Welcome to your New Job

The Human Resource office is one of the most feared offices in any organization. As a matter of fact, it is the only office you rarely want to pass by and find out how the occupant is doing, lest something you are hiding crop up.

As a new member of staff, even the best orientation program does not prepare you for the kind of reception the staff will give you. As a matter of fact, when you join the company, everyone sticks their neck out, they want to know how they new ‘lady’ is doing. There are whispers during lunch sessions and everyone is just not sure anymore.

Then you begin to see people come to say hello.Others will try to speak in vernacular, just to find out if you speak the same mother tongue. If you fall for that trick, you automatically become ‘their person’ and now they can ask for favors. Others will approach you to gossip about one of their colleagues, just to hear what you will say. Others will hand you goodies, just so you are in good books with them.

Then there are those veteran employees….those who think they have earned the right to be where they are and by extension, the right to do whatever they want. In their own words, ‘we have been here since the inception of this company,what call she tell us’. These ones will test your patience. Their attitude is foul and in their own mind, they believe you are only there temporarily. ‘She will leave too, just like the other one left’, they say.

This is a very trying moment for every HRM and it is important that you remain your own person. All of the above people are meant to help you adjust to the new working environment. The earlier you are able to establish who each employee is, the better for you. Do not be fooled by niceness, most of the times, it doesn’t last.

Any HRM who joins an organization thinking that at one point, they will be the most popular staff or that the staff will like him/her is greatly mistaken. Human Resource Management is like a double edged sword, you are on my side today and tomorrow, you shift sides. At the end of the day, what matters is justice and fairness.

NB: Human Resource Practice is not a popularity contest…..believe that