Staying True To My Core Beliefs : Attitude Vs Experience #251

Hello 👋 #ladiesofhive, trust we are doing great. Welcome to my blog. I present my write-up for this week's prompt. I look forward to reading feedback in the comments section.

My core belief is that while on the job, attitude speaks volumes than experience to make reasonable progress. One might have decades of experience, but might not have the right attitude that will keep the person on the job. For me, attitude is a determinant of what one can make out of experience. And in a nutshell, my core belief in life is that attitude is a door opener, while experience keeps an individual in the door that attitude opens. Now, here is my story regarding that.

Source from Pixabay

I have two employees in our organisation with the names Natheniel and Daniel. Nathaniel joined the organisation before Daniel, and the two of them work in the same department but on different shifts. Nathaniel has a bad attitude toward work, quarrels with employees on the production floor, is unstable on the job, very arrogant and insulting, has received a series of queries and other disciplinary actions, but he is experienced on the job. Conversely, Daniel is the opposite of Nathaniel; he is mannered, calm and collected but with minimal work experience. However, Daniel reliefs Nathaniel anytime he is not on duty.

It happened that in the last promotional list I rolled out, Daniel got a promotion over Nathaniel in his shift. This decision was not solely made. The head of the production department and other report lines participated in them. The process was also thorough and rigorous.

Surprisingly, when I presented my report and read out the names of the employees who were promoted with Daniels’ name on the list, there was an objection. Some of the management staff objected to Daniels' promotion, stating that he should not be promoted over Nathaniel, who joined the organisation before him. Before I could say a word, the senior management staff echoed support for the motion. I was asked to schedule a meeting with the senior management staff to resolve the issue. I was overwhelmed with negative emotions considering the efforts, time and processes we observed to arrive at that decision. But again, I remained calm and focused on defending my list.

At the meeting, the senior staff reiterated that Nathaniel joined the company before Daniel and insisted that he should not be promoted before Nathaniel. Nothing more than that. Then, I realised that they spoke out of ignorance, sentiments and bias. Further discussion with them also exposed their myopic and naïve mindset. This is because Daniel relieves Natheniel whenever he is not on duty and has never been handicapped while doing that.

Presenting my points while trying to convince them, I provided the files of the two employees, played their data for them, considering their past activities in the firm in the past years, the recommendations, queries, and other disciplinary actions they received. The senior staff remained unconvinced. Therefore, I proposed rescheduling the meeting and left.

Within a month, there was a challenge at the factory. One of the dump chests (storage tanks for pulp) was not releasing pulp. The whole operators were confused as to what could have triggered such an issue. While other operators were troubleshooting to find a solution, Nathaniel was busy with his phone, watching videos and other activities. His supervisors and team lead approached him, and, in his usual manner, he insulted them, bragging about being among the owners of the factory, therefore, untouchable. It is worth mentioning that entering the production floor with a phone is against the factory policy, but Natheniel will sneak in his phone with flimsy excuses.

Daniel, in his way, was reaching out to colleagues, both present and past, trouble-shooting the challenges until he figured it out. I was in my office that day, also reaching out to vendors for support, when I got a call from the MD.

Source from Pixabay

In his words, “Grace” issue Daniel his promotion letter with immediate effect. I have keenly watched him within this period, and today he is our hero; he has saved us millions of naira from waste and downtime. Therefore, we must reward him.

Alas, my friends, my belief paid off. Immediately, I announced the promotion on all notice boards.