Thursday February 28, 2013

Unproductive workers not a surprise to many

By NICHOLAS CHENG
nicholascheng@thestar.com.my

PETALING JAYA: The finding that the Malaysian workforce lacks a performance culture comes as no surprise for some working individuals.

They admit that local workers waste a lot of time at work, taking long breakfast and lunches.

Accountant Henry Chiew, 33, said it was a standard practice in his office for workers to take long breaks.

“When we are at work, most of my colleagues myself included spend time on Facebook, Twitter or watching videos online until we are told by our boss to do something,” he said, adding that there were days that some colleagues did not do any work.

Aeronautical engineering student Sarenraj Rajendran, 23, said his friends who had gone for internships told him of poor work ethics in several companies.

“From my observation, I think companies are hiring too many employees to do a job. Maybe it is an image issue.

“Moreover, most companies do not reward their employees for their performance which doesn't encourage a performance-based culture in the workplace,” he said.

Company managing director Eugene Ross, 44, believed that low productivity levels were rooted in the mindset of older employers.

“They prefer to see their employees spend more hours at work, regardless whether they are actually doing any work. They believe that by spending more hours in the office will mean that more work can be done.

“But this is not always the case as most employees will just spend time doing nothing,” he said.

Ross also said low productivity was also due to the lack of monitoring and enforcement, because most bosses did not keep track of their employees' work.

“Some workers tend to avoid completing their jobs and delay work completion just because they can while others lack the knowledge on how to do their work.

“Employers and employees have to change their view on work relationship and cooperate to increase productivity,” he said.

News

Thursday February 28, 2013

Unproductive workers not a surprise to many

By NICHOLAS CHENG nicholascheng@thestar.com.my

By NICHOLAS CHENG
nicholascheng@thestar.com.my