Career power with the 4 P’s of marketing

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(Published on page J4 of the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 28, 2007, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

MARKETING INTRODUCES a brand to the consciousness of the target market. Astute marketing makes people buy the brand. Genius marketing makes the brand leap from commonplace to iconic – needed and coveted. Marketing follows the Four P’s: product, place, price and promotion. Apply the Four P’s of marketing to your career life to stay competitive and desired. Make Brand You a winning brand with the Four P’s.

Product. It all begins with an excellent product – Brand You. The demands of a globalized workplace continually elevate basic requirements. What is basic today is passé tomorrow. It was in the dreamy past when a college education was enough to land a cushy job. Today, graduate studies seem mandatory. Exceed the basic standards of your career category. Keep yourself informed and updated.

Focus is an important product ingredient. Which one, 10, 100 or 1,000 companies or individuals will derive value from your services? Have an intimate understanding of that market – its needs, preferences and mindset. Attempting to impress everyone will result in pleasing no one, not even yourself.

Perception is another key element. Brand You should captivate the imagination of the target market. How do you perceive yourself? How would you want your target market to perceive you? Appeal to the taste of your market. Refine and innovate accordingly if necessary. A successful brand communicates and establishes an emotional connection with its consumers. What one word best describes you? Try leader, decisive, sharp, witty, inspiring, principled, or other powerful words to determine your brand attribute.

But is the product useful? Identify or develop your unique selling proposition or USP. Are you a super salesperson? An expert in a yet untapped field? A dazzling communicator? An incomparable leader? Fantastically creative? A publicity genius? Your USP is the differentiator that will enable you to stand apart. Avoid being a me-too product that merely duplicates others. Do not be a Swiss knife either – multitasking but lacking focus. Make sure that Brand You performs and delivers on its promise.

Packaging is equally important. Thirteen judgments are made within the first 30 seconds of your appearance. See to it that you are decent and presentable at all times. Influence perception by presenting substance with style. That includes communicating with impact.

Place. Are you well-positioned in the mind of your target market? The challenge is to plant the Brand You flag in consciousness prime spot. You need to be in a position of leadership to do this. In this context, it is your ability to lead yourself.

Do you envision a pride of place? Do you honestly believe that you will belong to the top 10 percent of people in your career category in due time? Benchmark yourself according to the standards of individuals and companies you admire. Study their strategies before they became successful and how they now sustain that success.

Are you at the right place at the right time? Be an opportunity spotter and creator, and leverage every break. Be where the action is. Showing up does half of the job.

Price. This can be your desired compensation – your market value – given your qualifications and potential. Obsessing on the money, however, will be futile if the product is not buyable, let alone sellable. Brand You must be truly unique and indispensable. Price is more of how you value yourself. Multiply your self-worth by investing in authentic self-improvement – continuously enhance your knowledge, skills, attitude and behavior. Price includes the risks or bargains you are willing to offer and take in furthering your career.

Ultimately, the market will not mind lavishing on a prime brand.

Promotion. Sizzle or fizzle. An excellent product, Brand You should be easy to promote. Be visible to your target market. Network strategically: approach industry stalwarts with the intention of building mutually beneficial relationships. How? You can volunteer for a project, provide intelligent information such as analysis of industry trends, broker business links, present opportunities, or submit a proposal.

Beware of shameless promotion, hard sell and parasitic networking. Ubiquity does not necessarily translate to desirability. With its substance, Brand You will not require big bang promotion or deceptive spin. The key is for Brand You to be valuable. Favorable word of mouth will follow thereafter.

Use the Four P’s in building Brand You. Devise a marketing plan that will propel your career. With patient, determined and sustained work, Brand You will reach a tipping point that will trigger success. Properly managed, Brand You will have no expiration date.

Taking care of workers takes care of business

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 23, 2007, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

From personnel management to people management

THE SHIFT FROM “personnel management” to “people management” has significant connotations transcending semantics. Business practice is progressing from “depersonalization” (man as machine) to “humanization” (workers as partners). From being treated as mere peons, workers are now valued as individuals – complex human beings with needs and emotions. The era of “walang personalan-trabaho lang” workplace mentality is fading gradually. This development can be attributed to driving forces such as:

Appreciation of workers’ rights – With the help of watchdogs and advocates, workers are aware of their rights and are more confident about asserting them. For its part, the company is well aware of the potential consequences of violating these rights. Legal battles, workplace conflicts and loss of trust are disastrous to the company.

Increasing consciousness about work-life balance – Business and workers seek equilibrium in their life at work and beyond. Burnout and fatigue lead to absences and underperformance. Work-life balance counters the adverse effects of work-related stress.

Search for personal relevance in constantly morphing work conditions – Workers are pressured to cope with technological advances, outsourcing, mergers and similar developments that result in the rapid obsolescence of competencies. Without proper retooling, workers feel disoriented and irrelevant.

Quest for competitiveness – Despotic companies simply cannot attract the best minds. Mistreated workers are not the best of performers. At the heart of a competitive company is a motivated workforce that accelerates productivity and profitability.
Availability of information – Information technology allows workers and watchdogs to obtain data easily. Benchmarking work practices is just a Google search away. Mass media is also a helpful information source and a powerful influencer.

A company that insists on the primitive way of treating workers as mere production inputs faces extinction. Its comeuppance is near. Here are some ways of valuing people at work:

1. Ensure that workers enjoy entitlements that are mandated by law. Comply with regulations governing compensation, social security, housing and healthcare. A law-abiding company will not have to deal with litigation costs and work disruption. Apply industry standards especially when they exceed the requirements of the law. Some companies provide daycare and scholarships for employees’ children.

2. Institutionalize continuous development. The first step is to know the workers’ development needs. Armed with this knowledge, run a responsive training, coaching and mentoring programs that provide vision and direction, enhance performance, optimize skills, improve relationships and facilitate change. Recognize employee’s self-initiated activities such as volunteering in nonprofit organizations as performance-enhancing credits.

3. Create a professional and comfortable work climate. Equip workers with technologies that enhance efficiency. Ergonomically designed equipment and furniture are worthy investments as they reduce work-related stress. Beyond the physical, a work environment that minimizes conflict while allowing creative friction will encourage workers to be more innovative. Apply sound corporate and human development philosophies to strengthen company culture.

4. Promote work-life balance. Stress-busting exercises, rest and recreation activities, subsidized gym fees or in-house facilities, allowing people to conclude a workday at the eighth hour and offering alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting are just some of the ways to prevent burnout.

5. Match jobs and persons strategically. Avoid job mismatch by learning about a person’s real interests and skills in relation to business requirements and objectives. Half the battle is won when a job role is assigned to the best qualified person. Solid support, capability gap remedy, monitoring and evaluation will ensure that the role is executed satisfactorily.

6. Affirm performance. Grant merit-based raises, incentives and rewards. Depoliticize such decisions by using objective performance appraisals. Recognition can be in cash or kind as long as it symbolizes the significance of the worker’s contribution.

7. Communicate openly and honestly. Establish mechanisms that engage management and workers in regular dialogue. Authentic communication characterized by verbal and nonverbal articulation and active listening fosters trust, promotes team cohesion, defuses conflict, reveals insights and encourages involvement.

8. Democratize decision making. Involve workers in making crucial decisions. Make sure that it is not merely token attendance in meetings but genuine participation. Allowing them to ventilate their views, with the assurance that their ideas are considered, paves the way for workers’ buy-in and cements their sense of ownership of decisions made.

9. Uphold the use of leaves of absence as a right. Labor law grants leave credits to workers. As such, leaves should never be dangled as “utang na loob” or rewards that are difficult to obtain.

Open communication builds trust

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 9, 2007, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

“Big companies run on trust. Our company is set up so that information – both good and bad – travels upward at a rapid pace. And I insist that none of our leaders block the information flow. At the heart of every good team is open and honest communication.” – Jeff Immelt, GE CEO

Is trust such a pricey commodity that only corporate giants like GE can afford?

Judging by former GE CEO Jack Welch’s book Straight from the Gut, the company cultivates trust via open communication. Immelt’s statement merely reiterates the fact. The company has a profound understanding of its multifaceted relationships with its stakeholders and publics – the board, consumers, employees, investors, suppliers, competitors, media, policymakers, the community where it operates, and even critics. GE dialogues with all of them. The company keenly appreciates the long-term impact of meaningful communications, both internal and external, on business vitality.

Trust is not bought. Neither can it be obtained through intimidation. Communication builds trust. Trust builds teams. Trust establishes brands. Trust emits from honesty. And honesty is not size-related. It applies to all packages. It is not its monolithic size that compels GE to observe honest and open communication.

A company operates in two modes: business as usual (BAU) and crisis (CRI). When a company is dishonest in its communications during BAU, it will be very difficult to become honest in CRI. If a company is sneaky about promotions and incentives, expect it to be less forthcoming about looming mergers and other emergencies. The crop cannot be harvested without planting the seeds. To begin with, dishonest companies are prone to CRI situations. Dishonest communication has exposed the clay feet of otherwise respected companies and individuals.

Make communication a trust-promoting tool. Follow these tips:

1. Inculcate honest and open communication. Categorically include this thrust in key statements such as company vision, employee policies and speeches. Lead by example.

2. Specify reasonable parameters. Open communication is meaningless when not imbued with a sense of responsibility. Open communication should be congruent with corporate governance principles. Trade secrets, for example, should never be shared wantonly with outsiders.

3. Eliminate layers of communication screens. Install processes and technology that facilitate unfettered flow of information. Establish a streamlined documentation system.

4. Do not cultivate ‘assets’ assigned to spy on their colleagues. These assets are liabilities because they breed betrayal. Demand objectivity through peer evaluation instead.

5. Establish rewards for honesty (alongside performance) and sanctions for dishonesty. Be impartial in dealing with employees. Administer rewards and penalties fairly. Reinforce ethics.

6. Foster dialogue with key stakeholders. Set quality time for formal and informal discussions. Information is power. Learn from stakeholders’ insights and implement their ideas whenever practicable. Acknowledge their contribution.

7. Be honest, sincere and consistent in your message. Never mangle, twist, fabricate, or sugarcoat information. This especially applies in high-stress CRI situations when difficult messages such as bankruptcy, dissolution, and job loss have to be communicated. Honest communication need not be traumatic. Words and phrases have been coined to deliver truth tactfully.

8. Measure results. Monitor public interest (as evidenced in customer inquiries, job applications and media attention, among others), improvement in lead times, and sales increase, when attributable.

Organizations that thrive on secrecy attract unnecessary scrutiny. Trust is not contingent on the size of the company. Honest and open communication promotes trust. Trust cultivates respect and loyalty.

Making workplace training work

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 19, 2007, Sunday, titled "Get more than a break from your training")

By Roel Andag

Contributor

A JOINT EMPLOYER-employee responsibility

Paradigm gap

Training is a critical undertaking. Serious companies train their employees thoroughly, even sending them abroad to learn from their foreign counterparts. Three crucial drivers compel companies to invest in training: efficiency (to improve behavior, relationships, and processes), effectiveness (to develop skills, knowledge and potential), and economy (to enhance productivity, competitiveness and motivation). An expert once advised that a company’s training investment should never be less than three percent of total payroll. Competitive companies view training as a necessary investment. As such, the company expects training programs to result in organizational profitability and employee satisfaction.

Employees, however, do not necessarily view company-sponsored training through the same businesslike lens. Some consider training as a brief vacation – a break from the frenetic office environment. Others attend training merely to comply with company requirements. Still others begrudge attending training, feeling that they have been uprooted from their real priorities. Employees oftentimes fail to relate training with company objectives. Negative attitude impedes learning thus defeating the purpose of training.

The cost can be staggering when this paradigm gap is not addressed. The company squanders resources while the mediocre employee coasts along. Both parties lose opportunities in the process. Addressing this handicap can be challenging and at the same time rewarding. The first logical step is for both employer and employee to jointly agree that optimizing training is a joint responsibility. Here are mutually reinforcing tips for both sides.

Employee responsibility: career stewardship

Adopt correct attitude. The modern worker owes it to himself to advance his career. Continuous learning is the most effective way of doing this. Training is an opportunity to learn new things. Based on the training program, list your learning expectations. Proceed to training anticipating to discover and to explore, conscious that you will gain value from the exercise.

Understand the purpose of the training. It is not enough that you know the venue, schedule, program and parking lot location. As soon as you receive the memo for you to attend training, level off with the human resource manager as to why you are being sent and jointly specify subsequent management expectations.

Focus. Be attentive. Listen to what the trainer is sharing. Record your reflection and insights on a training diary. Documentation is very important. If you get distracted by noisy participants, pass them a polite note or take them aside during break time to verbalize your concern. If this does not work, approach the trainer.

Ask questions. Ask the trainer and fellow participants. The objective is to clarify some points and to learn more, not to challenge the intellect of the trainer or to embarrass him. Also dare to ask yourself. How does the training relate to your own situation? How can you apply what you are learning? Adopting an inquisitive mind deepens analysis.

Participate actively. Contribute to the discussion but be careful not to dominate it. Share an experience related to the training subject. Make sure that it is not merely random storytelling. Be able to establish relevance by emphasizing ideas and lessons learned. Join games and workshops, they are opportunities to process learning and to relate with other participants. Overcome shyness and control unhealthy aggressiveness.

Apply what you have learned. Be accountable: volunteer to cascade to your colleagues what you have learned, report to your boss and the HR department your observations and plans on how to apply your learning. Part of career stewardship is internalizing what was learned during training. Use the tools provided by the trainer. Digest, apply, test and improve on the ideas offered.

Company duty: stimulate learning
Create a training calendar. Do this annually as the New Year starts. Capitalize on the heightened sense of renewal, vigor and commitment. A training calendar sets schedules, primes employees and guides budgeting. Dedicate quality time to this activity. It is advisable to make everyone participate to enhance employees’ sense of ownership of the process. When finalized, post the detailed training calendar in conspicuous locations around the workplace and in the company intranet.

Run a responsive training program. This is congruent with the training calendar. Conduct a quick, company-wide training need analysis through an online or paper survey. This bottom-up approach will cement the connection between the lineup of training courses, company objectives and employee needs. Review the training program regularly. It should be dynamic enough so as to accommodate emerging developments.

Deliver impact. See to it that training courses create the desired beneficial effect on the individual, the business unit and the company. It would be better if the impact is measurable. Pretest the responsiveness of a training course by determining its design and overall objectives. Training courses should be creative, trainers need to possess the required skills set and venues conducive to learning.

Promote a learning culture. Encourage employees to initiate training on their own. Make them proactive in looking for appropriate training courses they want to attend. Affirm those who undergo training by providing opportunities to immediately apply what they have learned. Adult learning theory says that an individual retains 80 percent of what he has learned if he is allowed to immediately practice what was taught. Monitor and evaluate improvement with tools such as First 100 Days post-training reports and performance appraisals.

Prep the trainees. HR should arrange a pre-training briefing to clarify expectations. This is to reiterate the company’s learning culture.

Be inclusive. Ditch the practice of sending only favored employees to training, especially abroad. It cultivates the flawed notion that training is a function of office politics rather than of development. The objective of training is to ensure that nobody gets left behind. Company performance is only as strong as its weakest link. Training opportunities should be spread equitably and purposefully. Everyone is trainable.

Genuine employer-employee partnership will make training meaningful.

Feedback and surge forward

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, April 27, 2007, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

A guide to productive feedback process

Every company practices or wants to have it. Depending on the giver’s mastery in handling the process and the receiver’s sincerity in pursuing self-improvement, it can induce either excitement or discomfort. It is feedback in the workplace.

For the company, an effective feedback process produces better leaders and performers. On the other hand, the employee benefits from the affirmation he receives and from becoming more aware of behavior adjustments he needs to make.

As much as it can be nerve wracking for the one who will receive the feedback, it can also be challenging for the one giving it. It’s a two-way process and the parties have individual and shared responsibilities to make the process work. Because it is delicate and should be a productive exercise, it is important to follow these guidelines:

Specific behavior not general performance

Do not confuse or misuse the feedback process as performance evaluation. Performance is the execution of an action while behavior is the manner of conducting oneself. Feedback focuses on specific behavior. The desired behaviors are ideally those that are aligned with the values and culture of the company. These are behaviors that support the employee in the performance of his job. The result of the feedback process is not a performance evaluation but can be used as one of the bases in such evaluation.

What are these behaviors? It depends on the company but the generally desired ones are aligned with competencies such as leadership, achievement orientation, decisiveness, communication, adaptability, collaboration, strategic thinking, innovativeness, and focus and drive.

Isolate behaviors from one another so as not to pollute your judgment. For example, if you are the feedback receiver, don’t claim that your consistent attendance should make the feedback giver overlook your arrogance with customers.

Descriptive not evaluative
“Your resistance to work in a team is blocking your potential” is an evaluative statement because it determines the worth or significance of a behavior. Its descriptive equivalent is “You resist working in a team.” Why is it advisable to be descriptive? First, to allow the receiver to come up with his own judgment about his behavior and second, to maintain the objectivity of the process.

Effective feedback requires candor and sincerity. Filipinos who are exceedingly modest and diplomatic are in for a surprise when they work in multinational companies where feedback is a no holds barred affair. In this case, the Filipino saying ‘walang personalan, trabaho lang’ best applies.

Self description required

An effective feedback process is not one-sided. It takes into consideration the perspectives of both the giver and receiver so as to obtain an objective view.

If you are the receiver, you are best suited for a feedback session when you come prepared with a self description. You will gain this knowledge through introspection. Ask yourself hard questions. Make sure that your self description is unadulterated by false pride, excuses and exaggeration. You can use the feedback session as a tool of promotion by accentuating the positive, enumerating lessons learned and identifying proposed way forward. The best preparation though is demonstrating commendable traits way before feedback time and making helpful behaviors a way of life.

If you are the one giving the feedback, stick to the set of behavioral competencies defined by the company. Do not interrupt the receiver while he is giving his self description. Keep an open mind, listen empathetically and wait for your turn to talk. Ask insightful questions.

A person is his best personal judge. A self description will demonstrate how the employee perceives himself and how healthy his self image is.

Commend and recommend

Even the favorite employee is not beyond reproach. As far as work is concerned, no one is a perfect creation. A person has his pluses and minuses. If you are the favorite employee, do not delude yourself with the thought that the one giving you feedback will not have anything negative to say. On the contrary, your political standing in the office may even invite criticism. Be careful.

Both giver and receiver have to enumerate the employee’s behavioral strengths. The affirmation will reinforce desirable behaviors and encourage their continuance. Likewise, areas for improvement have to be pointed out. The merits and demerits will produce a balanced picture.

Plan, implement, monitor

Don’t leave the process hanging by ending it with the talkfest. Aside from documenting the process and the result, there has to be a solid sustaining action so that the feedback process does not become unfinished business.

If you are the receiver, it is your responsibility to design and follow an action plan that details actions on how to institute behavioral changes. The plan is based on the feedback result. Share your action plan with the boss and ask for support that can come in the form of training, mentoring and coaching. Stick to your plan and monitor your progress.

Who and when?

Who gives and receives feedback? If it is serious about developing leaders and improving its competitive advantage, a company should subject everyone, regardless of position, to feedback. Teams also benefit from feedback. The 360 degree feedback is a dynamic leadership mechanism that allows a person to learn from the observation of people around him.

As to timeliness, a semestral or annual formal feedback session is recommended. The intervals give the receiver ample time to make meaningful behavioral changes. Informal feedback can be slipped during conversations as long as privacy and confidentiality are ensured.

Although it can be accomplished through email communication or by accomplishing a prescribed form (never resort to using a suggestion box!), a person to person feedback session is the best approach. The dynamics of personal interchange generates a wealth of insight. Besides, a lot of emotion is invested in the feedback process. Regardless of method, professional etiquette has to be maintained throughout.

Feedback is not an occasion for power tripping or bullying. It should be based only on actual observations not on assumptions clouded by animosity between giver and receiver.

Properly managed, feedback will enhance effectiveness at the individual, team and organizational levels.

The good in goodbye: Prolong your professional shelf life with a good resignation

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Oct 15, 2006, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

KING Henry VIII sent two of his six wives to the executioner for beheading. Even if Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Seymour may have denied in their farewell message any imputed wrongdoing, they both hailed the king and wished him long life, perhaps in the hope of royal clemency. Resigned as they were to their fate, they exemplified graciousness worthy of emulation of anyone who wishes to resign.

Don't treat your resignation as a date with the guillotine. Instead, use the experience to sharpen your career blade. Your goodbye can be your welcome mat to other opportunities such as sustained relationships, job leads, and income prospects.

After working nonstop for 10 years, I decided to take a brief break from the 8 to 5. I resigned, with the decision to concentrate on my consulting so that I can enjoy some rest while earning at the same time. Here are some tips that can turn your resignation into a career-sustaining move:

1. Submit your resignation at least 30 days before your intended date of departure. You are complying with the Labor Code and demonstrating good faith to the company as well. Do not broadcast your resignation. There is time for that.

2. E-mail your colleagues a personal farewell note a day prior to your departure. Thank them sincerely. The note should never exceed three brief paragraphs.

3. Avoid emotional notes. They suck the energy out of the reader. Try light and easy.

4. Include your forwarding address, e-mail, and phone numbers. If you have a website or blog, include the link and ask them to visit the sites. Make sure that your website and blog will help propel your career not jeopardize it. No offensive content, please.

5. Inform them of what you intend to do post-resignation. The best activities are consulting and volunteering. It tells them that you intend to remain productive while enjoying some down time.

6. Let them know if you're looking for a job. Ask for referrals.

7. If you resigned because another company has hired you and are proud of it, then mention it. But be aware beforehand of your new company's nondisclosure requirement. Don't blow your cover if you joined the Secret Service.

8. If you have pending applications, let your prospect companies know that you have resigned and that you'll be ready to join your next company. This works especially when you have been short-listed and their decision has not been forthcoming. Do not sound as if you resigned because you are anticipating that one of your prospect companies will hire you readily. Observe subtlety and delicadeza. See No. 7.

9. If they reply, respond in kind. Tell the sender how his or her message affects you. See No. 3.

10. Leave an "out of office" auto-reply in your official e-mail so that letter senders will not be misled. See No. 4.

11. If you have a rift with a colleague, see him personally for a pleasant closure.

For these tips to work, it is assumed that you performed well in your job, related well with your colleagues, and are leaving the company under friendly circumstances.

Coping with office noise

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(Published in the Job Market-Working People section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, September 26, 2006, Sunday)

By Roel Andag

Contributor

Create your own bubble in a corporate wild

YOUR own office, with its own door, is your bubble that insulates you from sounds of the corporate wilderness -- dings, rings, deets, taps, whirrs, and office babble. Your office bubble is your island of peace -- a sanctuary that others can penetrate only with your permission.

What if you do not have an enclosed office but rather a cubicle with chest-level walls and surround-sound feature right in the middle of noise central?

Our response will vary depending on the stimulus, primarily the nature of the job and office culture. Kristina, a former call center team leader, escapes to the sleeping lounge or an empty conference room to shut off the noise. Rochel, a high school teacher says: "I focus on the task at hand. It's very difficult because it's as if I'm in the middle of an ocean with all the waves crashing on me." Ramil, who heads the research department of an NGO, tries his best not to let office noise overwhelm him. Nieva, a director in a government agency, insists on keeping communication lines open at all levels of the organization.

Perhaps, only the most jaded will not get a bit distracted from time to time. The faint-hearted might self-destruct.

How do you build your office bubble? How do you keep it from bursting? How do you regulate interaction without offending colleagues?

Some tips:

1. Listen to soothing music. Use earphones.

2. Punch in early so you can enjoy some calm moments in the morning, no matter how brief. You can also go out early to pursue after-office interests that reenergize you.

3. Write down your agenda before talking to an officemate about official business.This also applies when making phone calls.

4. When the conversation strays, politely ask the other party to excuse you so that you can finish a task and beat the deadline.

5. Prioritize your tasks. Attend to e-mails and phone calls first. People tend to be energetic and clear-minded in the morning.

6. Declutter your desk. Organize with boxes, folders, and a memory stick.

7. Make an effort to interact with colleagues only during lunch and coffee breaks. This helps establish in their minds when you block off quality time with them. Managing your interactions, you will be attuned to office goings-on while being less prone to getting involved in office politics. Overall, this will strengthen your professional reputation.

8. Officemates sometimes get carried away. When they laugh too loud or when the guy in the adjacent cubicle blasts his music, pick up the phone receiver and pretend you're having a conversation with a pretend client. Politely ask your officemates to tone it down. On occasions, play your own music. Use earphones.

9. Discuss your concern with your supervisor. Emphasize the adverse effect of the noise on your productivity. If this does not solve the problem, seek help from the HR manager.

10. If all else fails, resign and look for a workplace with a meditative or monastic atmosphere -- perhaps a library, spa, or retreat center.

Recently, it was reported that a man threatened to commit suicide by jumping from a high billboard on Edsa. Authorities set up nets on the ground to soften his fall and save his life. The man descended from his suicidal perch after hours of negotiations. Perhaps he realized the nets and cushions beneath him will prevent his death. The police superintendent told reporters that they no longer asked the man the reason for his death wish. They respect his privacy, the police official said.

Office noise, especially at intolerable levels, erodes task motivation and poses health threats. Don't wait until you are ready to jump off the edge for safety nets to be spread beneath you.

Building an office bubble may not be easy. And even if you did, it might burst anytime. But once you do, and are able to keep it puncture-free, your 8 to 5 life will be less stressful and more enjoyable.

(The author is the program and communications manager of Schering Philippine Corporation. Feedback at r_andag@yahoo.com.)