Anyone who works with people agrees that the diversity of workplace stories makes any attempt at monotony impossible! I chose a generic character like the Human Resources Manager because, let’s say, they get to hear all the stories firsthand, but this article doesn’t necessarily reflect only the experience of this character.
After working for a long time in an institution, you come to know everyone truly like in a big family: clients, collaborators, colleagues, colleagues’ children, and all their stories intertwine in this daily Adventure at work.
For instance, from a front office position, I had the opportunity to meet countless clients, but most often I think of this gentleman who, while waiting for the sales representative, taught me a thing or two about the reforestation business (since we operate in the forestry field!), about plant species that bring barren soil back to life, and about the reasons why volunteer reforestation activities are not always effective!
However, the true Adventure for a Human Resources Manager begins when company recruitments take place:
- When a super-qualified candidate from the other end of the country applies for the accountant position, willing to relocate for an amount estimated at the entire Financial Department’s salary, and our colleague – the Economic Director – declares that we will consider him only if we decide to let her go. We cannot let go of our colleague, to be clear!
- When you wait for the candidate at the interview, and when you call to check why they are so late, their wife answers and says the man is sleeping but will wake him up, and the man tells you in a voice from the depths of the earth that he is giving up the proposed job…
- When a candidate calls who matches the name, age, and address of a close relative, but you don’t know how to react at the moment… would it be ethical to hire your uncle? The result was that we hired a person who was not related to anyone in the company, and we checked once again how small the world is. In this city, on the same street, live two people with the same name, age, and professional background but do not know they have an alter ego so close!
- When you check the candidates’ profiles a bit and come across impressive tattoo photos, or the candidates’ profile pictures are shirtless to show off their well-toned muscles, like a suitable business card for the laborer position that requires some physical effort…
- When some candidates are bored with their mundane names like Cristian, Florin, or Vasile and fill out applications with their nicknames that include terms like TheBoss or BigGuy. If you’ve completed the profile with a tattoo of angel wings… the interview is over! Or when the candidate includes the wife’s name in the application, and you receive an employment request from – let’s say – Ion and Maria Moldovan, and on the phone, you have to make up a story to clarify who the position is for, who is applying, and who is the boss at home!
- When the candidate comes to the interview from another locality and doesn’t know the city, and you end up calling the Local Transport Company to find out where to have the person wait at the station and which bus to take… The adventure ended well after about six phone calls in which I tested all my dispatcher skills!
Ultimately, these people’s stories enrich our lives with experiences. We appreciate our courier daily, who helps us so much that we treat him like a colleague. We appreciate our colleagues who come to work and leave their children alone at home, having to manage online school, as well as those who bring their children to work, who do online school in our offices.
These colleagues and their stories show us once again that, like it or not, the workplace forms a big family, and life always beats the movie!