Let us continue with the previous article on Small Medium Enterprise versus Multi-National Corporation. If you wish to read the first article, you can find it here:Part 1
4. Compensation SME We are talking about ka-ching and benefits. It is the wrong perception that small companies don’t pay as well as bigger firms. That’s not true. Depending on your post and speciality, I do know some of the smaller local companies pay as well as the big corporations. However, I must point out smaller places do not have better work benefits. They probably will have the standard ones like minimum annual leaves, staff purchases, health insurance and maybe even car loans. Your company’s annual dinner and dance probably takes place in a restaurant preferably near your workplace.
MNC You probably get lost in the benefits page of your HR webpage. From the extra annual leaves to comprehensive insurance for your spouse and your kids to the gym membership to shares purchase to discounted family trips to sponsored further education. Heck, I know of a corporation that gives out corporate credit cards to all the employees. When I was working in a bigger company, I know my colleagues and myself don’t always claim all our benefits because there are too many of them! Bigger companies, more employees means a need for bigger place to host their dinner and dance and usually the appointed committee of fun gets a bigger budget. I have attended annual dinner at lavish 5 stars hotels, nightclub, resorts.
5. Ah finally, Work SME You probably will end up being jack of all trades in a small company. As I have mentioned in the previous article, you will need to do a lot more small tasks as there is no clear boundaries drawn. For example, I was a centre operations manager at a commercial school however, that does not stop my boss from delegating secretarial duties to me from time to time. I also ended up being the sales person and also the covering teacher when his teacher is out sick.
As long as you don’t divert too far off from your main job scope and you don’t feel overwhelmed and used, it can be a lot of fun. I like trying to dip my fingers in different areas, gives me the learning experience while also allowing me room to make mistakes (they did not hire me to be an expert in this task specifically hence there is more leeway). It allow open up your eyes to see the business as a whole and helps me to manage my operations more efficiently as I see the bigger picture how the business is run.
MNC Everyone has a specific role and no one will like it if you overstep your boundaries and do their task for them after all, you have to respect their scope of expertise. I had a department of 10 IT folks who go around downloading software for you. Never mind that it is just a click of a button, you will need to consult them first even you are updating the latest Adobe Flash. I also know a friend who works in BP that have a specialised ergonomic department to study the way he sits and recommends super expensive chair to support his posture.
So with your focus mainly on your role and nothing else for you to worry about, it is expected for you to give your all and do extremely well in your job and that’s what the management thinks. So instead of running around looking for printer papers, you spend the time to look through the report you need to send out and make sure it is perfect before you click submit. I like having time on my hands to challenge myself to do better in my current role, to find innovative ways to improve performance.
So conclusion is…..? There is no winner or loser in this competition. My advice is to go out have a mixture experience of both, you’ll learn something in the end and you are the winner!
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