A Means To An End.

Some people are born leaders. Some aren’t. Some try really hard to be a good one. Do you need to be a leader to run an organization? The answer is no.

If you ask me if my boss is a good leader, I’d say a straight no. But what I can say is that people like them make excellent businessmen. They can bargain with you and convince you to act a certain way but only for their own best interests. That, my friends, is stellar salesmanship.

So is my boss a good boss? yes and no.

They give credit when credit is due. Sure, they have no ethics whatsoever, but these kind of people know how to run a business. They know how to manipulate people. They know what makes people tick. Most of the time, its really just money. So that’s what holds the team together, money. It’s not so much as to whether we love the brand or what not but rather, how do we extract the most revenue from the rich old hags on the streets.

Having connections is key.

Know the right people and exploit the relationship you have with them until they do not wish to work with you anymore, that’s what it is. It’s the same for agencies, suppliers and even employees. I don’t like to bargain, or nit-pick on others’ flaws just to get some extra perks but apparently that’s the way things work here. Late on supplier payments? Play the relationship card and drag the payments for a longer period. Not enough budget? Tell the developer they messed up and insist that the compensate us for the supposed orders we “could have gotten”. Truth is, running a business is already as hard as it is, and by doing this, they are able to keep the costs low so they can keep the business afloat.

The question is, how sustainable can your business be if this continues?

Once the word gets out that you tend to be late on payments, who is going to work with you? How long can you bribe your employees to stay with money? How many more customers are out there for you to attract if no return customers are willing to come back? Perhaps it’s just me being a pessimist but something is inherently wrong and I don’t even know where to start.

Now I understand why most people just float along in life with a stupid job. Because they are just in there for the money and no matter how fucked up the conditions are, they just accept it. Not because they want to but they have to, they have no fucking choice. Perhaps its more prevalent in F&B, but these people have families to raise back home and they really need this money to survive. So never mind the crazy insane working hours or the harsh working conditions, it was simply a means to an end.

You can dedicate your life to your job but you, like anyone else, is replaceable.

Heathy jobs don’t require you to work on your off days. Healthy jobs don’t guilt trip you just because you chose not to work on your off days. Healthy jobs don’t exploit their employees’ kindness. Initially, I was obsessed about working. I worked on my tasks almost 24/7 even on weekends. Need some last-minute changes to an artwork on a weekend? Sure. Need to run an ad the next day with barely 12 hours notice? Sure. Outlets shorthanded during festive periods so they had to deploy us to do service? It’s not normal to work after office hours and it was definitely not what I signed up for but I still did it. It was insane but I was not complaining.

After the Mid-Autumn depression episode, for the sake of my mental health, I decided to draw the line.

I’m no longer going to be on standby 24/7, work tasks can wait till the next working day. Don’t get me wrong, I am valued as a team member, but when you realize that not everyone is treated equally, undoubtedly you will start to question. Then, the government announced last weekend that there will be no more dine-in allowed from 16 May to 13 June 2021. That’s when shit got real. Management decided to temporarily close majority of our outlets after the government’s announcement since it did not make sense for them to pay the rental to the landlords if they are unable to even earn enough to pay their staff. And so, since the revenue will definitely be affected, the whole office was asked to work 4 days a month. The remainder days was to be either 1) clear your annual leave 2) clear your off-in-lieu or 3) unpaid leave. That’s basically 16 days of unpaid leave (if you have no leaves to clear). That’s huge. A colleague joked that 4 days of his salary could barely pay for his insurance. Ouch.

So moral of the story? Don’t work in F&B. No really, I think we’ve established that organizations are not charities and its as real as it can get.

So yeah, I’d say I’m used to it but it never gets easier. Imagine you’re told to take 4 days’ worth of salary with absolutely no notice at all. WTF? What if I have kids? Or pay rent? Or pay a car loan? Christ. Saw news that the government will be subsidizing 50% of F&B staff wages and yet here we are…? I wonder if it’s even legal to do this actually. Either way, I’m cool if you told me work 1 day a week (i.e 4 days a month) but don’t fucking expect me to work on my off days. It’s as simple as that. The company is going to be grateful to you if you spare your off days to work for free. Fuck. that. shit. Once your outlived your usefulness, they can easily replace you with any Tom, Dick or Harry on the street. That’s the truth.

So do you still put in your best? I’d still say yes, but with good balance. A job is just a job. It doesn’t dictate your life, your morals or your values. All I can say is…

There’s a different kind of hell for people who thrive in exploiting people’s kindness.

D