I think we're all ok. Are you?

Boss: With all the money invested in, why would we not. We are looking at the best interest of the future of the hotel by taking a loan with the lowest interest rate thats why we rather go through all this hardship to get it. We are not the type of business people that just grab whatever come along and let the hotel die of natural death in the future.

Me: Any indication when we can start?

Boss: I know and understand that you and the sales people are in a lot of uncertainty at the moment but if we can get through the first time, there is no reason why we cant now. But anyhow, if any of you should feel that its too risky or its not worth hanging on i do honestly understand. I have my dilemma too, all of you are hand picked by me and i trust all of you on the success of the hotel. I do worry that you all may not be able to hang on but like what i say, we need to look at the long run of the

Boss: I am not telling you all that i want to lay anyone off so dont get me wrong. I am merely being honest and so hope that you all will try to understand and hopefully, stick by us to see the opening of the hotel which will be by end of this year hopefully with the swimming pool and the ground floor of phase 2.

Me: That's all the assurance that I needed. Thank you. We will open together.

Hmmm... hit a raw nerve... any typos in there are as is.

Ok... my boss has very little management experience. Maybe she's managed a handful of people but nothing in my capacity. So we have to excuse her lack of understanding in many areas. Maybe I should suggest that she enroll herself for the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People... then maybe she could have saved all of us the misery. If she had been proactive and seek to understand what our concern were and then address those concerns we wouldn't be uncertain would we? Habit #1... Be Proactive... Habit #5... Seek to understand before being understood... Habit #6... Synergize.

I guess that's why I am going to run the place and not her... as I have said to many of my colleagues... actually you don't need to attend the 7 Habits thingy... all you need to do is watch the movie The Replacements. All you need is miles and miles of heart... and everything else will happen naturally.

So... what would you do? Persevere or abandon ship?