All the evening drills have paid off, because yesterday, the Sogo show came and went, and Sheila Wong pronounced it a success. HICT models had performed to expectations. Although I was not there to be with them, I know they did me proud as they paraded down the catwalk with practiced poise and composed confidence!
Further to my posting the other day about British Airways, I had mentioned that their staff were asked to work for free, but I neglected to mention if this was agreed upon. We must be extra careful when we announce this, because otherwise, we give the impression that BA staff were complying. Nothing could be further from the truth. It turned out that BBC News (Webpage http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8136503.stm, posted today, i.e. July 06) has clarified that the airline had actually written to their 40,000 staff in the UK, asking for volunteers to work for nothing to help make savings – but that only 800 workers had positively responded. And the icing on the cake, or so it would seem was when BA chief Willie Walsh agreed to work unpaid in July, forgoing his month's salary of £61,000. If this is not tokenism, I don’t know what is.
HICT is also not spared of staff sacrificing part of their salaries in the interests of making savings – but perhaps the lesson is for our CEO/President to do what Willie did, if only for a month (Psst, we are in the month of July after all!), and show us staff that she is prepared to demonstrate leadership by example. After all, Albert Schweitzer did say, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing”.
Further to my posting the other day about British Airways, I had mentioned that their staff were asked to work for free, but I neglected to mention if this was agreed upon. We must be extra careful when we announce this, because otherwise, we give the impression that BA staff were complying. Nothing could be further from the truth. It turned out that BBC News (Webpage http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8136503.stm, posted today, i.e. July 06) has clarified that the airline had actually written to their 40,000 staff in the UK, asking for volunteers to work for nothing to help make savings – but that only 800 workers had positively responded. And the icing on the cake, or so it would seem was when BA chief Willie Walsh agreed to work unpaid in July, forgoing his month's salary of £61,000. If this is not tokenism, I don’t know what is.
HICT is also not spared of staff sacrificing part of their salaries in the interests of making savings – but perhaps the lesson is for our CEO/President to do what Willie did, if only for a month (Psst, we are in the month of July after all!), and show us staff that she is prepared to demonstrate leadership by example. After all, Albert Schweitzer did say, “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing”.
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