How My Manager Saved My Job And Helped Me Avert Financial Crisis

by frank
(Lagos)

I am very grateful to my manager for the thoughtfulness and concern in showed when I
indicated my interest to leave the company where I worked as a factory operative.

Actually, my decision to leave was not a financially sound decision. It was an emotion
decision driven by the circumstances at the time. And if my manager hadn't stepped in
to dig-deep into the root cause of my desire to leave voluntarily, I would have been
sorry I did.

Let me give you some background information so you understand my dilemma at the time and
how his rational financial analysis helped me change my mind.

I was transferred from the confectionery section to the beverage section of the company
where I work after a major reorganization. I was actually due for my annual vacation before
the transfer but then I was told to resume work in the new department before proceeding on
my vacation.

Unfortunately, a good number of employees in the beverage team had not yet gone on
vacation and there was an existing vacation roster the team drew up.

So, when I indicated my desire to proceed on vacation, I was told my name was not yet in the vacation roster of the team and that my vacation had to be deferred because those already on the list had to complete their vacation first.

To make matters worse, the section I was posted to in the beverage team required that I stand for
several hours within the 8-hour production shift. And this was having a toll on my left leg where
I sustained injury some years back.

In fact, the reason I wanted to proceed on vacation when I chose to was to treat my leg in an
alternative medicine center . . . the kind of alternative medical facility my company does not
support.

My shift manager was adamant about altering the vacation roster to accommodate me. And my
leg was 'killing' me.

This was manual work and frequent complaints from operatives or request to change roles was
considered an excuse to dodge the tough and tasking areas of the production process.

So, managers
and supervisors tend to be tough-minded when it comes to such requests.

Besides, I didn't want to be branded as lazy. So, I persisted despite the pain.

A visit to the company's clinic resulted in some relief but I often get the most relief from
the alternative therapy. And my supervisor wasn't keen on giving me time off work (at least two
weeks) to deal with the problem my way.

One afternoon while on duty, the pain from the leg became unbearable and my supervisor was
mad about result, oblivious of the pain I felt.

I got suddenly tired of it all and decided to throw in the towel.

So I left the production line, got a piece of paper, went to a quiet place, and wrote a simple
resignation letter. Then took it to my shift manager.

Production often gets disrupted when one person leaves a running line. So, the news already
got to my manager that I had left the factory floor even before I reached him.

When I gave him my resignation letter, he read it and then asked me to sit and discuss my
reasons for wanting to leave the business.

I told him my mind as clearly as I could. He listened.

Then he asked me how my finances were.

"What is your savings?" he asked.

I told him the truth. I had only NGN30,000 Naira (about $200 USD) in my savings account.

He asked about the size of my monthly salary. I told him. It was just a meagre NGN30,000 ($200USD). So my savings was just equal to my one month salary. Not much.

He asked me what my work plan was after I left the company. I told him I had a barbing salon
and that I would expand it when I left my day job.

He asked me who was running the place while I was still in employment. I told him my younger
brother.

To cut a long story short, it was obvious from our discussion that i was not financially prepared to exit the company. Add to that the fact that . . .