The Manager

Name: Chong Loo Chin, Ruth

Age: Mid 40s

Designation: Principal

Company name: Educa

Picture above: Ms Chong and her spouse

a. Briefly describe your job responsibilities as a manager.

- Manages 18 staffs - 16 teachers and assistant teachers, 1 cleaner and 1 cook

- Gives coaching in areas that they are not sure of about handling parents, classroom management and disciplining children when they are not behaving / due to misconduct

- Does paperwork as well

- and meets compliance issues for teachers and environment safety issues

b. What is your management style?

(Human Relations)

- Depending on staff she is dealing with / Varies according to individual

- Can be more democratic towards certain staff

- But more firm / harsh towards others

c. What are some of the difficulties you face as a manager?

- Some staff do challenges authority

- Therefore she must learn how to be tactful in handling them

- Yet at the same time to not be a man pleaser

- This is because, if she does not handle it well, other staff might get to know about it and follow suit

- When such conflicts occur, alot of coaching is required to resolve the problem peacefully

d. How do you overcome these difficulties?

- If problems cannot be solved, the staff will be called into the office, where there will be a one-on-one counselling session

- Warning letter might be given in extreme cases, if they really do not comply to requirements and refuse to solve the problem

e. In your opinion, what makes a good manager?

- A good manager has to be understanding

- Who concentrates on forming a relationship with their staff rather than only wanting to get things done

- And when things need to get done, it will be done together WITH the staff

- Negotiation rather than forcing staff to do things against their will

- Chooses to come to a common agreement without them feeling forced

(The voice recording files could not be uploaded as it was too large, and Youtube could not read the format of the file and thus have an error.)