NU12 Topic: Professionalism – new work, methods, practices

Performance bonus! Salary Increase! Job Promotion! Additional Perks! Travel! Etc… 

These are what every employee (at any level) aim after a year of hard work, exceeding quotas, hitting KPIs, overtime, again overtime, and over-overtime… But how each employee gets their bonuses, increases, perks, etc..?

It's thru yearly performance evaluation! Right?

The process of evaluation: Staff level employees are being evaluated by their manager; then managers are being evaluated by the top management. 

End Result: Managers are pushing too hard their staffs to hit their targets and quotas… whatever it takes and If that happens the credit will go directly to the manager.

Top management will commend the manager for a job well done and will generously be given corresponding bonuses, salary increase and other perks.

On the other hand the staff will also receive bonus, salary increase and other perks as well though not as generous as the manager gets.

It is the reality! And this is happening mostly in all the companies out there. 

  

Sad Reality: Are the top management know how did the manager hit their targets and able to manage their resources? 

Are they aware of how manager and staff relates to each other?

Does top management know how the managers behave in times of pressures?

Does the top management know what kind of attitude their managers have towards staff?

Almost all the answers from the questions above are NO!

A lot of staffs were being mistreated, forced to do overtime, and worst felt degraded. 

This is one of the major reasons why a company has a high employee turnover ratio.

The proposal: Why not hear it from the staff?! Staff level employees will still be evaluated by their manager; but this time, staff level employees will be given a chance to evaluate their own managers. 

Through this, top management will have an idea on how the managers behave and what kind of leader he/she is. 

Doing so, will give input to the top management who will still give the final say in the evaluation process

Bright side of the proposal: Top management will really know their managers not just in their output but also their people handling skills and their attitude towards their subordinates.

This process aims to address high employee turnover ratio and at the same time managers will learn to give respect to their subordinates since they know they are also being evaluated by them.  <Not new>

Senica, Carlo Phillip

SPENTREP - S09

Paolo Bellosillo's NU12 # 9 - Breakfast on the Go for Drivers

Nothing can define the importance of time more than the saying "Time is gold." In my professional career, I have used the tagalog version of that thousands of times already - "sayang oras."

For me, the most important time in my day is my sleeping time. Sleeping for humans is like hybernating for computers - you start the day new, refreshed, and full of energy. In sleeping, every minute counts. It is always a struggle to meet the 8-hour sleep rule these days. With our busy lives, the longer sleep the better. So how can we lengthen our sleep without compromising the important daily tasks in our day?

Eating breakfast takes about 20-30 minutes of our time every morning on the average. That is, if you are not preparing your own food. If you prepare your own food, it will eat up your time for 60 minutes on the average.

In my case, driving from home (QC) to Makati in the rush hours in the morning takes about 90-120 minutes. It's your golden time wasted.

It's obvious that the above tasks are time-consuming and are eating a lot of your time. So why not doing these 2 things simultaneously or multi-task?

Introducing the Breakfast On The Go for Drivers. What you just do is grab the breakfast and go off directly to work. You eat while driving. This is multi-tasking at its simplest form.

Sandwiches will never satisfy your hunger and your morning nutrient needs. Quick breakfast is just too few for your stomach and will still take you about 10 minutes. For the breakfast on the go, you don't waste your golden time while satisfying your hunger and nutrient needs for the entire day ahead.

Breakfast on the go is composed of rice and "ulam" that is packed inside a tube. You can select from several different ulams like tapsilog, longsilog, bacon, bangus, etc. The ulams are already pre-cut into a bite-sized meal, and are already deboned. It will be available in all leading groceries and convenient stores.

These ulams will be packed inside a tube where the rice and the ulams will be mixed. What you do is to place the tube near your mouth, push the bottom of the tube to release the bite-sized breakfast, eat, and drive while doing it. These meals are in the tube for you to drive conveniently and safely.

Breakfast on the go will save you 5 to 120 minutes of your life, and will give you 5 to 120 minutes of precious sleeping.

Time is gold, and breakfast on the go will save your life.  4

Paolo S. Bellosillo

NU12 by Jaime Mendejar Rent a Costume

Rent a costume

Right after Halloween, my Facebook page was flooded with (of course) people with costumes attending Halloween parties left and right.  Makes me wonder, where do these people actually get their costume?  Do they have it custom-made? For a 1 time-event I don't believe its practical, unless you really have the means.  If you're big on Halloween parties, you would probably need 1 new costume per year. What if you just got invited and aren't ready? Do you borrow from a friend? Got me thinking, what if there is just 1 place where you can all figure this out without spending too much money?

A Rent a Costume shop can be in order. I know there are already a lot of novelty shops that may cater to this, but I don't believe they offer a 'rent' option or at least I haven't seen one.  All you need is a small space within the business district, Makati or Ortigas where most yuppies and fresh grads may easily go or see your shop.  A tailor or designer to construct the costumes ranging from superheroes, cartoons to local and foreign celebrities etc. The price can be varied depending on the duration of the rent similar to a VHS/VCD back in the day as well as the cost of making the costume. The only things you need would be to make sure that hygiene is in place and making sure that your inventory is kept clean and damage-free after someone uses or rents it.  You can always sell it at a reasonable price if a customer wants to keep it for himself and you can just design another one for rent. 

All in all, costumes are not just needed during Halloween parties, but also in typical birthday parties or Christmas parties or any event that requires a special theme.  Thus, I believe the rent a costume idea is very feasible.  3

By Jaime Mendejar

NU12 - by Jaime- Mendejar free wifi in Barangays

Barangay Wi-fi

The recently concluded Branagay Elections where you elect a Brgy Captain and 7 'Kagawads' just finished and it was interesting atleast for our Barangay to see what the candidates plans were.  Most of them focused on yellow cards for senior citizens, and CCTV cameras on major streets (for crime).  But opn reviewing some of the candidates, none of them touched on a vision of mine which is free wi-fi for all the residents.  Might sound too big a goal to think about but here's how I think it can happen.

1st is selecting a provider, for example you choose Globe (installing the maximum speed), you can install 1 global router per Zone. Since our Barangay is divided into 7 zones, you would need 7 routers.  2nd, where do you place the routers?  This can be either by creating a small office per zone to place it, or placing it in a central house with the resident's decision where the main responsibility is of course to keep it operable at all times.  I believe this would be easy since Brgy. Captains or Kagawads should have a strong connection with people in each zone (that's why they got elected).  3rd, once routers are in place, you need to install repeaters in key areas across the Barangay to amplify signals to reach even the remote areas.  This may be tested by surveying the signal from 1 point to another, if a signal is still weak the another repeater needs to be installed.  If you have the means, then you can install your own repeater.  4th, the password.  You may think that you have 7 routers then you have 7 passwords, if everyone knew the passwords for all routers then the speed may be compromised.  So I suggest that passwords should only be given to residents per zone (for home-use), the incentive for people not to give out their passwords to friends or relatives in other zones is because if they use it (eg. zone 6 overlaps with the signal of zone 7) it would be Zone 7's loss because their speed might be too slow for all the users.  So 1 password per zone, and keep it to yourself.

Overall, if a Barangay wi-fi is installed, the benefits would be for students not to go to computer shops anymore to pay just to do their research.  People would be more knowledgeable with information and news that can be accessed thru the net increasing literacy specially for those who have not finished formal education.   3.5

By Jaime Mendejar

NU12 by Rachelle Roque, survival bags

Hi Sir,

Here's my 8th NU12 Topic: New Product/product improvement

Sad to say, but the recent typhoon showed how unprepared our country is for disasters. Many properties were damaged, and worst, many lives were lost. I hope this will be a wake-up call for our government to review our preparedness not only for typhoon, but also for other calamities such as earthquake. It's good to know that there are so many people who helped us to recover, but we can't be reactive all the time. We already know that we are in the ring of fire & typhoon path. We can't stop the calamities but we can prevent it to cause such damages. Our government should have a long term plan for this. It's not just about evacuation plan, but making our infrastructure stronger to withstand calamities.

But government is not the sole responsible for preparedness, each of us should do our part. I'm thinking of product that everyone of us should have. It's already given that we should have a survival kit: a bag that contains flashlight, Swiss army knife, first aid kit etc. But I want to make it more functional, like making this bag floatable in water. It's like a survival bag & life vest in one. It can also have a tracker so, it would be easier for families to find each other if they lost on the way. It can also contain a food; but since this survival bag will be stored for a long while, a normal food is not advisable because of spoilage. So, I'm thinking of a space food like food as an alternative. Just enough to give people some energy while waiting for rescue.  

Regards,

Rachelle  3

Please see post on Preppers/survivalists;  we should have course on survival, on disaster management

NU12 by Rachel Roque - new study habit

Hi Sir,

Here's my 12th NU12 Topic: New study habit

It's finals week once again. A time when you see all students busy, cramming for all the requirements. Many would say that we should have started it the day after the professors told us about it, and do it in a gradual way. But honestly, it's not that easy especially if you're juggling between work & school. Being in a grad school is a choice for many of us. We decided to take it to get ahead; it's not like college that seems to be a must. Unlike in college, our parents will not pressure us to go to class everyday and get a high grades. This time, we have more control. It's more of being responsible.

If everything will go well, I will only have 1 subject left + STRAMA for next term. And since I know it would be a tougher term because of STRAMA, I plan to have a more organized study habit. First, I plan to take weekday classes only to free up my weekend. I know I will need my whole weekend to do the paper. I will ensure that I will be able to read the books regularly, unlike what I did in the previous terms wherein I just read the book during Midterms & Finals. I will also read other books, not only the textbook required. For the paper, I plan to set a minimum no. of pages that I have to finish per week so that I will be on track to finish it in one term. I'm also planning to temporary blocked facebook in my laptop so that I will not be tempted to open it whenever I do some research. Also, I will not have travel for 2014 Q1. I will be on the last leg of my MBA, and I'm willing to sacrifice more to finish it. Like what Stephen Covey say: "Happiness can be defined as the fruit of the desire and the ability to sacrifice what we want now for what we want eventually." <in other words it stems from discipline>  3

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12 by Rachelle Roque - New Spending Habits

Hi Sir,

Here's my 10th NU12 Topic: Spending Habits

I recently attended a personal financial management seminar in our office. It's titled Pisobilities, facilitated by Colayco Foundation. The speaker discussed the different type of investment such as stocks, bonds, etc; though these things are not new to me because I took up an INVEMA elective in AGSB. But what struck me most is when he said that we should save 20% of our monthly income for investment. I think that sparing 20% of our income is ideal, and it will not be easy for all of us. But it doesn't mean that we can't start investing at all. We can start little by little, maybe start at 5% and make it 10% after a few months, until it reaches 20% or even more. With what's happening around us, we should all learn to save.  And not only to save, but to invest that money to yield more interest; remember that we have to beat the inflation. And here are some simple tips that I think can help us save money:

§  Leave our ATMs, and just bring enough money for daily expenses – this will help us avoid unnecessary expenditures

§  Just have 1 credit card or eliminate it at all – I think having a credit card is good for emergency purposes. Not only that, it can also be a good strategy to float our money for 1 month. If its 0%, then we can take it as opportunity to grow our money through some sort of short-term investments than use that money to immediately pay for our purchase. But we have to be sure to use it responsibly. If we can't control it, better to just deactivate it.

§  Avoid going to Malls when there is Sales or checking in Groupons websites if we don't really have plan to buy everything – Thinking that the item is a good buy because of discounts, sometimes give us a tendency to buy something we don't really need.

§  Book low class hotels when travelling – When we travel, we spend more time on tours than staying in our hotels. So, I think getting a 5-star hotel is not necessary; we can just settle for cheaper ones as long as it's still clean, comfortable & safe.

§  Bring sandwich or cookies when going to the office/school – Snacks in the business districts and school are quite expensive, so it will be cheaper to prepare one in our home.  Mark-up of coffees in coffee shop e.g. Starbucks are really high so if you must, just brew your own in the office or find other alternatives if possible.   3

Regards,

Rachelle

NU 12 Project/Process Monitoring by Rachelle Roque

Hi Sir,

Here's my 11th NU12 Topic: New process at work

We're having a network expansion in our company. And as part of Network Engineering, we are really busy for that project right now. Unfortunately, we still have to face the business as usual projects needed by our Sales team. And I have noticed that our group sometimes forget some of the projects because of our busy scheduled. In this regard, I would like to make a suggestion on how we can monitor it properly:

1.       Make a request form to be filled-up by Sales team. This will include the project name, requirements, date the request is submitted & date the project is required.

2.       Put a control number on it for proper monitoring

3.       Properly compile all the request form & make a database for it.

4.       Set an outlook completion for the projects.

5.       Create a program in excel that will change the font color of the project name to orange if it's near the outlook completion. And turn to red if it  exceeds the outlook.

6.       Regularly monitor the database.   3

Regards,

Rachelle

NU12 -by Jaime Mendejar - fuzzy logic traffic lights

Auto-Detect Traffic Light

Now-a-days, we see traffic lights that are more evolved in terms of making motorists aware of traffic light timings.  Specifically, most traffic lights are now equipped with a timing LED device which shows us how many seconds before red goes to green or before green goes to yellow then yellow to red.  This is key because it increases awareness in drivers on whether they should speed up or slow down in beating a light or to prepare to engage to drive when the clock is set to trigger the green light.  But sometimes, we end up watching the clock even though there are no cars on the lane that is green, so sometimes its inefficient.  At night, we just see yellow lights blinking meaning its anyone's ballgame, first come/first go.  But what if we had an auto-detect traffic light?  A traffic light that detects current volume of cars via video imaging.  If a queue is longer than the other lanes, the green light should go there, if there is traffic seen on the other side, meaning even if the queue is long but the crossing road is full, the traffic light would not set to green.  These are just a few scenarios that the traffic light can address, it would be more time efficient because it will trigger a constant green for a lane that have more vehicles and have a more continuous flow.  If the other lanes suddenly pile up or even if just 1 vehicle comes, the traffic light would compute the certain timing son when the right time to slow the active lane down and trigger the go on the other lane.  Once the lane is emptied, the other queue can now trigger again. This eliminates manual labor for traffic enforcers to  adjust to traffic flow, in fact, this is what they do when traffic jams are piling up during rush hours.  If the video imaging in traffic lights can do this for them, then they can focus their attention on more pressing matters such as traffic violators, smoke belchers etc.  (some traffic lights are time activated, some are cctv counter activated, maybe we have the timer based;   aha, when they switch to manual, te make apprehensions and more money.  that is more entrepreneurial, more MBA)  3.5

By Jaime Mendejar  

By Jaime Mendejar

NU12 - by Jaime Mendejar - getting hot pop corn idea

Repacked Popcorn

I was at the movies last night to watch the Hunger Games and I saw the typical line for the tickets and the line for the snacks, particularly for popcorn.  Gave me an idea, since whenever we buy popcorn, we rarely consume the whole pack even if we just get the smallest one.  I believe 1 factor would be the repetitive taste and chewing of the same flavored popcorn which may not be hot anymore as the movie goes along.  So I thought, why can't there be a repacked version?  You would still cook it the same way, but instead of putting it into small to large tumblers of popcorn, place it in a recycled plastic similar to what you buy with a balut vendor (except its chicharon).  You may sell it cheaper but still gaining profit, even more than what 1 tumbler can earn because you pack it into smaller parts, people won't notice that what they are getting is less than what they could when getting a tumbler.  But it will 'satisfy' the usual craving without the usual waste.  3.5

By Jaime Mendejar

NU12 - by Jaime Mendejar - pillows for rent at theaters

Movie - Pillow -Rental

Similar to my earlier post on the repacked popcorn, my NU idea would be related to the movies again.  My family and myself watch movies every Sunday after going to mass, well at least most Sundays. So it follows that even if the movies are not so great, we still watch them as family bonding.  And since not all movies are great, some end up making you sleep inside the movie house (specially my dad).  So again, it gave me an idea, what i there were pillows for rent?  We don't really see people bringing in pillows, since the chairs are supposed to be comfortable enough to lean on and sleep still.  But wouldn't it be more comfortable having a pillow? Regardless if you'll end up sleeping or just watching, a pillow wouldn't be too shabby.

So how about a pillow rental for a reasonable price? I'd imagine about 30-40php per movie? similar to 3d glasses you'll be getting it upfront and returning it after.  Hygiene? Conscious that the pillow you'll be using was just used by someone who might have drooled, coughed or sneezed in it?  No worries.  The pillows would be used just once a and be placed on the laundry container right after.  Similar sciences related to hotel pillows or airport pillows would be applied to clean them for re-use. 3.5 

Have a great time at the movies! 

By Jaime Mendejar

NU12 by Jaime Mendejar - standardize EC tags for NLEX and SLEX

National Expressway Pass

I was travelling with some friends to Tagaytay last weekend and we passed by SLEX.  In the tollgate, you have options on whether you pay Cash or E-Pass.  E-pass, as we all know, gives you the fastest option by just passing thru the gate and it will automatically open for you by scanning your e-pass reader.  The e-pass costs 2100 to get a unit and subsequent loads after. One of my friends had to go to Bulacan right after our trip so it's a trip from south to north in 1 weekend.  But even if he has the e-pass, he will have to go thru the normal line in NLEX since what they have is the EC-TAG.  I  believe it's a little pointless to have 2 readers applicable for motorists, it serves the same purpose anyway so why can't we just have 1 National Expressway pass and use just 1 transponder. <they are not same companies> Regardless if you're going north or south, whichever way you most frequently go to, the same transponder should be able to provide you convenience.  Getting an EC-TAG would entail you another 2,000 pesos if you get it.  I believe the government should standardize these functions instead of having it handled by private sectors who have a separate market for NLEX and SLEX passes.  tama  3.5

By Jaime Mendejar

8th NU 12: Serendipity Walk by JC Galicia

Hi Prof Jorge,

Attached is my 8th NU 12: Serendipity Walk

Thanks,

John Carlo "JC" De Galicia

_________________________

    8th NU 12

                                               "SERENDIPITY WALK"

-        Bar and restaurant for group and barkada gatherings

-        Lotto outlet

-        High end computer shops

-        Big grocery shop

-        Coffee shop

-        Videoke Place/ Rooms

-        Pugon Pandesal

-        Spa

-        Beauty Salon

-        Laundry Shop

-        Learning center for kids

-        Job placement agency

-        Quick Service Restaurant like Aling Ineng's BBQ

-        Badminton Court

-        Purified Water Refilling Station

-        Dormitory

-        Travel Agency

-        Motel

-        Jollibee

-        McDonalds

-        Chowking   3

NU12. New idea by by Hector Santos

NU12. NEW THINGS

REQUIRING ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUBJECT IN ELEMENTARY, SECONDARY & TERTIARY  <ahhahah, may balak kang pahirapan kami/ako?!>

There should be a law that mandates all elementary, high school and college students to take entrepreneurship subject.

Even in elementary, entrepreneurship subject in its simplest way should be thought to students especially in the public schools where most students are less privileged.

I'm a product of a public school system from preparatory up to tertiary and I never encounter a subject that deals with entrepreneurship. In a public school system, based on my personal experience, we are thought to get high grades in order for us to get decent jobs once we graduate. I think it's already in the culture that once you entered a public school, you will thought to "graduate then work", not the "graduate then business" scenario.

When I entered my MBA, I feel relieved that I can get the subject the I long wanted to get, … Entrepreneurship.

For sure, there are so many students like me who wants to take this subject even in their early years for the simple reason that they want to own their own business and to get rich. It's a common thought that students from less privileged family who are enrolled in the public schools wants to get rich. And having a business will realize those dreams.

Entrepreneurship subjects for me is better than those Science subjects etc… for the simple reason that it deals with reality and practicality.  (4, you say this because I teach this subject)