Combining emotions with work is one of the biggest mistakes I ever made throughout the time I spent at my former place of work.
I am someone who loves to listen to people, reason with them and help as long as I am in the position to do so. The relationship between the senior staff and juniors was terrible in the company and mostly the field workers who are the strength of the company are usually treated like trash.
These guys are facing challenges at work and in their personal life but they see no need to speak about these things because no one cares.
I worked with a group of companies then and after my first year with a particular brand, I was transferred on a recommendation to another brand that was struggling at that time.
Aside from doing my job properly, I discovered that giving a listening ear to the guys in my team worked in the previous brand so I planned to do the same with my new team.
I made sure they were free to discuss anything with me and it worked. I started with tackling the debt in the team and it was easier than I thought it would be. My relationship with these guys grew and they won't hesitate to hint me if any of the team members is hiding something.
One of the guys in the brand I worked for before was involved in a fatal accident. It was God's intervention that kept him alive because when the accident happened, the witnesses thought he was dead so no one helped him.
The police came around about 25 minutes later and it was then they discovered that he was alive but badly injured.
On hearing the news, I rushed down to the hospital where he was taken too. I was terrified at the sight of him and I was scared because that wasn't the first time he was rushed to the hospital.
When he was working with me, some thugs asked for money which he refused to give them and it led to a huge issue, this particular guy was beaten till he passed out. I felt pity for him and prayed that he survived the accident wounds.
Months passed and he recovered. He was fit to work again but on his arrival at work, he was dismissed.
I got to know and went to HR to ask why and I was shocked at his response.
They said he had a debt which was the money the thugs forcefully took from him a long time ago which the company agreed to pay back and they were tired of him getting into trouble.
I felt down because I see no reason why someone who has dedicated about 5 years of his life to the company should be dismissed without compensation. Moreover, the eyewitnesses from the accident scene said he wasn't at fault and the culprit ran off after it happened.
I wish I could do something but I was helpless. Luckily for the guy, one of my team wanted to take a month leave for health issues and he will be replaced immediately if the company gets to know so instead of informing the company about the guy's health conditions, I just replaced him with the guy that was dismissed.
I know it was against the company policy but I went on to do it because of how I felt about the guy's situation. It was easy for me to divert the salary so my plan worked out well.
The dismissed guy was excited about the news and he resumed the next day. Instead of a bike, I gave him a tricycle which was more convenient for him. He is a good salesman with lots of experience, he has a good customer relationship and I believe he will boost the team's growth as well.
He can't pick up goods since he has been dismissed so I did the pick-up for him in my name. This guy didn't work for a day before he carried out his plans, little did I know that he wanted revenge on the company and he took advantage of the help I offered. He hurt me instead of the company.
He carted away with goods worth $250 and I pleaded for weeks before I got the tricycle back where he parked it. Reporting to the company wasn't possible because it would make me lose my job.
I couldn't track him and that was how I got into debt. I started paying the money monthly until I paid it all and I wished I never made the decision because it was an action I shouldn't have even taken initially.
I allowed emotions to cloud my judgment at work and I paid dearly for it. I learned my lessons, it is good to listen to your workers problems but there must be limit to your intervention if you will break rules or work ethic.