In the past few months in SH , my manager ( a s'porean ) has given me guidance and support as well as pressure and challenges at the same time. It is tough to meet his standard but he has led by example to prove that it s possible to reach the standard he wants. Under his leadership, we were working towards the goal of improving our company products' quality with ambitions. But due to his failing health over time , he has chosen to quit and leave for hospitalisation in Spore. The announcement is made to the department on his last day of service (Friday) and we were devastated. I could not help shedding tears in the room after everyone left after his announcement. He is like a brother and a mentor to me and a great source of support for me to survive in this company which puts quality at a less important position but blames the quality team for not doing a good job when things go wrong.
It is a culture shock for me to adapt to this messy company compared to my ex company which is a mature automotive company with solid quality background. And my boss is Japanese company trained, having the same mindset as me that quality is first. But sad to said, both of us do not think that the management shares the same idea, as their focuses are about speed and quantity and not about quality and functional safety of the consumer goods which we are selling now. With his leaving, my lighthouse is gone and all is dark now. To make it worse, the Shanghainese colleagues in my department who are good at office politics but not really keen to solve the problems are now free from his control, and they are bound to start creating havoc in the department to gain power. The Shanghainese employees are usually selfish, calculative, self centered and they do not work for the benefits of the company but only for themselves. In comparison, i still like Hongkong/Sporean colleagues, who are generally effecient and smart .
I am re considering my career path as i do not see light at the end of the tunnel now, and i do not want to tarnish my professionalism to suit the environment.
Unless the new comer is able to take over the role of my ex boss and lead the team towards the right path, there is only 1 option out which is to leave the company. And i will know the decision by next year after Chinese New Year.
Darby
