Jobstreet.com - A Caring Company?

I've actually had the priviledge of meeting the founder of Jobstreet.com, Mr. Mark Chang. For someone who's a multimillionaire by virtue of taking his company to IPO, he's awfully humble and simple.

My wife worked for Jobstreet.com in Penang for 7 years before marrying me and moving to Kuala Lumpur. Since then she has worked for 3 companies and KL and while they may be bigger than Jobstreet.com in terms of size and capital, to her, they dont have a soul.

Jobstreet.com has a soul. A company's soul is reflected in how much it cares for its employees. Jobstreet.com paid for my wife's education - something Malaysian companies despise doing since they fear that this will provide leverage for the staff to leave. Typical Malaysian, in fact Asian mentality, of not wanting others to climb higher.

Asians, by nature, are selfish and greedy. And it reflects in how Asian companies are managed. My ex-company was similar. Although its a branch of a US company, but when managed by an Asian, it displays typical Asian habits. Even after being a loyal servant to the company for 6 years, I am still asked for a ROI (Return on Investment) when I asked to be sent for training or conferences, even though these conferences were held by the parent company in US for all its technical staff. My colleagues in Australia didnt have to do this. They were sent for the training by virtue of being with the company. But in my case, I had to justify to my ASEAN boss that by going for the training, I am able to bring in more revenue.

So, for Jobstreet.com to be able to pay for the staff's education, is simply remarkable. For Mark Chang and his wife to grace my wedding is also an honour, not something all bosses will do, especially not the number 1 boss of the company. My wife wasn't the highest ranked person in the company but he treated her as if she was.

After Jobstreet.com, we see Datuk Tony Fernandez doing something similar with Air Asia. Finally, there's another company that's showing others that their staff is equally as important, it not more.

Asians are slowly evolving. I may not live long enough to see us change into a more giving society but maybe my children will benefit from it.

To Jobstreet.com, thank you for giving my wife a chance in her work and life. To Mark Chang, thank you. To Dato Tony Fernandez, keep up the good work. We need people like you to show others how business is really done in Malaysia - without favoritism, with good business principles and without constant government bailouts.