A Higher Level of Excellence

by Dato’ Syed Ahmad Idid, ABMP 1983

Triple A Awardee 2006

“Satisfactory performance in your work is the lowest level you can allow yourself. The aim is to get to the higher level of excellence!”

It is always a pleasure to meet young, diligent and aspiring people because they will have to take over the running and managing and improving the administration of the universities, or their corporations if they are in the private sector, or their agencies, departments, or ministries if they are in the government. The worn-out cliché was:  “Youth–our future.” But many among the present day youth have proved to be useless and are passengers in the over-crowded buses that are driven by only the very few. I urge you to be among the few.

The AIM Experience

 

I shall share with you the time when I attended the Advanced Bank Management Program in the 1980s. It was the time when the Philippines was in the middle of their People Power Revolution. They were against their President Ferdinand Marcos. My colleague Mr. Raffii Shukor and I had to travel from the AIM Campus in Makati across to Ermita for our Halal meals. The streets were busy and traffic was chaotic. More like the rainy Friday nights when vehicles into Kuala Lumpur are driven by people who have left their good manners in prison or by robots who could not recognise a human being!

The Manila buildings were draped with buntings. Workers and residents in the high-rise buildings would throw pieces of paper, some looked like toilet or tissue paper, onto the roads and streets. They did not really target the pedestrians and vehicles. But they hit both anyway. We did not know the intensity of the anger of the Filipinos and so we enjoyed the scenery. But when the minute came for the President to depart, the dangers increased and the environment became volatile. And this is one management lesson we were reminded of—be aware of the circumstances you are in. Or else the circumstances can swallow you and crush you! One glaring example must be Napoleon Bonaparte. He boasted that he was in control of the circumstances. So he rushed to conquer Russia. The Russian winter ate up his army.

My Professors

 

I recall that they were dedicated. It seemed to me (and the years proved this to be true) that their lives were only at the AIM Campus. I did not hear of moonlighting. Unfortunately, some of you may know of lecturers working outside their IHL (Institutes of Higher Learning). And so they suffer from fatigue (letih!).They fail to perform well at the IHL which employ them full time! The AIM teachers gave off their best. The SOP was the case studies. And you will get more when you attend at the AIM in Manila the week after.

The AIM classes made sure we paid attention in class and imbibed the lessons. I am proud that I won the Superior Performance Plaque for being active in class, able to answer questions and for leading the discussions. But only I knew that I had stayed up late into the nights to re-read my notes and read new materials…and be in class before time each morning.

The next lesson I like to share with you is that “education is not only what the teachers provide you but what indeed you learned” (which naturally means that one can gain more by one’s efforts).

Executive Management

 

Your employers (and those going into self-employment later) will expect you to perform your work substantially better after this program. They have spent thousands of RM on you. Your colleagues who have not the chance to attend such a program are jealous. They can shun you or start rumours that you are worse than before. So your only course of action is to show them that you have indeed improved!

Think global but stay local!

I realise that when anyone speaks to the MBA or EMP graduates, we should aim high and be flying with ideas and bright sparks. But I have seen with sadness that many graduates fail to perform when they return to their posts. Tolerate me if I remind you that satisfactory performance in your work is the lowest level you can allow yourself. The aim is to get to the higher level of excellence!

Everyone here knows that employers and businesses will never accept any non-performer. Bosses expect every employee, every subordinate to achieve better results in the areas they are placed in. Public Bank (which selected me to attend the AIM program) has a value placed on each worker. And so each year the Bank increases its profits so that the worker-value rises. Another bank, an international, terminates 10% of their employees with the worst grading each year. Both develop very strong people in their organizations. So please relax and go home with the authoritative truth that when the corporations or universities raise their standards they are, in reality, building a better crop of human beings. Don’t you want it that way?

Perhaps you are asking “What do I do?”

When you are young, you will be judged by your competency (capacity to perform, ability to achieve). But later in life, it will be your character that will determine your acceptance in society and the World. First, I recommend you improve both your knowledge of your work and become conversant with the rules and SOP at your office, department or unit. Put into practice and revise TMS = Time & Motion Studies and so gain efficiency and effectiveness at work. In so doing, you can cut down any misuse of office time. Once you eliminate those who stealthily carry out their private “business”, the results in the work-site will improve and increase. Have check-lists and timelines and observe them rigidly. Be certain you do proper work at faster paces. Quality! Quality! Quality! And then ask to do more!

The sickness of waiting for instructions must be cured. Instead, go forward and ask to do more work and do them better than expected. The old Malays had been good Management Consultants. They cautioned that “Jika Malu, akan sesat Jalan” (If one is shy to ask for directions, one can get lost!). Modern day consultants can add: “Jika segan, mana nak cari makan?” (If your performance is poor, how can you gain any remuneration?)

I took my grandchildren to the Public Gardens some months ago for our weekly morning walk. When we approached the staff to inquire when the recently renovated “trains” would operate, we were told that they were waiting for the “Tuan Besar” to give the orders. I inquired if the “Tuan Besar” knew that the “trains” were ready for use by the public. Their nonchalant response was: “Dia tak Tanya!” “He (the “Tuan Besar” or Big Boss) did not ask”! (if the trains had been renovated). Could the Boss have known that the renovations (and any repairs) had been done without those responsible for the “trains” informing him?

Another sad example is the KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu). They started with 64 Electric Multiple Units (EMU). Deterioration in service became the norm! Again the old Malays had warned: “Penyakit Tak Peduli” (The disease of “Not being concerned!”) kills the business. They had breakdowns due to poor maintenance. By early last year, they had only 21 trains in service. The travelling frequency used to be 15 minutes. But now, I am told, it is at about 50 minutes to more than an hour.

In your work-sites, check whether your vehicles can last at least 30% to 40% longer than the norm (or do these have to be replaced in half the time?). Do the air-con units work or are there frequent break-downs? Why permit the staff to waste energy and paper by their repeating mistakes several times just to prepare periodical returns? You must ensure every staff embraces the work ethics of “Do it right the first time”. What is the percentage of late-comers and those who seem to fall sick just before and just after weekends and public holidays? There are hundreds more incidents, errors and mishaps at the work-places…all unnecessary and all due to human failure and their lackadaisical attitude!  The oldsters in Tanah Melayu (before Malaysia) carried into practice without knowing “TG mesti TJ” (Terima Gaji mesti Tanggung Jawab!) In English, when one receives remuneration, one is obliged to carry out full responsibilities.

We have this disease of our workers avoiding work. Some have built this into a culture where “if you do less, your value increases”. You will agree with me that this is nonsense! But the culture seems to thrive. It has permeated to the country level where some leaders think that if everybody does less, we can employ more people! Seems logical, seems strategic. But the overall impact will be a nation of “SDM” (Segan Dan Malas or unwilling to work and lazy/doing little work).Then for sure we cannot aim high, we cannot get to the moon. We are just on the grass level all the time. I do not think even for a moment that such a “culture” is what we want for our universities, for our nation! For sure such a culture diminishes our importance and demolishes our nation.

The beautiful ingredient for our success is that we have Malaysians who have talents, who use their brains and can do excellent work. They can perform beyond what is required in their job-specifications. But some superiors or supervisors kill the initiative of such Malaysians. The supervisors are themselves not qualified, not competent and not up to the mark. So they fear the better-quality workers might over-shadow them. And the supervisors begin to create problems for those under their charge. How do you, as a fresh EMP graduate, solve this?

Problems must be solved!

It is damaging to employ people who create problems. What each organization or business (or University) requires are persons who can solve problems or craft a new way to getting better products, giving better services and doing more. It is apparent that you are employed to render services. I shall leave the “problem of the trouble-creating supervisor” in your hands.

Knowledge is power! Using power wisely and for the good of the greater number of people is the best exercise of your faculty.

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