No Bonuses

As a publicly listed company, we posted our full financial year results earlier this week. The news is not good – at least for employees hoping for a bonus. The overall result matched market perceptions (despite including some massive write downs) coupled with a larger than expected dividend. The thing is, the result was below any trigger for employee bonuses.
There are a couple of points to infer here:
(1) The company couldn’t find better uses for the masses of cash that the company generates;
(2) The dividend was perhaps a tradeoff between shareholders and employees.
In the end, a corporate board has to respond to the market. They have to continually show that the company is growing – providing guidance every six months. So, even if the plans formulated are lousy, the numbers revealed to the market have to be good. In our case, people have worked hard but their efforts haven’t delivered the results, so no bonuses. Bummer.

Olympics? What Olympics?

Apologies for the political statement in a blog dedicated to corporate life. I don’t think I saw any more than five minutes of the broadcast – mostly through news bites and channel surfing. I think we need to make a stand on issues like this; when commercial demands have to occur at the cost of personal rights, I certainly think that something has seriously gone wrong. It’s a choice.

End of rant.

The Commute

It’s quite a phenomenon, this ipod thing. Commuters are such a great target. Add 45 minutes to a fully packed train and all anyone wants is to find their own quiet space.
If they only provided free wireless…

Happy

I got to a store just before 7am. They quickly said they had run out of black 16GB models. So, it was quickly to the next best. Again, black was sold out. Finally, I went to yet another retailer. Again, black was gone.

In the end, I wanted one too badly. What’s a color, anyway?

Small Pleasures

At last, it’s coming to Australia on July 11.

I got a text message from the carrier asking if I wanted to pay a deposit on one. They claim that this doesn’t guarantee receiving a unit. I don’t care. Even if I have to camp out at the night before!

Precious…

See here

Keeping the Fire Burning

I started writing this to create some focus for myself; to create some impetus to change.Yet, after the holidays, I find the fire has waned and the rage gone. I suppose this is the common trap. People stay in a job longer than they should and feel bouts or anger from time to time and do nothing about it only to feel sorry for themselves later. There’s no point in staying unhappy if laziness is the only thing holding you back.

To all those losing the rage, try and recall what it is you really want, take a photo, keep it under your chair and keep dreaming. Keep the fire burning.