Cost-cutting fears among NKF staff
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Cost-cutting fears among NKF staff
Staff whose main job was to raise funds have been left with little to do
By Ng Wan Ching
August 14, 2005
ALL is quiet at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
So quiet that staff whose main job was to raise funds have been left with little to do.
Some have been diverted into other areas, such as research. Lunches have been longer than usual.
So the question is: Will retrenchments follow soon?
NKF staff, who number about 1,000, have been speculating that a cost-cutting exercise is on the cards.
Picture: The Business Times
Interim chairman Gerard Ee told The New Paper that the new interim chief executive officer, Dr Goh Chee Leok, and the NKF board are looking at 'redundancies' and how to 'contain costs'.
'But it is a bit premature to talk about it now,' he said.
NKF's management and practices are being reviewed. One of the areas that Dr Goh and the board will look into is fundraising, which has been suspended till the review is complete.
'If there is no fundraising for, say, the next six months, or until the public cools down, we have to act accordingly to contain costs,' Mr Ee said.
'Some of the activities are getting quite poor ratings, to say the least.'
Ms Michelle Ang, deputy director of communications, said: 'We are awaiting the auditor's report and are currently looking at optimising staff by deploying them to other areas.
'Our heads of department are studying our manpower requirements, to see if there is any need to downsize departments, and if so, to what extent.
'The NKF will consult the Ministry of Manpower should the need for downsizing arise.'
Although morale is not exactly low, there has been an air of uncertainty over the NKF and its staff since former CEO T T Durai's defamation case against Singapore Press Holdings shook up the organisation last month.
After his $600,000 salary and first-class air travel were revealed in court, Mr Durai dropped the suit at the close of the second day of trial.
The backlash from the public was swift and furious. Thousands called to cancel their donations. Graffiti was splashed on the walls of the NKF's building on Kim Keat Road. And all fundraising activities were suspended.
A worker at NKF, who declined to be named, said Dr Goh had sent a memo to all staff instructing them not to speak to the media.
'We used to come in to work with jam-packed schedules. Now it's the opposite,' she said, adding that she will be handing in her resignation soon.
'It's quite strange, but most of us are trying to adapt and wait and see what happens next.'
Another staffer said that many are looking around to see if they can get another job because they can see the 'writing on the wall'.
'Most of us know that the future is not bright, so if someone else wants to employ us, why not?
'But if we cannot get another job, then we just wait and see what the management offers in terms of benefits or help to get re-employed,' she said.
Mr Ee said that if fundraising activities were to re-start, then the organisation will look at rebuilding those capabilities again.
He said retrenchment is not something that the organisation takes lightly.
'Anything that is to happen will still have to be sanctioned by the board. We don't want to make mistakes.
'At the end of the day, we are looking at multi-tasking and right-sizing, and we are studying the needs of the patients.
Mr Ee said that there will probably be something to report at the end of the month when the CEO and board have reviewed everything.
'To be fair, this is just the end of our third week here. This is a complex organisation. We want everyone to be gainfully employed,' he said. -
they are grossly overpaid anyway
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now they are overpaid and underworkedOriginally posted by FireIce:they are grossly overpaid anyway
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The end of an empire is near, hurhurhur.
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because of a few greedy people, so many had to bear the brunt. Hack what about those greedy people.? Everything seem to have quieten down. I demand to know the outcome. When are we going to see it>
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hey hey only those higher positions in NKF are grossly overpaid in fact the lower positions like those doing the groundwork arent paid that much and they work very hard i know because my late grandmother was a NKF dialysis patient and i spoke to the staff there be4 ......v sad they work long hours too ...
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they say you believe. did they show you their pay slip ? durai say he neber fly first class also.Originally posted by black_avarice:hey hey only those higher positions in NKF are grossly overpaid in fact the lower positions like those doing the groundwork arent paid that much and they work very hard i know because my late grandmother was a NKF dialysis patient and i spoke to the staff there be4 ......v sad they work long hours too ... -
read the one in red!!!Originally posted by crazy monkey:Cost-cutting fears among NKF staff
Staff whose main job was to raise funds have been left with little to do
By Ng Wan Ching
August 14, 2005
ALL is quiet at the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).
So quiet that staff whose main job was to raise funds have been left with little to do.
Some have been diverted into other areas, such as research. Lunches have been longer than usual.
So the question is: Will retrenchments follow soon?
NKF staff, who number about 1,000, have been speculating that a cost-cutting exercise is on the cards.
Picture: The Business Times
Interim chairman Gerard Ee told The New Paper that the new interim chief executive officer, Dr Goh Chee Leok, and the NKF board are looking at 'redundancies' and how to 'contain costs'.
'But it is a bit premature to talk about it now,' he said.
NKF's management and practices are being reviewed. One of the areas that Dr Goh and the board will look into is fundraising, which has been suspended till the review is complete.
'If there is no fundraising for, say, the next six months, or until the public cools down, we have to act accordingly to contain costs,' Mr Ee said.
'Some of the activities are getting quite poor ratings, to say the least.'
Ms Michelle Ang, deputy director of communications, said: 'We are awaiting the auditor's report and are currently looking at optimising staff by deploying them to other areas.
'Our heads of department are studying our manpower requirements, to see if there is any need to downsize departments, and if so, to what extent.
'The NKF will consult the Ministry of Manpower should the need for downsizing arise.'
Although morale is not exactly low, there has been an air of uncertainty over the NKF and its staff since former CEO T T Durai's defamation case against Singapore Press Holdings shook up the organisation last month.
After his $600,000 salary and first-class air travel were revealed in court, Mr Durai dropped the suit at the close of the second day of trial.
The backlash from the public was swift and furious. Thousands called to cancel their donations. Graffiti was splashed on the walls of the NKF's building on Kim Keat Road. And all fundraising activities were suspended.
A worker at NKF, who declined to be named, said Dr Goh had sent a memo to all staff instructing them not to speak to the media.
'We used to come in to work with jam-packed schedules. Now it's the opposite,' she said, adding that she will be handing in her resignation soon.
'It's quite strange, but most of us are trying to adapt and wait and see what happens next.'
Another staffer said that many are looking around to see if they can get another job because they can see the 'writing on the wall'.
'Most of us know that the future is not bright, so if someone else wants to employ us, why not?
'But if we cannot get another job, then we just wait and see what the management offers in terms of benefits or help to get re-employed,' she said.
Mr Ee said that if fundraising activities were to re-start, then the organisation will look at rebuilding those capabilities again.
He said retrenchment is not something that the organisation takes lightly.
'Anything that is to happen will still have to be sanctioned by the board. We don't want to make mistakes.
'At the end of the day, we are looking at multi-tasking and right-sizing, and we are studying the needs of the patients.
Mr Ee said that there will probably be something to report at the end of the month when the CEO and board have reviewed everything.
'To be fair, this is just the end of our third week here. This is a complex organisation. We want everyone to be gainfully employed,' he said.
that is all they care about. -
Its sad that those in the lower rungs will always bear the brunt of the excesses of upper management. If there's so little work to be done perhaps the new CEO and his board should take 50% pay cuts so that more jobs can be saved. But that's not going to happen obviously.Originally posted by black_avarice:hey hey only those higher positions in NKF are grossly overpaid in fact the lower positions like those doing the groundwork arent paid that much and they work very hard i know because my late grandmother was a NKF dialysis patient and i spoke to the staff there be4 ......v sad they work long hours too ... -
another thing is that my aunt is working in this line oso though not at NKF and she confirmed it the groundstaff and nurses are paid the normal office staff salary . Cmon la dink about it if all paid like 10 plus K , NKF where got so much reserves and where got enough money to give durai his 600kOriginally posted by crazy monkey:they say you believe. did they show you their pay slip ? durai say he neber fly first class also. -
To conduct a fruitful investigation, would it not be advisible to get the durian and his gang back to assist in sorting the details ???
Why does the ministry have to re-invent the wheel in understanding the "complex" organisation of NKF ??
If NKF is just a charity organisation, how complex can the auditing be ???
For the top management that have bagged big salaries for the past few years, should their salary scale be reviewed ???
What about the frontline staff that are under-paid and over-worked all these years ???
How can no one is looking at the existing organisation structure ???