More than 18 ½ years ago, I started working in the Accounting Department of the Honolulu office of a Mainland-based tug and barge company. I was hired by, and reported directly to, the Vice President there at the time. I'll call him "Jack".
Jack was of the "old school", and the more I got to know him, the deeper my respect for him grew. It was he who really started, built from the ground up, the Honolulu operations of the company. He hired me not based on extensive background and reference checks, but on intuition, "horse sense". This was during the early days of desktop computers (PC's) in offices, and the computer I began using was the only one there at the time...
[I had begun using computers in the early 1980's. I cut my teeth on spreadsheets and, not long afterwards, programming languages, with little more than the then available manuals as my teachers.]
I was responsible for customer billings (A/R) and someone else, processing of vendor invoices (A/P). I felt inundated and lost with the tug logs from the different vessels arriving daily; it was my duty to review and try to make sense of all of them, from the viewpoint of for potential charges to customers. I created a simple database to track tug movements. I now had at my fingertips historical data that could be searched through, sorted, information extracted based on user-determined criteria. I converted the billing system from word-processing documents to spreadsheets.
With time to spare, I began dabbling in programming languages. Jack noticed this and commented to someone else that he had to "get Raymond away from that computer". (I found this out later - and in retrospect, he was right, as far as programming languages was concerned). He delegated to me the A/P duties to handle as well, and I became the sole accounting person in the Honolulu office. I added A/R and A/P detail to the database and, with this, had the capability of pulling out detailed and summary data for management use.
Jack retired and another Vice President/General Manager took his place a few years after I joined. My regret is that I did not meet Jack earlier in my career. He was my teacher, my friend, and the best boss I ever had, mostly because he understood where I was coming from as an employee and trusted me to do what needed to be done in my own way. He supported my efforts in Accounting like no boss ever did.
Although on the surface my general job functions had not changed, I have had to adapt my approach and specific duties to changes in personnel in other departments - Dispatch in particular. Early on, we were fortunate in having two or three talented people, in succession, in charge of Dispatch, each with different emphases and particular strengths, but all otherwise competent at their primary duties. Their efforts complemented mine in Accounting, having them around made my job easier. This became clear only later after their departures, with subsequent changes in personnel...
In my final years, I had been going to the office literally seven days per week, holidays included...
Off and on over the years, I entertained a job/career change. Over three years ago, when I felt that my then aging computer was near its last legs, I pushed for a replacement machine. When I finally got it, I felt relieved, thinking "This should last me until then..."
This year, I qualified for early retirement. As year-end neared, I felt a sense of urgency, that now was the time... I submitted my retirement notice. I "retired" early only from the company that I have left - I intend to continue to work elsewhere for the rest of my life, for as long as I am able...
With all that behind me, I now look forward to a new career and a new beginning, and perhaps to the next 18 ½ years... (resume available upon request
)My focus is more on efficiency and effective, rather than computerization for computerization's sake. Some tasks may be better handled manually. Employers/managers should be wary of "computer consultants" (internal or external) seemingly intent on computerizing anything and everything. Remember, "If it ain't broke, why fix it?" (There are variations on this theme.) As a direct result of a new system, ask yourself:
- Did (or will) total revenue increase?
- Did total expenses decrease?
- Subtract #2 from #1 above, then compare with pre-conversion results.
- Did you lose functionality, information or flexibility? (This is from your point of view, not the "expert's".)
- Is the new system more cumbersome than before?
- Have controls, checks and balances, been preserved after conversion?
- Do you have more people standing/sitting around discussing computer hardware/software, rather than the real focus of your business?
- Have you had to increase the size of the administrative staff despite increased cost of computerization? (Do you now have more people entering more data, of questionable value?)
For most, computers should be a means to an end, not the end itself. Simply put, it is about comparing cost versus benefit.
Raymond T. Kaya
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
www.reikialoha.com/raymond