Unbelievable HR Director

The people from Greece would be arriving on Sunday evening. Our hero had arranged for a car to pick them up and then meet them at the hotel. They would be staying at Sofitel. He met them at around 9 pm in order to have a drink in the lobby. The first thing that they did was to complain about the hotel. When high executives visit they should be staying in the best hotels the marketing director said. I would prefer the Swiss hotel or the Marriot. These two hotels were very expensive. Mor than double the cost of Sofitel. I stayed with my family one month in Sofitel our hero said and I think it is fine. Please don’t compare yourself with the headquarter executives he said smiling. This was meant as a joke, but actually this is what all of them thought. Wherever they went they wanted royal treatment. They discussed a bit about the business, but our hero was anxious to talk about his issue. Stock options. He told the HR director that he wanted to talk to him alone for 5 minutes because he had a problem. Of course he said. I am at your disposal. After everybody goes to bed. Eventually, that time came. But surprisingly the HR director left the lobby without even saying anything to our hero. We will talk tomorrow he said while stepping in the elevator. I am too tired now. Our hero could not believe it. He did not even ask him what his problem was! The HR director of this multinational, the person that recruited him, his "friend"!

Not Possible...

During this busy week our hero received some disturbing news from some acquaintances he had from headquarters. The employees that were entitled to stock options had been receiving the relative documents from the HR office. Our hero had not heard anything. He tried communicating with the HR director, but of course there was no answer. Luckily he would be coming to Peru our hero thought. However he was extremely worried. Why hadn’t he heard anything regarding stock options? This was a basic element of his agreement. One of the basic reasons the he moved with his family to another continent. He discussed it with his wife. She was also worried, but both of them at the end could not imagine that anything could go wrong. This is an agreement. It would be totally unethical for the company not to stick to a commitment it had made to an employee it hired as an expatriate. Our hero could not imagine that a company could display a behavior like this. A company not honoring its half of an agreement. Our hero thought that this could not be possible, but the company behavior until that point, worried him. In any case the HR director would visit Peru in a few days. He would discuss that issue with him immediately.

Three “executives” in Peru

That Monday seemed like all other, but it was not. Our hero received a phone call from central offices. It was the Finance Director. We will be visiting Peru next week said. We? Our hero asked? Yes, The HR Director, the Marketing Director and I he said. All three “executives” our hero thought. What for he asked? We want to review the business and discuss next year’s budget. Ok our hero thought. This would be interesting. That week was crazy. They were working very hard to make the preparations for the arrival of the three. Presentations, discussions, hotel reservations, etc. Busy week. Our hero tried to calm down the locals. Don't worry he said. Everything will be ok.

Happy Greek family in Peru

Our hero was starting to perform well in the job. He got along with everybody, since it was starting to get clear that he was not anything like the three executives from headquarters. He was tough and demanding on the job, but he was also fair. He respected the local people and their customs and everybody appreciated that. In the meanwhile his personal life was improving. Since they had a baby sitter they could go out with his wife easier. They visited the nice restaurants in Peru, they went to movies etc. On the weekends our hero spent a lot of time with his son. In the morning they walked around the San Isidro Golf and stopped for a Coffee and a sandwich at Starbucks. Then they went either to the malls Larcomar or Jockey Plaza to walk around and later had lunch. They did this every weekend. There were not many different things to do, but they had a nice time as a family. They were a bit homesick, but they were happy together.

A maid and a nanny in Peru

Finally the day came for our hero to move to his new apartment. The furniture had been delivered so everything was ready. After they settled in, everything was much better. They were more comfortable, the baby had more room to play, they had internet connection, etc. More importantly they hired two people to help them in the house. A maid and a nanny. Some people may think that two people are too much, but in Peru it is very common. These ladies receive around 150 € per month, which is extremely cheap. They also live and eat in your house. They receive one day off per week, usually every Sunday. It is very common for foreigners that live in Peru and then return to their countries, to take the maid or the nanny with them, especially if they are happy with them. However, it not easy to find good help. In any case our hero would have help now so life would be certainly easier than living in a hotel. They only needed some time to trust the nanny with the baby. But after a month, everything was ok.

Continue Working –Stop Talking

In the meantime our hero started to understand the business. He spent many hours in the office trying to understand the problems. His work started to show immediately. Fortunately he started talking once a week with a finance executive (one of the three “stars”) regarding the business. Of course no one from headquarters acknowledged his good work. Whenever he did something positive and informed headquarters, he received the same answer “I told them to do this a year ago and they did not listen.” After a while our hero chose to continue working and stop talking the details with Greece. It was useless. They had no idea of the business.

Stuck in Sofitel Lima

The next month was quite difficult for our hero and his family. Living in a hotel was not easy. They wanted to move to their apartment so they could start felling like home. They wanted to get help for the house and a baby sitter. This could not be possible in the hotel. While living in the hotel the hero and his wife could not go anywhere without the baby. So basically most of their free time was spent in the hotel. It was difficult to go for a movie, to a restaurant etc. But hey were patient. They knew that everything would be different after they moved to their apartment.

Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez

All these thoughts went through his mind while waiting in the airport. After a slight delay the plane landed and our hero waited at the arrival area. There he saw something strange. There were hundreds of people waiting. He asked his driver why. He was told that this is very common in Lima. When a person arrived from abroad the whole family came to pick him up. Everybody dressed up and went to the airport. For each person arriving there could be 10-15 people waiting for him. Anyway fortunately his wife did not have to wait in the immigration line. Because of the child she had preferential treatment. So after a while both of them came out to the arrival area. Our hero was very happy. The baby saw him and immediately smiled. Our hero forgot about everything the central offices, the HR director, the CFO and hugged his family. He will never forget that moment.

First week in Peru

The first week ended quite fast. Our hero however was not concentrated on the job. The next day his wife and child were coming to Peru. He was anxious. Not only had he missed them, but he was nervous about the trip. He was wife would certainly have her hands full travelling with a 10 monthly baby a 17 hour trip. The hotel had put a cradle in the bedroom so that the baby could sleep. Although the room was quite comfortable, it would difficult in the hotel for all three of them. But they had to be patient for the furniture to be delivered. In the meanwhile he tried to contact headquarters in order to settle some issues. No answer! An expatriate in Peru had started working in the local subsidiary and no one from headquarters had shown any concern. Not the Group CFO, not the HR Director, nobody. Not even a good luck phone call. Our hero was beginning to clearly understand the type of company he had joined.

Peruvian “Losers”

As the CFO our hero wanted to meet his finance team. As we said all people were frightened. This was even more intense in the finance team, since they had the interaction with headquarters. The team had two managers. A controller and an accounting manager. Both of them spoke English. Our hero spent all day with them in order to understand the business and the situation in the company. It was clear that finance was totally underestimated in the company. This had to change. The next couple of days he met all the people in the company. He was pleasantly surprised. Most of them seemed excellent professionals. Later he would see that he was correct. However their morale was extremely low. These three headquarter executives had made them feel like bad professionals. If you continuously here that you are a looser, after a while you start believing it….

The Three Greek “Executives”

The problem was that Greek headquarters had created an intimidating surrounding. The people from headquarters involved with Peru were basically three top executives: the HR director (the “friend”), a Marketing Director and a Finance Director. These three had no idea of managing a company. They were sitting comfortable in their nice offices in Greece, sending tough e-mails, giving orders, but without having any responsibility. Our hero had never seen anything like this before. If things went wrong they blamed local management, but in case of any success, they claimed the glory immediately! But they did not know how to run the business. This is logical since the specific people did not have any operational experience in the field. The Peruvian people knew this and most of them were sick and tired of it. These three "executives" were considered as a bad joke. Unfortunately, a bad joke with power and authority. Besides everything else, our hero had to face this situation. He had to prove that he was not like these specific three executives.

The Peruvian Office

The ride to the office was about 20 minutes, depending on traffic. Everybody in the Peruvian office was expecting him that day and had prepared a nice welcome. First of all the CEO introduced him to everybody. Then there was a small presentation from the management team regarding the company. Our hero’s position was very important in the company structure. Basically we was number 2 after the CEO, but most importantly he was the guy from headquarters. His impression from that first day was that everybody was a bit frightened. Not only because of the “new person from Greece”, but because of headquarters.

Central Offices Greece

It is very important to note that during these 8 days in Peru, no one from Greece central offices had contacted him. Our hero had tried to call his "friend" the HR director, but there was no return of the call. Our hero started to feel quite uncomfortable with the situation. Imagine, an expatriate from Greece moving to Lima, Peru with no support from the central offices! Unbelievable! But our hero at that point could not imagine, what would follow in a few months….

The Ride to the Office

He woke up very early that day. First of all he called his wife. She had arrived at Madrid and was waiting for the evening flight for Athens. After a 5 minute conversation closed the phone, dressed and then went to eat breakfast. They were staying in the Sofitel, which was a nice hotel, but not anything special. Our hero was staying there for 8 days by now and already was tired from the same breakfast. Only three types: American, Continental, Healthy. Anyway after eating breakfast he left for work. The ride was a unique experience. Our hero had already seen that the driving in Lima, and generally in L. America, was totally different than Europe. Very agressive. But here is the thing. No accidents, especially in the city. Everybody was accustomed to driving this way.

Lonely Greek in Peru

The next day would be our heroes’ first day at his new job. That afternoon however, his wife would be travelling to back Greece in order to pick up their son. She would stay in Greece for 2 days and then return. A tough trip with a duration of 34 hours. The return would be even harder for his wife, because she would be travelling with the baby. Difficult trip for a 10 month old child, so our hero was a bit worried. Anyway, he dropped his wife at the airport and then returned to the hotel. That night was quite lonely for him and at the same time he was nervous about his first day at the job.

Jockey Plaza

That same afternoon they went shopping for furniture and appliances. They went to a big mall called Jockey Plaza. This a large shopping centre in Lima that has many shops to choose from. Our hero and his wife did not know where to start from. They had to buy everything from the beginning, within a specific budget. They needed electrical appliances, furniture, things for the baby, etc. They did not stay only in this mall, but they went searching in various shops. The next days were extremely tiring. Finally they were able to order nearly all their things after three days. Most of them from Jockey Plaza. Unfortunately they expected the majority of them be delivered in a month. That meant living in a hotel for a month. This would not be easy.

Hello Oto

As we mentioned our hero had a driver. This driver was provided for security reasons, but basically he facilitated our hero’s life at a large extent. He was English speaking, so he helped our hero and his wife to communicate with the locals. He also knew the stores, the restaurants, etc and in general his assistance was more than necessary. Our hero and his wife could not manage easily without the help of their driver. Furthemore he helped them with may things that were not included in his job description. During their stay in Peru he was more than a driver. He was a friend. Hello Oto, hope you are fine. We will never forget you.