For those young shepherds starting their corporate careers, if I ask you what are the 2 things the landowner really cares about when he hires you - do you know the answer?
Put yourself in the shoes of the landowner. If you hire a shepherd, what 2 things you expect the shepherd to do for you?
How much money can you make for me?
How much are you making for your Big Boss Man? This is easier if you work in sales, marketing, business development, etc.
Just minus your salary, commissions, bonus, expenses from the gross revenue you bring in and we can get a ball-park figure of the money you bring in to your department, your company, your division.
That is also why those who bring home the bacon can talk louder. Hence the more wool and lamp chops you bring home, the more you are rewarded.
How much money can you save for me?
Not everyone works at revenue centres. We can still stand out by saving money for the company even if we work at cost centres.
The IT manager that successfully transitioned the company from on-site computing to the cloud - saving a chunk off the annual IT procurement and maintenance budget.
The CFO that proposed and executed the selling of the company's building to a REIT near the top of the property cycle and leasing it back from the REIT for 30 years. Bonus time!
You no idea right?
You have no freaking clue how much you are making or saving for the company right here right now?
Don't worry. The majority don't either.
That would mean during salary reviews, you are a price taker.
How to negotiate when you have no idea on your own contribution in how much you have saved or made for the company? Please don't say how many hours you have slaved... If you are a landowner, would you be interested?
If you have no idea of your own worth, the company most likely has no clue either. Which would make things easier during a retrenchment exercise. You would like to keep those who are making and saving you money right?
Fundamental investor touchstone
If you call yourself a fundamental investor, and you have difficulty getting a ball-park idea of how much you are either making or saving for the company, something isn't right....
Perhaps you have been using the analysis and summaries of others too often?
Now when others ask show me your workings like in math, you are stumped.
You have the answer but can't produce your own workings to arrive at the answer.
Maybe you are a technical investor all along? You just follow the crowd as in Trend or Momentum investing?
Singapore Man of Leisure (welcome to my blog; just google it!)
