Tuesday, September 04, 2007 Cena: From the desk of a manager By Rolo B. Cena Pulpbits
(First of a series)
“Wait ‘till you become a manager,” said his boss when he was still working as an assistant in a government corporation.
More than 20 years ago, Andrei projected to become a manager when he reaches his age now. He protracted everything: his attitude towards work, attendance, company culture, profession, and professional growth. He vowed he should not be identified as a pro-employee neither a pro-employer.
Andrei started as an Accounting Clerk for a rural bank. Despite the fact that he did not graduate, his work performance was noticed by the President’s wife.
After a month, the Board sent him a yellow slip elevating him to the position of an Internal Auditor which at that time was vacant. The critical department was only manned by himself. Three hard months passed and he recommended the hiring of two assistants which was soon approved.
He thus became the Senior Auditor acting as Department Head. He would usually and normally represent the department in the management committee and board meetings.
Normal in the course of an auditor’s job, he uncovered a long-practiced anomaly which amounted to almost one million pesos orchestrated in perfect connivance by the branch manager, credit and collection officer, cashier, and bookkeeper. Sensing this, the four personnel resigned one after the other. That catapulted Andrei’s prestige as an auditor.
He thought he already made heaven on earth. One day, in his usual visit to the Office of the President, he was asked to defend his audit findings in the court.
Aware of the consequence of presenting any audit reports inside courts of law, he smartly requested for a verification audit to be done by a group of external auditors which was granted. Soon, the opinion of the external auditors was handed and as expected, they arrived at the same figure as he had. The two audit findings were exactly the same. This time, his ego was enhanced and as always, he was flying sky high like an eagle.
Like a Jumbo jet in nimbus, Andrei knew that soon he had to stop flying. One day, he was asked to fill out the life insurance form naming the Bank as the beneficiary. He called his family in Manila for the most appropriate thing to do given the situation. They vehemently instructed him not to sign the form and instead resign. Young and fresh from college as he was, he gave in to his family’s instructions: he resigned. His graceful exit from the bank paralyzed the case for reasons he did not bother to ask. The president and the members of the board wanted him to stay, but since no resignation is subject to any approval, they unwillingly let go of him.
He moved to and joined his family in Manila where luckily he got employed immediately. At this juncture, he already made arrangements for his graduation to at least prepare him for the next step ahead. Not lifting his own chair, he was always noticed as “promotable.”
The hang-over he had from the bank plus the comments of his first employer in Manila gave him the urge to apply for a work in a government corporation. By God’s grace he boarded this company which later gave me so much in the same way as the management trusted him so much. He was single-handedly picked out to be regularly trained annually in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore in relation to his new job. This company made him what he had become now. (The second part of this article will be in next issue.)
