Grade 10 Leaver

“What could you expect from them? They are only Grade 10 leavers”, says one of the employees of one of the Filipino Companies here in Lae refering to the incompetent performance of their local staffs. He was complaining to the HR Manager who quietly listened but at the back of his mind he was saying “Ouch!” The HR Manager was once assigned a job in the technical department, the directors saw his perseverance and desire to learn and perform. His impressive work record gave confidence to the directors that he can be able to manage WHATEVER task they will give him. From the Techincal/Production Department he was transferred to the Human Resource Department as HR Manager. That was a BIG challenge for him. He was asking himself how can he perform. He has never handled this type of job in his over 40 years of employment. But he was resourceful. Whenever he was not sure about anything about his function, he asked around. He made contacts with the people who are knowlegeable on this area. He was not ashamed to let people know that there were things that he didn’t know. And slowly he was able to achieve what the company expects from him. Slowly he became confident to handle the function he was given with. It was difficult but learnable only if one is willing to give his best, not giving up and never under estimating one’s self. In one of my chats with the HR Manager I asked how he managed to do something not his forte, he said “We should not just work for the company. We are working because we love our family. We want to give the best for our loved ones. And our company can help us. And because of that we have to love our jobs. If we love our jobs the company will notice that. And they will give us what we need to keep us. Nothing can stop me, I will learn the job even though I am just a Grade 10 leaver.”