Message #4452

[msrobbie]

Well, we did end up with one of the former employees coming back to us.  The other one had a bit of an attitude problem, which finally came through in an interview, so we did not take him back.



The one who did return has come "on board" as a project manager and is being treated like one of the family already.  Knowing that I'm usually in the office between 6:00 and 6:30 every morning, he showed up at 6:30 on his first day and we walked around the building, just the two of us, while I told him about each person who works for us while we were in their work areas.  I had already made sure his desk was set up with basic office supplies, had his decked lap-top on network, had his company e-mail address set up, and his cell/radio assigned, charged up and ready to go.  I set up his screen saver with "Welcome Back Brian", and that seemed to greatly please him.



As each person came in that morning, I made sure the "new guy" was introduced to the people he did not already know.  I had already spoken with most of the employees who did not know him and impressed upon them what a valuable addition he would be to the company.  Most already knew something about him from working with his programs and projects, and it was not difficult to convince them that bringing him back was the right thing to do.



One kind of funny thing that happened, and this was absolutely a joke and not intended to be critical, was that the other existing project managers called me over to their part of the office and asked me, in front of the "new" guy, why I was so nice to him and so mean to them.  Now, these guys and I get along like a house afire, so this was all in good fun.  I was glad that they felt good enough about the new employee to joke in front of him that he was getting "special" treatment.  My answer to them was that he was getting special treatment because he is so "doggone special", and that I hoped their manners would improve greatly by following his example.  Little ice-breaking situations such as this have made my job a little easier while getting this fellow settled in.



So far, I have not heard one grumble.



But . . . we are filling another job position (a newly created job position) from in-house employees next week, and there may be some trouble there.  We've had two employees apply for the job, and we have made a decision which one it will be after both had equal time at interviews with our interview team.  The person who is not getting the position will be working for the person who is getting the job, so we've already made plans to head off problems.  The department manager will meet with the employee who is not getting the promotion and then meet with him and the one who is getting the job, all together at lunch, and we hope things will settle down quickly and everyone will cooperate and get to work.  Both candidates are good people and "team players", and have been with the company about the same length of time, so I have high hopes that things will go well.



Just wanted to let you all know how things worked out, and I appreciate everyone's advice and comments.  Oh, and my receptionist who has been off work since the middle of November is finally back at work, so you might sense a little less tension in my posts from now on!!     NO MORE TEMPS!!



Robbie