16 April 2008

Trapped in between

As the leader of this place who was very much concerned about the safety of the residents, I told the police force to be very diligent in enforcing the law. I told them to carry out regular patrol in residential area and also to ensure safety on the road. All traffic offenders were to be strictly punished regardless of their positions.

One day, I had to send my minister to attend an urgent meeting in another place quite far away from here. The meeting was very important for the future growth of this place. I knew that it was impossible for him to reach the meeting place on time if he had to obey the traffic rules so I told him to ignore it and hurry. I told him that he had to be punctual, otherwise this little place would loose a great opportunity to generate revenues from some new investors.

Obeying my instruction, the minister reached the place on time although on his way, he was caught for speeding, issued with summons and got his driving licence suspended. He tried to explain to the officer who stopped him about his situation but the officer refused to hear it. Upon returning, the minister sought for my help but I told him that there was nothing much I could do. I could not tell the police that it was my instruction as it would impair my reputation. I knew that I had created frustrations in him but what I was interested was to get things done fast.



That was just a story to reflect the situation I'm going to write below.


As a certifying personnel, part of my responsibilities are to ensure that all my work is done in accordance to the correct procedures, safety standards and complies to the rules and regulations of the company and the relevant authorities. The Quality Assurance Department is to ensure that all certifying personnel observe their responsibilities when carrying out their duties while the management ensures that all projects are completed on time so that the company would profit.

About two weeks ago, I was instructed by the management to start work on a project which was put on hold due to insufficient slot. I was told not to raise any paperwork for the time being as the work I was going to do was unofficial. The idea was to put the project ahead of time before it is officially started. Although I knew that I would be going against the regulations by not recording and certifying tasks I was going to perform, as an employee I obeyed the instruction from my bosses.

After two weeks getting involved in the project, yesterday, I was called up by a Quality Assurance Inspector who was doing an audit. I was told that I had failed to follow the proper procedures in dealing with my current tasks, which is true anyway. I was told that I had gone against the regulations because none of the tasks I performed was documented. Although I tried to explain that it was an instruction from the management, I was told that the responsibility is still on me to ensure that work is performed according to the procedures (which is true) and I have the right to refuse instructions which go against the regulations (also true, but I would become a bad guy who disobey instructions).

I was quite frustrated. It is very difficult to refuse instructions from the bosses as I'm just an employee. The management doesn't care much about safety and regulations as what they are interested is to make sure that all dead lines are met. At the same time, there are regulations that I have to follow which ensure quality and safety of all jobs performed.

I was trapped in between, and just like a few had experienced before, it seems like I'm going to be left alone to the Quality Department with no helping hands from the management. The report will be out in a couple of days. I hope that they will not suspend my certifying licence as that will affect my salary.

Anyway, I think I had learnt an important lesson.

23 comments:

  1. Hi Zunnur, sometimes you just can't win! Hang in there and I'm sure things will work out for u in the end. Have a great day! :)

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  2. Mariuca,

    You're right, especially when we're working for people, the bosses are always right.
    Thanks and have a nice day :)

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  3. wow. you're a very man huh. yes i also believe sO that all things will work out in the end.Ü anyway, thanks for visiting my blog. and for the comment, yes i always get colds.. :( hmf! hehehe take care!Ü

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  4. pardon me, what i meant was that ur a veRy busy man.Ü

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  5. Bojoy,

    Thanks for dropping by and made me smile :)
    Yeah, hopefully things will work out well in the end.

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  6. Ah...management, sometimes they do underground jobs and when it's their time to be scrutinized by the higher authority they don't back you up...

    I hope they won't do anything bad against you Zunnur. Keep your fingers crossed. Good luck! :)

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  7. Earthlingorgeous,

    It always happen and those people in the management were in my position before but when they got higher up, they forgot the past.

    Thank you my friend for your kind words :)

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  8. Ouch, between a rock and an hard place, indeed!

    You just couldn't win this one. Frustrating but not your fault. I'm sure you have high work ethic.

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  9. Hi Zunnur, sorry to hear that :( It is really frustrating indeed! I have been there too :( Next time I am in a situation like that I will just refuse to go against procedures or at least when I have done so I try to cover my back asking for written instructions from whomever is asking me to go-ahead with something I shouldn't. Even if the director gets annoyed, I ask him to send me an e-mail with his instructions for my records.

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  10. Zhu,

    You're absolutely right, there's no way I could win this, just hoping for a sympathy from people with egos.


    La Delirante,

    I guess it happens almost everywhere. Exactly, that was one of the question asked when I was queried by the Quality Inspector whether is there any written instructions from the management as a proof, unfortunately, there aren't any :(

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  11. I think they'll the truth in what really happened - well, let's HOPE they want to see the truth. So often people see what they want to see ... good luck!

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  12. Sorry, my comment was supposed to start - I think they'll SEE the truth .... typo. :)

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  13. Wow, that is a hard lesson to learn! And a hard one to put into action too. I'm with you, I would have been hesitant to go against Managements orders too. Poor you!

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  14. hi! thanks for dropping me a message! i really appreciate your inputs.. thanks again and happy weekend! mind to exchange links? :)

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  15. hi zunnur, thanks for keeping visiting my blog. I really appreciate it. You're really smart.. .keep your good job... tc!

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  16. hey zunnur,this is really a difficult situation to be in.I guess for now you cannot do anything but stay cool until you find a better job,where you would have a bit more of a free time.

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  17. Hi Zunnur! Tag your it again see my Earthly Explorations blog for details....

    Yup this means that you haven't posted anything new here :) hahahaha Take Care my friend have a wonderful weekend! :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. AnnaBlueSky,

    Its difficult, although they know the truth, they will have to find somebody to put the blame on and it definitely won't be the boss :)


    Katelynjane,

    Yeah, its hard to go against the employer.


    Cristyvelle & Ellenjin,

    Thanks to you too. I appreciate your visits here just like you appreciated mine.


    Pinay Jade,

    Thanks for your advice. Yeah, at the moment, I'm not prepared for a job change yet, so like you said, I have to stay cool. Hope things will get better in the future.


    Earthlingorgeous,

    Thanks for always reminding me to update my blog! Yeah, its already time for a new post, time flys...

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  19. Thanks to all who dropped by to pass your kind and encouraging words. I appreciate them very much.

    The project I mentioned in my post just started officially a few days ago, but I was sent to work in another line. At the moment, another person has been put to handle that project but this has nothing to do with the quality issue I wrote.

    It is just part of the politics here. As I always say, its not the work that I hate but the attitude of the people, the bad politics and the favouritism.

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  20. Hi Zunnur, that was some post there and I feel bad for you. I hope all is well now.

    I am sorry I was not able to drop by and leave a comment. Work has been hellish and all I could do was crawl into bed and sleep. But I am back now and hopefully with a new article.

    thank you for dropping by. God bless!

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  21. Sophiagurl,

    I'm so glad to see you. Work can sometimes deprive us of our precious time.

    I guess things are getting better. I wasn't called up again regarding the matter. Hopefully they've decided to close the case.

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  22. Hola Zunnur! I hope you're feeling better today. I got a tag for u, have fun!

    http://mariuca.blogspot.com/2008/04/boo-to-bad-service.html

    ReplyDelete
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