WARNING: LONG POST ALERT :-D....
I can't believe I haven't blogged in a whole month. Nnaaa, na wa ooo. I was supposed to have updated last week, but I've just been so lazy :-). So how are you all doing? I'm cool, living and loving life. Work has been ermmmmm, interesting.
I remember when the first tsunami (laying off of staff) hit the banking sector in 2009. It was unexpected and deadly. We all got to the office on the 31st of Dec, 2009 and logged on to our various systems. As many people as couldn't log on (an error message saying this user has been disabled would pop on the monitor) had been laid off, just like that. At first, we thought it was a system error because we were not pre-informed. We communicated with colleagues from other branches who were experiencing the same problem and eventually heard from some of them in HR that the bank had laid off some staff.
That was a rude awakening both to those that had been laid off and to those that were still in the system. No one knew the criteria for the laying off. Some said it was based on performance especially in terms of deposit mobilization. I think people were just randomly picked because really how many people meet their targets. As an operation staff, I have my target too, but I don't even bother myself about it. I have enough to do rendering quality service to the customers when they come to do their transactions. A good friend of mine (also an operation staff) that we had attended her wedding on the 5th of Dec 2009 was laid off. What a way to usher in the new year. Those of us still left in the system were forced to think of plans B, C, and as many as possible in case of any eventualities. But you know how this things can be, after a while, you tend to just relax jare especially when you have a good monthly income coming in.
Following the reformation in the banking sector, some banks were merged and some were acquired. My former bank (drumroll) :-) : Finbank was acquired by Fcmb. The process had been going on for a while and we all just minded our business and continued our normal work. The final lap of the acquisition is to be in July, that is when all Finbank branches will be renamed Fcmb and all that. Some weeks back, a rumor started circulating that there was going to be another tsunami in April as part of the acquisition plan. It was somehow expected because there was no way Fcmb would absorb all the staff of Finbank. But we thought the tsunami would be sometime in June, how wrong we were.
The rumor became stronger that staff were going to be laid off on the 27th of April. There was no way to verify this, so we just prepared our minds for anything. On the said day, we got to the office and with bated breath, we all tried to login to our systems. We all heaved a sigh of relief in my branch when we gained access to do our jobs. Reports started coming in from colleagues in other branches saying that management had changed their tactics. Instead of outright disabling of staff user ID, they sent letters through Dhl and some branches had already received theirs.
At about 10am, a Dhl delivery guy brought a parcel for my branch. My BM received it and refused to open it. My guess was that he didn't want to destabilize the staff affected. He preferred us to go about our normal duties first. Oh boy, there was so much tension in the air. Chats and calls were made from different branches intimating us of friends that had been laid off. Most of us didn't even have the zeal to work that day, we just wanted to be told our fate.
Around noon, the BM called my Hop (Lekan) and spoke with him. Not long after he returned from the meeting, I suspected that I had been affected by the tsunami. As the FT officer, I work on salary schedules of customers. I had a list of Phcn staff schedule and was waiting for the NEFT transfer from First Bank before I could go ahead and credit their accounts. Earlier on, Lekan had told me to go ahead and part-credit these accounts. The idea been that as soon as we received the NEFT transfer, he would conclude the transaction. This would save me from undue stress from the Phcn staff ( I will gist you guys about those people later. Their wahala too much walahi). I had been busy with other transactions and so hadn't gotten round to the salary schedule. So when Lekan asked if I had worked on the schedule and I said no, he told me not to bother doing it again.
I smiled to myself cos I just knew that it was almost time for me to wrap up and waka. He also had this sorry look on his face :-), but didn't say anything to me. But he went ahead and told my colleagues. Later in the day, the C.S.O came to my desk and asked me to transfer my ringtone to her phone. I told her I would do so when I was less busy. She kept insisting that she wanted it and I shouldn't forget. I put two and two together and concluded that for her to be insisting on getting the ringtone that day, it meant I wasn't going to come to work on Monday.
To cut the long and boring story short jare :-), we closed to customers by 4pm as usual and my boss called me and informed me that I and a marketer in the branch were laid off. I told him I figured it out already. He handed over the parcel to me which contained my letter of resignation and another letter with the breakdown of my terminal benefits. I wrote my own letter of resignation, handed over my ID card, official cufflinks and lapel pin to my boss. I was more than glad to hand over my pending work (including the list of Phcn salary schedule) to the Grumbler. She was just crying ( I'm sure it was more because she would now have double work to do, than because she was going to miss me) :-D...
We all talked for a while and I eventually left. It was nice working in that branch, even though it was for a few months. I appreciate the people and the experience I got from my 4 years sojourn in Finbank. I thank God for the impact I believe I made in the lives of some of the people I came in contact with. I made some good friends that I intend to keep in touch with. However, it's time for me to move on to greater things.
So right now, I'm doing some serious soul searching cos aside from getting another job, I need to think of and explore some things I really love to do. Now more than ever, I need to set those other plans B,C, etc in motion.
So y'all, if you hear of any vacancies or have any connections in Shell, Chevron, Nnpc, Total, Mobil etc, just holla @ your girl. :-D
P.S: I'm off to Abuja tomorrow. I decided to go and visit my sister and her family. I saw them last in October when she put to bed. I need to do all my waka and grooving now, cos as soon as the job comes, there will be no vacation in a while.
P.S.S: I'm considering altering my blog name. Oh well, let's see how that goes. Hope to update soonest. *fingers crossed*
Lots of love and hugs *muahhhhh*
