Being an entrustee

Many opportunities may come our way in life. Sometimes we are aware of them and evaluate them as much as we can. Some of them we deliberately or unknowingly ignore. Some of us might call it luck or coincidence. “Luck is with you if you strive for success. For lazy people, there is no such thing as luck.” The motto indicates to us that effort is the beginning of everything...

What is the use of opportunities? Is it to reach very high positions, to make a lot of money or to be famous? I wonder how much effort we put into these and similar evaluations... Is achieving these goals a success? Or are these our misplaced ambitions with ego impulses or perceptions of neighborhood pressure?

Our ambition should not be our traits

The value of the personal, social, societal and economic aspects of the effort or the result of the effort should not be underestimated. Unconscious and ambitious pursuits can cause irreparable frustration. Without skipping the balances we live in, although it is not justified, the saying “in order to be successful in the world, one must not look stupid, one must be wise” is unfortunately one of the realities of life.

In some of the trainings on 'personal development' we have received, the concept of "me" is handled in detail with justified reasons. If only the "me" approach turns into selfishness, the saying that "people who are immoral creatures individually, when they come together become honest people" may unfortunately be true. An important determination that leads companies to seriousness; “If the return of sin is more than the return of honesty, that company will go bankrupt” and this is an important issue that directly concerns the general structure and future of the country. The basis of our efforts should be based on working first and then demanding its return.

In this context, as a manager sitting in any office, let's not motivate our employees with praise, let's know that it is enough to show that we appreciate them... The two key words for motivation are "trust" and "appreciation". Simplicity is essential in management. Patched solutions can never be a solution.

Conflicting cultures and traditions are not permanent. No society can develop originality, especially with wannabe, inferiority complex and copy-paste methods in today's conditions. It can't come up with anything innovative. However, a pure and original understanding developed by making use of differences provides a lasting respectability.

Persistent persuasion

In today's economic conditions, employees' personal rights are given within certain rules. In order to prevent economic losses, monetary incentive adjustments are made. Such money-oriented approaches are meaningless.

Gaining customer/employee satisfaction with money is a scam, temporary solutions, nothing more than dressing the wound. If equitable solutions are not provided, every employee flees to a similar company that pays more at the first opportunity. You can't buy loyalty with money. You should develop solutions for your employees, which are suitable for your unit, with experimental and scientific approaches based on experience. Since we don't have a magic wand, only temporary relief can be provided by an event, a speech or an instant bonus.

Before making some determinations, to say what we have in mind in advance is that the right approach will be built on the principles of competence. Competence should not be confused with career advancement. Career progression is built on the principles of performance and efficiency. Competence, on the other hand, is in the form of meeting the quality criteria in line with the corporate needs of the company and fulfilling the requirements of the standards.

For example, duration of education, graduation, foreign language qualification, roles taken in projects may be criteria, but they are not sufficient to provide a fair solution. If consistency is not essential in practices, there will definitely be chaos in the workplace.

Consistent approaches in today's data seas; It is only possible with the support of strong technological infrastructures. Consistent measurement and evaluation is essential. These topics can be multiplied. Otherwise, neither the employee nor the manager can be persuaded permanently.

We said above that money is not a reward. If you list what the company you work for provides you, you may encounter a huge flow of monetary rewards. If I want to give an example from a company I work for, the ones that come to my mind are;

- Making two inflation adjustments in salaries,
- Giving two additional holiday bonuses to salaries,
- Christmas bonus,
- In addition to 12 salary payments, bonuses equal to the salary every three months,
- Giving fuel premium every month (12 times a year),
- Once a year, giving a performance bonus that is appreciated according to the opinions of the supervisor within certain criteria,
- Salary bonus (once a year),
- When necessary, taking into account the inflation rates, making additional improvement hikes,
- Giving a birthday present,
- Birth prize (for ladies),
- Gift certificate (motivation bonus),
- Achievement salary award (not for everyone, but to the person the supervisor deems fit)
- Project award
- Educational support etc.

We can multiply them even more. Especially if you are a manager, there are always money-oriented rewards such as car, telephone, catering expenses, car maintenance and fuel, travel and per diem; Although these are done according to a rule, we see that everything related to the money that comes out as a reward over time is started to be claimed as a right by the employees.

While some of these are appropriate, many of them are deception and waste in the short term. They are all givens that will come out of all employees at the end of the day.

In fact, the accounting units of the companies are cunning to save the day with the aforementioned inflated premiums in order not to create too much tax base. Since the bonuses given save that moment, whatever you give does not create a positive perception on the employee.

The proportional difference arising from the level differences in the salaries causes the people with the low salaries to suffer as well as the ones with the high salaries.

If I hadn't known that there was a methodology error, I would definitely have thought that these executives are giving bonuses in their favor. There are sincere studies on this subject, or it is undoubtedly possible to do it simply. As long as 'a basic approach to getting rid of smart-looking stupid managers can become a fundamental motto in bosses and/or state administration'.

As we stated in the introduction of our article, “To be successful in the world, one must not look stupid, one must be wise.” Now we would like to open a little bit of this proposition with some lived anecdotes.

I worked for a while in an oil-rich country in the Middle East. The methods of arranging salaries at the institution I worked for caught my attention. Salaries consisted of two different parts. The first part was called “main salary” and the other part was called “living advance”.

This was another accounting trick. Although doing the same job, this "main salary" or "advance" could be changed according to the person. For the company, savings were made in the tax base, but the amount of compensation that would be received when the employee quits the job was caused by grievances. Of course, all this was arranged to the detriment of the employees. As we tried to express in this example, to say it regretfully, the so-called abolished slavery mechanism, which has been going on since ancient times, was being modernized in today's conditions and continued in a different way, by enslaving the workers even more ruthlessly.

If I had to share a rule that I personally observed in this and similar oil-rich countries, on behalf of the gravity of the matter; The fact that the wages among those doing the same work are applied according to the ethnic origins of the people is like an open confession of the mentioned modern slavery. Regrettably, the rule applied was that remuneration was generally purely ethnic, with the exception of exceptional circumstances. The rule that if the candidate was a citizen of a developed country for the same job, the salary to be paid was not less than a certain amount, provided that the salary was much more than that paid to the citizens of the other country.
..........
Again, I was working as a project manager at another company I worked for. There was a sudden change in senior management. The senior management in the company decided to go for a new restructuring. Almost everyone in the company, including the mid-level managers, was in a panic. Employees were called one by one, a different position could be suggested based on their experience, as well as consultations were made about their positions.

Everyone was relieved after a while as no one was laid off. Those who did not accept anything were given the right to leave the company voluntarily without being victimized. It was my turn, I was curious and excitedly waiting for what would happen, what kind of treatment I might be faced with.

First of all, the speaking team was very well chosen and they made you feel that they evaluated the human aspects with sensitivity. Education, family, personal aspects, as well as work experience were carefully noted. There were no positive or negative statements.

I was called back the next day. This time I was speaking directly to a senior executive. He told me that they wanted me to stay in the company, taking into account the evaluations of the day before. I also thank you for the evaluation.

Later;
Reminding that he was assured that I would stay at the company, he said that I could talk about everything transparently. He also made it clear that a unilateral decision would not be taken.

- Are you satisfied with being a project manager?
- I said that I was satisfied, but that I could be interested in different fields. I conveyed that technical trainings are within my field of interest and that I can contribute.
-    OK. He said that there is a need in the area you mentioned. Then we will hire you as Project and Training manager. He confirmed that it was appropriate.
- I said I wanted to ask something.
"Of course you are," he said.
- Company cars are allocated to managers working in marketing.
- Will we be given a car with this new structure?
- The answer was no.
- But when I said why would there be justice in representation, addressed to me;
- Since another The personal information of the bookmarks is of interest to you, a question for you.
- Do you know the salary of the manager in marketing? asked.
I said yes, I know.
-    Alright. Then he wrote my salary on a piece of paper and handed it to him.
- Do you still want a car with this salary?
- Just as the numbers were flying in my head;
I said no, I don't want to.
"You made the right decision," he said. Marketing people work on a commission and bonus basis, so they have different salary scales.
He said, "Now that you have accepted, we do not give you a car, but we do not accept any excuses for transportation when the company needs are met.
- I said yes and shook hands and left.

By telling this seemingly simple anecdote, I understood that that company evaluated me in terms of quality and quantity. They made me feel that I was being evaluated completely according to my competencies. As a result of those interviews, I felt better when the process was over.

In this company, there were no monetary rewards that I mentioned above. But since I clearly knew my market value, I never felt the need to question my salary. The company did not feel the need to make any adjustments other than improvement according to the economic course once a year. No one was wondering who received how much bonus or salary. Because there were no premium scams to compare.

From experience, a company allocating a car to a manager is just a scoop from other employees' accounts. The truth is, whoever he is should be given what he deserves, but whether that person comes to work by car, horse or plane, it should be his own choice. He must bear the burden himself. However, the wage given to him according to his competence, level of experience, qualification and working skills should be of a standard that will enable him to come and go to work easily when the need arises. Transportation is at the discretion and initiative of the employee, there is no room for any excuses. For the common purposes of the company, such transportation issues can be easily met from the common pool when necessary.

In internationally developed companies, health insurance, life insurance, retirement, share distribution, education support, home or housing acquisition programs are more priority criteria than salary, instead of the deception premiums mentioned above. Pay scales that are more holistic and will improve our future; It should be determined on a scale that makes us feel valuable, really rewards our work, and ensures that our eyes are not excluded, and above all, the criterion on which it is based should be based on a fair system among employees.

Impact of instant decisions

Mutual behavior of employees/customers or managers in managerial matters is a process. The results of the correct use of this process are permanent. The correct use of the process is related to competence and experience.

Recently, I bought farm milk from one of the local chain stores to make yogurt at home. I took it home and put it in the fridge. The next day, when I opened the milk I bought from the fridge to make yogurt, when I tasted it, I realized that it was spoiled. Since the view that I encountered more than its monetary value was a situation that I did not approve of, I took the milk with the receipt to the market where I bought it for the sake of sensitivity. I explained the situation to the relevant unit manager. The manager, without hesitation, stated that if I wanted to, they could return the money paid to me or replace it with a new product.

My suspicion and distrust until that moment created a customer loyalty in me with the positive solution method offered. I left satisfied with the product.
When I made an analysis of my many positive and negative experiences here, I came across the following evaluation; Thinking about what the situation would have been like if the unit manager had shown a little distrust or a negative attitude:

a) In case of a negative approach of the management, leaving the product and leaving reproachfully: Definite loss of customers,
b) To grumble in the face of my victimization: More customer losses due to chaos, unnecessary shouting and perception of customer victimization due to mistreatment,
c) Money back: Satisfaction but loss of customer loyalty may occur,
d) Customer's acceptance of the new product: The best result by preventing all the above from happening,
e) If it is the worst; to give up the sensitivity of returning/replacing the product for something worth three cents and to continue shopping at that market.

Here, we wanted to make an indirect reference to the company commitment, which is formed through the understanding of customer/employee and management. We will continue to evaluate our findings about managerial approaches similar to this one from different perspectives in future articles.