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.