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High salary and high performance require book smart and street smart!

Heera: ‘Qualifications bring credibility to the job’.

WHEN it comes to hiring suitable talents, it would be ideal to have a potential employee with the relevant qualifications as well as one that has practical experience.

But what if there was just one vacancy available – and the organisation had to choose between the two candidates? In a hypothetical situation between a candidate that’s “book smart” (has the relevant qualifications) and one that’s “street smart” (has the practical experience), who would be the more likely choice?

More importantly, is a high-paying job unattainable for those without formal education? Or is there still a chance for a candidate that does not have that oh-so-important diploma or degree?

The book smart candidate

Heera Training and Management Consultancy principal consultant Heera Singh believes a candidate with the relevant qualifications would generally be “technically competent” in that job.

“It certainly brings credibility to the job. For example, if someone has a Masters in Human Resources (HR) Management, then the qualification enhances his credibility,” he tells StarBizWeek.

“It also assists greatly in the recruitment and selection of employees. For example, if a job is advertised and does not specify technical qualifications, but only states practical experience required, then every Tom, Dick and Harry will apply and this will ensure lots of extra work for the HR department,” Heera says.

Leaderonomics finance and human resources leader Ang Hui Ming concurs that having the right qualifications adds more credibility to an individual seeking employment – at least on paper.

“Generally, the employee might probably have a wider knowledge-base theoretically of the function he is hired for and has some form of certification of his ability to understand at least the basic concepts of the function,” she says.

However, it has often been said that what one learns in theory can be quite different in practice.

Heera believes that the “book smart” candidate, though technically qualified, still lacks experience – an important element that may be vital in certain jobs.

Ang: ‘Being technically qualified doesn’t mean they can do the jobs well’.

“Being technically qualified does not mean that they can do the jobs well. They may be more academically inclined rather than hands-on.

“They may be technically qualified but may not like the job. Many people, for example, go to university and do courses that their parents want them to do, or courses which their friends are doing. All they want to do is to get their qualifications.”

Ang, meanwhile, feels that not having the relevant experience is not a big deal – as it is something that can be acquired over time.

“There is no real disadvantage, experience is to meant to be built anyway.

“At most, it’s the lack of reality. If a person is all academic, it is uncertain how he or she will handle real life situations where the theories they learn needs to be adapted to the situation, environment and culture of any given place and time.”

The street-smart candidate

The advantage of hiring an employee with experience means that they can do the job straight away with minimal disruptions, says Heera.

“There is minimum need for any job orientation and at interviews, you can ascertain the type of practical experience they have and see if it suits or meets your job expectations.”

Ang concurs: “Generally, the employee might have deeper expertise in the function and would have experienced real-life situations in the function. This makes the person more adaptable and adept to handle similar natured situations more wisely and calmly.”

“The type of experience is important. If they have the wrong type of experience, then it is of no use to the company. For example, if a person has worked in a HR capacity in a government department, then his experience may not necessarily gel with what is wanted in the HR department in the private sector.

“Experience can be a bad teacher as it is always difficult to mould a person who has the experience but has picked up some bad habits along the way.”

Ang feels there’s no real disadvantage to hiring someone that has no paper qualifications but is oozing with experience.

“At most, probably a possible lack of what’s new in the market, or what’s happening on a global scale or what new technology is out there that can better equip him or her in the function.

“This is only an assumption as people that are hands-on can still learn market trends and future technology if they read up and do research on their own. There is just no paper qualification – that’s all.”

Does it really matter?

According to an article on online investment site Investopedia, “Is It Better To Be Book Smart Or Street Smart,” its author, Tim Parker, points out that one does not need to have the relevant paper qualifications to be truly successful.

“Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, is widely regarded as one of the best businessmen of his day. He didn’t have a college degree and neither did Steve Wozniak, the other founder of Apple.

“Other successful businessmen without college degrees include Dell Computer founder Michael Dell, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Virgin Brands founder Sir Richard Branson. People all over the world have found success without a college degree,” he writes.

But is that the rule or the exception, he then asks.

“Unemployment data shows that more than 8% of the population looking for a job (in the US) can’t find one.

However, for those with a bachelor’s degree, the unemployment rate is only 3.9%. The unemployment rate is 13% for people without a high school diploma.

“A college degree doesn’t guarantee success, but Bureau of Labour Statistics unemployment statistics show book smarts more than double your chances of finding a job.”

Of course, having an employee with both the relevant paper qualifications and practical experience would be the optimum choice, naturally.

“This would definitely be an ideal combination,” says Heera.

Ang says having both qualities would indeed be a plus point, adding however that having both relevant qualification and practical experience does not make one a best employee.

“It’s a person’s character, values and attitude that makes him or her a good employee. Qualifications and experience are all things that can be accumulated as long as one has the right attitude and desire.”

By EUGENE MAHALINGAM eugenicz@thestar.com.my

Dressing stature

Elegant couple: China’s President Xi Jinping and wife Peng disembarking from a plane on arrival at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, recently for a two-day visit. – EPA

 

JUST when you think there are no new personalities projected into the spotlight, comes the debut of the First Lady of China (Peng Liyuan) last week. Her first foreign engagement was accompanying the president on an official visit to Russia and a few countries in Africa.

When the plane doors opened, people saw a modern elegant lady, unlike her predecessors.

She took the husband's arm when walking down the stairs from the plane instead of walking behind holding the rails. Most unconventional.

Everyone knows that no matter how independent we are, we need to hold on to our man for support when we are navigating steps on high heels. Especially where there is an audience and we cannot afford to trip.

It took a couple of days before people could figure out what “branded” items she was wearing. The bag she was carrying looked nice but did not have the conspicuous logos of a luxury brand that one can spot from a distance.

Throughout the whole trip, there was only a pair of modest pearl earrings. There were no necklaces, strings of chunky pearls or big and flashy stones.

It was just so refreshing. Now wonder there was incessant news about her in the foreign and domestic media in China.

Given her stature, she did not need to dress to scream, “look at me”. People will be looking and scrutinising her. It reminds me somewhat of Adele. If you have a great voice, you can just sing. You don't need all the massive accompaniments.

When you are in London or Paris, the crowd who buy designer bags like they are free, without needing to think long and hard over which one to buy, are from China. Here is now someone who has shown that you can look elegant, fashionable and well put together without the need to carry expensive brand names.

I can understand the need to dress up. When one is a young up-and-coming executive, one has to drive a nicer car and carry some expensive branded items to show either taste or success. But as we progress in life, the need to create an impression dissipates.

I like this interesting story about dressing and change in a CEO interview. To change the work culture and have people take pride in their work, the new CEO initiated a “dress like you are attending a wedding” campaign as his first project.

His message was simple. Be bothered to dress up for work because it is important. Let your dressing be a reflection of your professional attitude. When you are a slob, you will be sloppy.

Have you noticed the ladies selling snacks on the Shinkansen? Their hair tied up neatly and makeup immaculate. Uniform is neat, tidy and clean. They wear black cord shoes with heels. They might be pushing a trolley and selling snacks but they are professional and polite. They have their processes. Before they leave the compartment, they bow and say goodbye.

Have you seen the lady who welcomes you as you drive into the shopping centre in Seoul? She is in a black formal looking suit, looking immaculate and welcoming you as you drive into the car park. She does this with pride, like welcoming a VIP. I thought it was too much.

We did try once to dress with the times. During the initial dot-com days, we thought we could dress casual and carry a backpack. After the dot-com craze fizzled out, so did our dressing. It was very difficult to go into a boardroom looking like you are better suited for a different place. You can dress what you like at your office but when you are with clients or in their office, you need to dress suitably so that clothes are not the distraction or the talking point.

As a consultant, I always felt the need to dress well enough to look professional and carry the right demeanour to inspire confidence. Somehow, in the early days of a client relationship, casual just don't cut it.

It is not right to judge someone by their dressing. However there are many studies that show the impact that dressing and appearance has on the first impression.

Coming back to Peng Liyuan. She impressed on the world stage with good taste, projecting a unique personal style. Let's hope she is able to sustain the excellent dress sense by not having to wear chunky and expensive branded items.

TAKE ON CHANGE
By JOAN HOI 
● Joan Hoi is the author of Take on Change. She is hoping that the trend for “no brand” high fashion has been sparked!

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Performance culture lacking, Malaysian workers!

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian workers lack performance culture and generally spend half their working hours on matters unrelated to their job, said experts.

Leaderonomics chief executive officer Roshan Thiran said the laid-back working culture was partly to blame for the country’s low labour productivity.

“We tend to mix our working hours with bonding with colleagues and relationships whereas in other countries, working hours are made full use of,” he said.

He advised employees to perform self-audits to identify unproductive activities in the office that drained their working hours.

A check by The Star with several human resource practitioners revealed that Malaysian workers in general only spend four hours in a regular nine-to-five work period being productive.

Another two hours are spent on social networking sites or browsing through the Internet, whilst long lunches, cigarette breaks, tea breaks and office chatter make up for the other two hours.

Malaysian Employment Federation executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said our low productivity levels could drive away investors to neighbouring countries.

Shamsuddin said the unprofessional attitude among workers was in stark contrast to high-performance nations which encouraged a professional working culture with a focus on developing human capital.

“Some here have the ‘so long as I show up to work, it’s enough’ attitude, which shouldn’t be happening,” said Shamsuddin.

Human resource consultant Dr Asma Abdullah said Malaysian culture generally regarded the workplace as a social unit where work and social interaction mixed.

Meca Employers Consulting Agency executive director Dharmen Sivalingam said some employers had difficulties addressing their under-performing staff.

“Malaysian employers generally find it hard to converse with their employees on the matter of their productivity. It may be because they don’t want to be put in positions where they have to confront their subordinates,” he said.

Sivalingam also said workers in foreign countries were constantly under probation which keeps them performing at their best.

He said managers need to develop a proper key performance index system and see to it that employees understand how they are being assessed.

By NICHOLAS CHENG The Star/Asia News Network

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