The HR business partner had been busy that day. She had had numerous meetings to attend and her diary had been packed. It was already past lunch break but he hadn’t taken her lunch. She had attended different disciplinary and departmental managers’ meeting and at this time, she wanted to do a few administrative duties before leaving the office. For a fact, she was exhausted.
She sat and opened a few envelopes that had been placed on top of her desk by a receptionist. As usual, she didn’t want to leave the office with any letter unread. It was a habit informed by the fact that some matters needed urgent attention. Some were resignation letters while others were letters from different stakeholders of the organization.
The last letter was the one that drew most of her attention. Charles , one of the employees had written to her requesting for a salary increment. Although she received these types of letter occasionally, this one was exceptional. Charles had joined the organization as a well-performing staff with a promising career; he recorded the highest level of performance during his first three months. His performance attracted the attention of the management and luckily he was appointed as an assistant departmental manager since there was no better position at that time.
The management had hoped by giving him that position they will be grooming him for a higher position. The motive of the management was right. With time, Charles found himself surrounded by ‘advisers’ all over. Some were telling him how the management is bad while others were telling him he will not change anything in the organization.
In his six months of employment, Charles improved the performance of the organization by far. However, as he was transforming the organization the more the ‘advisors’ intensified their efforts. What Charles didn’t know is that these employees were bitter because they were not getting any opportunity. He was not also aware of their failure to be productive and contribute to the company’s bottom line. The management retained them only because a massive action to terminate them would have attracted legs consequences. Besides, it would taint the image of the organization. The company, as a result, had to put up with them.
Charles succumbed to their malice and embraced their attitude that the management didn’t have the best interests of employees at heart. Soon, his performance started declining and even the promotion he was anticipating was given to another employee. Charles spent a lot of time cursing the management. The other thing he didn’t know is that companies are not welfare societies. Even if companies take great care of the welfare of their employees, it is not for the sake of the employees but for the sake of the goals and objectives of the organization.
The HR business partner took the letter and filed it. She did nothing about it. Charles missed all the opportunities thereafter. If only Charles knew that any change in terms of engagement was based on merit and one’s level of contribution to the firm, Charles wouldn’t have listened to them. Even if Charles’ terms wouldn’t have been changed, he had a chance of gaining a career reputation which would be useful when searching for greener pasture. Charles is still bitter and his performance is worsening day by day. Eventually, he will hit the rock bottom. What a tragedy!