Avoid Provident Fund

The provident fund is a kind of an investment fund maintained by the employer (provident fund trustees, which are nominated by the employer, are responsible for provident fund management). Provident fund generates its revenue from the contribution made by employee and employer.

At the end of a given month, a percentage amount (normally 6% of the basic employee’s salary) is deducted from the employee’s pay cheque and the same amount is contributed by the employer. The total of the contribution from all employees is then deposited in a profit generating activity. Here comes the problem, generally this amount is deposited in a bank or other “interest” oriented activity and the interest collected is then distributed equally among all the employee on proportionate basis.

I am not saying that all provident funds are invested in a similar manner BUT one should check with their respective HR/Accounts department to know how their provident fund is generating the profit. If its banks or other interest oriented activities, then please decide based on the following verdict of Allah Almighty:

"Allah decreases interest and increases sadqah"

Job satisfaction

People often talk about job satisfaction. There seems to be another job/position somewhere else in this world which is better than the one you are currently working with and if you manage to get hold onto that job, another job/position pops up and you find yourself in the very same situation. It seems like a never ending cycle searching for job satisfaction.

How to avoid this…. well one needs to consider that every job is satisfying provided you think like that. Every job has problems and probably there is no job in this world which is problem free. The problem category might vary but problems never vanish. So one needs to be optimistic about the way a person approaches his/her job.

Going through your resignation notice

Most of us come to this stage during their career where they are serving the notice period. The notice period duration tends to vary starting from 0 days to 30 days (in some case it even exceeds 30 days). If you are serving a standard thirty day notice then it can be divided into two major parts.

a. One where you are handing over your tasks;
b. And second where you are looking forward to your new job

The first part can be very busy depending upon the responsibilities or projects that you have with you at time it means spending late hours in the office to hand over your duties and the second part… well it can be very irritating.

Because you have already assigned your tasks to someone else and now you have nothing to do. Higher management will not involve you in key decisions and projects; your initiative fuel tank is almost empty. This is the time where you realize how long a single day in the office can be. Here you cannot leave the office because the management wants you to be there as “some” important tasks may require your input. In some cases even the charming internet browsing does have the same zest.

If you are serving a notice period for a week or two then you will be very lucky to avoid the second part of the notice period.

Hiring relatives… the downside for the HR

When it comes to hiring relatives, there are a lot of advantages e.g. you don’t need to do extensive background and security checks, you get a person who already knows about your company and is mentally ready to accept the challenge. These people also get trained quickly because they are getting the best training from their relative who has already spent 2-3 or more years in that job.

But there are certain arguments which suggest that hiring relatives is not a good option:

1. People tend to cover the mistakes made by their relatives during the job. So you might see a situation where the deficiencies in resources are exposed when his/her relative go on a long leave.

2. If one resource is under performing then you are not in a position to launch the firing orders.

3. If there is an off the job disagreement between the relatives then that will adversely affect their on job relationships.

4. Often when a relative is leaving the company he/she has the magical influence to take the other resource with him/her.

So the option is yours!