Hazia’s Reflections

I had to work yesterday, and my, the day brought its’ own set of dramas. LOL!

During an event last week, at lunch, I mentioned my long-time shortage of staff. 2 candidates have rejected the offer, so I was still short. Mr pizza hut semi-jokingly offered himself. I pondered for a few minutes before thinking… why the hell not? So, I asked him to consider. Perhaps the position is lower but the salary would be much higher, he’s currently with an NGO, so he’s not earning much.

He has in-depth industry knowledge and a high level of psyhical and psychological endurance, plus a wide pool of relevant contacts. Yeah, the perfect candidate to assist me with my battle at work. With his strong character, agressive ways and years in the industry, he may even outshine me. But I wasn’t even bothered about that. This is not a popularity contest. I’ve been in PR for 10 years, I’ve had enough of glizt and glam.

Now, there is one problem. We went to the same varsity, graduated in the same year and are holding similar posts, though his income is only half of mine. He would really have to swallow all his ego to work for me. Is money that important, plus better future career prospect?

At first, he appeared interested, asked me the salary range, etc. Then, he mentioned his worry about his boss’ reaction, the political figure was my classmate and his classmate in varsity. We both knew what the man was capable of. No more reply from him, so I assumed that he was not serious. So, I moved on to Plan B.

My new senior staff really like Mr pizza hut’s colleague, they went for a trade mission abroad together recently. Let’s call him Mr Humble. This guy may have similar experience and exposure to him, but their personalities are totally opposite. He is low-profile, soft spoken and very polite. But, make no mistake, Humble is used to running around and doing psyhical work. Actually, I hinted the vacancy to him when we first met but he didn’t catch it.

My staff helped do the dirty work of asking and pushing the guy. Yesterday morning at the event, he told him that he wanted to discuss with his parents first, he was getting married and there were several changes to be made to his plans. His fiance was all for it though.

All looks well until I met Mr pizza hut again yesterday, at the same whole-day event. I casually mentioned his lack of interest in the job and me moving on to Plan B. His face changed. Oh! So, he was interested! Apparently, both of us have big egos. He didn’t want to look keen and I didn’t want to appear as if I was pursuing him. LOL! We talked some more and he requested that we meet up next week and discussed as friends first.

At first glance, Humble is a safer choice because he’s a follower and won’t go against me. His present position is also 2 levels lower than Pizza hut, so I won’t have any problem to process his recruitment. Cons: He’s too close to my new senior staff, there is a barrier in communications, he tells the guy things that he doesn’t dare tell me, segan kot.

Pizza hut is riskier. He’s a front-of-the-scene person, old staffs may straight away pounce on him. They’ve known him for years, they may feel threatened or jealous. Bosses also make get rid of me, with him on board. Yeah, the guy is that strong. On the other hand, my 2 senior staffs won’t bond too closely with him, I think. In fact whenever I mentioned hiring Pizza hut, I saw the ‘troubled’ look on their faces, unlike how keen they were if I wanted to hire Humble.

Yesterday too at the event, my eyes were snapped open. My old senior staff asked my new senior staff to go for lunch without asking me, it was as if she didn’t even see me. And off, the guy went. I was left alone to man the booth. My alarm bells went off - they were getting too chummy. I’m not blind. With Humble on board, their power will increase to a clique of 3. That was way too dangerous for the department.

This little incident would affect my decision strongly. Also, at the end of the day, Pizza hut and I are friends. I hope he won’t backstab me. Well, if he even dares to cross swords with me, he’ll feel the sting of the Scorpion. LOL!