In the blink
of an eye the year 2013 is coming to a close . CUSA , like the
majority of CU staff, has been kept so busy we're all gasping for breath.
Much of what we've done in the past year has already been reported in the AGM ,
but regretfully I 've to reiterate here the fact that grievance cases
have increased alarmingly . What can be done about this ?
When I first came back
to HK I worked in a government- subsidised hospital . This was the pre-HA
era , resources were scarce and the condition in the hospital was bad
, we were considerably more over-worked than even the doctors in government
hospitals. Yet when I meet up with my old colleagues , we all agree the time we
had at the hospital was probably the happiest period of our working life.
The reason is we had strong team spirit, not just among doctors but also with
the nurses, student nurses, down to the amahs . Even the
adminstrators were part of the team because we all shared a clear
focused vision and that was to serve the community. We didn't grudge
the work-load because everybody, from the consultant to the intern, worked
equally hard, there were no slackers . Problems encountered were discussed
openly, every opinion, even from the lowly intern, was listened to
and respected. Looking back, what mitigated the hardship, apart from
the camaraderie , was the appreciation and validation of our
efforts . Every single person in the team counted . I maintain to
this day it's never just the work that brings people down but disrespect and
callous uncaring treatment of people .
Maybe that's what's
ailing CUHK: the lack of team spirit and the narrow culture of incessant
and sometimes unscrupulous grappling of career advancement in various
departments. I was taken aback when I talked to a CU staff about 'a happy
working environment' awhile ago , she 。paused for a full
minute to ponder, then sighed and shook her head wistfully," I can't
even imagine what that's like. " How sad is it ! Since 3-3-4 things have
gotten worse . As workloads increase they're off-loaded down the tiers
of managers then workers , fair to say everyone's under pressure,
but the ones at the lower end of the echelon are the most
vulnerable. Some of the office bullying could be traced to staff vending
off work pressure on other staff . The lack of transparency in office operative
promotes cronyism , and makes easy the shirking of responsibility;
the lack of time or channel of communication between senior
and junior staff creates misunderstanding and grievances . The middle
management glass- ceiling which effectively blocks issues of junior staff from
reaching the top management must be done with .
It is laudable CUHK has
recently recruited a professional mediator in an attempt to diffuse
office conflicts at the earliest stage, but one can't help wishing for a more
pro-active approach. Good governance must be institutionalized. Every
individual worker should be treated as a stakeholder
of his/her department . All workers should be explained fully
all new policies and how they fit in in the aspired future development of
the department ; in turn they should be listened to and made to feel
safe discussing work-related problems , so that the allocation
of funds and the creation of new positions would better meet the actual reality
of departmental needs . A good manager puts humanity back into
management , and sees workers as people and not just cogs to a gigantic
machine. They would take time to talk to the workers about any
job-related difficulties they might have, and assess the workers so as
to allocate the right work for the right talent.
Accountability must be
upheld, appraisal and reverse appraisal put in place as a
check-and-balance. Obviously the workers are also expected
to perform their duty to the best of their ability.
Is this so hard to do
? If there's a will there's a way. If we could all put aside our
personal ambition and strive to serve, a fulfilled happy work experience
is ours to keep.
轉眼間2013年將要過去。如大部份的同事一樣，中大職協也是忙得透不過氣來。過去一年的工作已於周年大會報告過，不用再贅述。但遺憾的是在此要再提申訴個案是驚人的上升。究竟我們可以做什麼呢?
我回港的第一份工，是加入一所政府資助醫院。這是醫管局年代之前，資源不足及醫院條件惡劣，工作量比其他公立醫院的醫生繁重得多。奇怪的是每當和這夥舊同事聚會時，我們都不約而同地認為這段時間可是我們工作生涯最中快樂的時光。原因是我們有很強的團隊精神。我們的團隊不僅是醫生，還有護士、學護、以至病房女工；甚至管理層都在行列內，因為我們都擁有清晰的同一理念 — 服務社區。我們從沒抱怨過量的工作，因為我們每一個人，從顧問醫生以至實習醫生，都同樣地努力工作 — 團隊中沒有敷衍失責的人。遇到困難我們會開放地討論，盡管是初出茅盧的實習醫生的意見，都會被聽取及受尊重。回想起來，當年能舒緩工作辛勞的原因，除了同袍戰友的緊密無私的合作外，還因我們的努力得到欣賞和認同。每一個成員都同樣重要。直至今天我仍堅持這信念﹕令人沮喪的不僅是工作本身，而是自身不被尊重及其努力被漠視。
可能這就是中大的問題，某些部門缺乏團隊精神，及只顧個人晉升或自保而不擇手段的風氣。早前我跟一位中大的同事談及「愉快工作環境」的狀況，她的回應令我驚訝。她沉思了一會，然後搖頭嘆氣地說:「我想像不到愉快工作環境是怎樣的。」這真教人心酸！自334學制實行後，緊湊的工作情況變本加厲。越加繁重的工作量由管理層續層下放到基層。平心而論，人人也承受著壓力，但基層的員工尤為辛苦。有些辦公室欺凌實是源於同事將壓力轉嫁其他同事。辦公室的運作欠缺透明度，促使任人為親及推缷責任；上司與下屬缺乏時間及途徑溝通，往往導致誤解及不滿。阻止基層員工將自身問題告知高層的中層管理(玻璃天花板文化)該完全打碎。
值得一讚的是中大已聘請了一位專業的調解員嘗試第一時間處理辦公室矛盾。但我們希望見到的是更前瞻的措施 — 良好的機構管治。每一個員工都應視為部門的持份者。部門內每一項新政策應清楚地向員工說明，使他們能了解及與部門的發展同步；同時管理層也要聆聽他們的心聲，讓他們敢於表達工作上遇到的問題，使資源的分配、職位的設置可更配合部門的適切需要。一個良好的管理人員需「人性化」地看待員工，員工不僅是一枱大型機器的一枚齒輪。管理人員需要抽空與員工溝通，了解他們工作上的困難外，適當地評估每位員工的能力，量才而用。
權責極為重要，所以同時應設立雙向績效評核制度以平衡公正。當然作為員工的也要盡己所能完成職責。
這真是那麼難做到嗎? 只要有意願就一定能做到。若我們每一個人都能放下私己的野心，盡其所能，我們定能擁有快樂和滿足的工作體驗。
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