Nothing Works here

On my first day of resumption in a new office after spending seven years in my former company to take up a new role, I was warmly welcomed by the duo of the Human resource officer and the staff welfare officer. I stared around the reception hall to have a feel of it since the entire interview process was virtual, I go with the saying first impression last longer, the dark complexion receptionist was sitting at the right corner of the room facing the entrance. I thought to myself this must be a good place to work.

Introduction

I was ushered into a small room by the human resources officer, the inscription at the entrance reading HR meeting room. There she welcomed me formerly and said, I will oversee your onboarding processing. She excused herself to pick what she termed a planned orientation schedule. She said, “part of our onboarding process here is an induction program where you get to meet all the Head of the department.

Induction

She later came back a few minutes with a long list of schedules of names and times with the heading orientation schedule. From the list, my first meeting will be with the Health, Security, and safety environment manager. I was advised to take notes of the various session, as it is mandatory, I write a report on the orientation at the end of the whole exercise.

The session with the HSSE manager was interesting, he took the time to explain the different emergency plans in place at the corporate office and project sites. He didn’t fail to mention the periodic fire drills done to create awareness in case of occurrence. Moving out of the office was into the waiting hands of the staff welfare officer informing me it was time for the lunch break.

My Meeting with the director of projects after the HSSE manager was really an eye-opener to the activities of the company. He showed me a list of projects in different categories, ranging from the works that have been done in the past, awarded awaiting execution, ongoing and potential. This industry is volatile he said, the dynamics of the business is changing daily, and we are experiencing lots of delay in the execution of awarded contracts due to the challenges faced to access support from the banks to issue performance bond and advance performance guarantee. Delayed by the government to mobilize on awarded contracts poses a major setback to the survival of operators in this space. He concluded by saying that you will enjoy your stay here.

As it was in most organizations, the Quality department is the custodian of all the company’s policy and procedure documents says Mr. Ola the Quality and assurance Manager. He drags his drawer to show me the quality policy and discuss key policies.

The Human resources manager took me through the employee manual and emphasized the importance of understanding its content. He explained the various dos and don’ts of the company.

Finally, it was time to meet with my departmental head, I was excited and eager to meet her. You are welcome she said, while in her office, now that you have joined, I believe you will support to strengthen the finance department in terms of service delivery to all stakeholders. After a long conversation, I was taken to my office which has about six personnel and was welcome to the department. As I was about to settle down, I heard them discussing the company’s performance appraiser process, looking to my right while they were in the middle of the conversation, I said it is good there is a performance appraiser process in place over here, the guy seating next to me said, boss you are welcome, though the process is in place but “nothing works here”. I quietly sat on my chair pondering if I have taken the right decision.

#MEMBA 11