Thanks

I know that many people have followed my posts. More than I could imagine. That's why I have opened the comments feature in case you have any question or comment.

Thanks again for your interest!

Expat

Nostalgia

Maybe some consider that the story has a bad ending. However our hero did not regret his decision to move to Peru. The expat experience did not last very long but was very intense. It was an experience of a life time. They saw a totally new world that affected them in many aspects. He is currently living in Greece happily with his family. He has a good job and enjoys life in Greece. However sometimes, just between you and me, he does think of Latin America with nostalgia….

Valuable Lesson

Our hero never received the money the company owed him. He never received the stock options he was promised in order to join the group. He does not have any communication with anyone in the company in Greece. With none of his old or new “friends”. Once he ran into the HR director and the guy hugged him and told him that he was very happy to see him! Of course, he also said that he would call him in order to grab a cup of coffee. As you can imagine by now, our hero is still waiting…
Our hero got a valuable lesson. When regarding professional issues, never make a decision like this based only on good faith. Always get everything in writing. Our hero was punished for displaying good faith and trusting people that were not worth it. He should have considered the fact that the company did not include in the contract details about the stock options, a deal breaker.

The Truth

The CFO, the HR director, the Marketing Director, the Finance director never told the CEO the truth about our hero’s decision to leave. They never mentioned the stock options issue. They told him that he wanted to leave Peru because of family issues!!! According to their story his wife threatened to leave him if they did not leave Peru!!! Now it was clear to our hero. The CEO never knew about the stock option issue. They never told him about the real problem because probably they had no authorization to offer stock options to our hero, in order to persuade him to join the group. That is why the CEO offered a position in Greece. He thought that he would be solving our hero's problem. The “problem” with our hero’s wife wanting to move from Peru. Unbelievable our hero thought. At least now the CEO knows the truth. Maybe it is too late, but better now than never. Even if he lost money, money that he had worked for, after his decision to communicate with the CEO, it was worth it.

Ungrateful!!!

In about half an hour after he sent the mail, the HR director and the CFO sent him both(!!) mails, telling him that he had no right to do this!!! That he was ungrateful (!!!) and did not respect his colleagues and the chain of command. Our hero could not believe his eyes. Imagine: He was deceived by these people and now being accused of ungratefulness! The CFO also told him that under these circumstances he could not give him the compensation he had already worked for in Argentina!!! This was the closure with the company he trusted one year ago. For which he decided to move to another continent. Incredible he thought. But he could not understand why everybody was so frustrated with him after sending the mail to the CEO. But he decided to find out. And he did. And was even more shocked.

The e-mail

Nearly a month had passed and our hero had not heard anything about his money. The same story he thought. He called the HR director, sometimes he answered and made promises and sometimes he did not answer at all. Our hero was furious. The company did not even want to pay him money he had worked for. He was getting tired. But he could not lose any more time. He had to move on. He decided to leave the issue as it was. Not to ask for the money anymore, but just wait. However he wanted to thank the CEO and say goodbye to him. He decided to send an email, in which the reasons for his decision to leave were clearly stated. He prepared the mail and sent it. He could not imagine what followed.

The first week in Greece

The first week in Greece was very difficult. The weather was very hot, the jet lag, the clearance of their possessions in customs. After a couple of days he was able to go to group central offices in order to finalize his issues. He wanted to receive the compensation regarding Argentina he was promised and say goodbye to some colleagues. He met the HR director and asked him were the compensation issue was. Don’t worry he said. We only need one signature from the CFO and we are ready. I would like to say goodbye to the CEO and thank him for his offer he said. Well I don’t know said the HR director. He is very busy these days and it will be difficult. I will thank him for you. Our hero was puzzled and left the offices. Is there a reason he thought that he doesn’t want me to see him? Of course there was.