Hazia’s Reflections

My third day… I was in early for the presentation to the MD only to have it postponed to 11am and then to 2.30 pm, 3.30pm and finally… tomorrow morning, sigh!! It seemed that his acquaintances dropped by one after another unannounced (his official starting date is only next week anyway).

Might as well since I was scheduled to interview 10 candidates today, together with my boss. Guess what, I actually loved it. I think my boss didn’t suspect that it was my first time. In fact, within the first 5 minutes, I already knew whether I wanted to hire someone or not. My boss was even faster, he said right from the moment a candidate walked into the room, he already knew. LOL! Funnily, the candidates were directed to us without gap; we hardly get to ‘discuss the precious one’ when another one suddenly entered the room.

I was glad that we agreed on the same candidates, who passed and who didn’t. We got one for PR and one for customer service. The former had a useful combination of skills. The later didn’t have the right paper qualifications (she was a Science graduate) but she had the right personality and traits. In fact, she was the odd one out since my boss only shortlisted Mass Communications / PR grads. We had a steward who was ‘polished’ but we had the same concern, he might be playful, and he may get restless.

Amazingly, the new MD approved several memos sent quite a while back to his predecessor, in a jiffy too. Automatically, all the documents landed in my in-tray. I wanted to clear it there and then, be on top of things. The one under probation tried to grab a few docs from my in-tray (the approvals were requested by him 2 weeks ago). Well, he got it from me, I made it clear that I oversee things now and you don’t take anything from my desk without my permission.

I even caught one memo he issued yesterday quoting ‘through my name’ without my knowledge. Also, there was a memo citing approval for a new year advertisement and I was shocked with the poor quality of visuals presented by the advertising agency. Man, New Year is merely 4 days away, naturally I jumped. When he asked me to calm down and relax, I didn’t hesitate to ‘kick his ass’, especially since the memo was prepared by him and he was ‘blank’ as to what it was all about. So what if a few people near my door heard me firing him, they’ve seen my friendly side, it’s time they see my tough side too.

Anyway, he decided to continue with apple polishing. I had to give it to him looking at the speed that he was moving to match my style (and the drastic increase in his level of alertness). I could see that he wasn’t a motivated, fast-paced person, otherwise.

I had lunch with the mature HR person who handled my recruitment. She gave me some useful advice and insights. She proposed that I do a monthly department meeting and explain to my 6 staff my expectation & style and make it clear that I am in charge now and… inspire them to make our department the best. I was already thinking of a meeting maybe twice a week or so. But to inspire? That was the management philosophy that I’d set for myself 3 years ago but…

Well, this is actually the first time I’m getting the recognition that comes with the ‘chair’. I’m aware of the saying that you’re always highly motivated during your first 2 weeks on the job. But then again, maybe it’s time to pick up where I left off. It’s very much like chasing shadows. The moment you stop chasing, it stops running away and finally meets you heads on.