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IGNORANCE IS POWER 2

In that same company I discussed last week, we practised the Industrial Relations model in handling employee issues. I joined as a senior staff and by the first amendment to the TU Act of 1978 membership of the Senior Staff Association was optional. However, I did not stop the check-off deduction from my salary. I only asked the SSA Executive to come to mobilize me which they refused to do. After a year a memo authorising management to make another for Christmas party from the salaries of senior staff came to my desk, when called the attention of the SSA Exco to the illegality of the deduction from my salary, I was told that it was compulsory. I was forced to draw the attention of management to the illegal deduction from my salary quoting the relevant amendment to the TU Act, and on the basis of my letter all deductions for the SSA were stopped forthwith from my salary. Here again, it is the Ignorance of both the SSA and management that caused illegal deductions from my salary

IGNORANCE IS POWER 1

One of the major themes of George Orwell's 1949 book "1984" was "Ignorance Is Power" I work in a factory where staff discipline was one of my major duties. Agreed that there were over 2,000 junior staff, but I had to issue at least fifty (50) disciplinary letters daily. When I started investigation as to the high volume of disciplinary actions, I discovered that there was massive ignorance not only on the part of junior and senior staff but the HR Function. HR implemented blindly all disciplinary recommendations from all departments against staff. The company disciplinary procedure was completely ignored. HR Department was a mere rubber stamp. When I started insisting on the company disciplinary procedure which guaranteed fair hearing and natural Justice, my work load on staff discipline reduced by over 75%. The ignorance of the HR Department in addition to that of the  junior staff gave power to the senior staff to abuse junior staff.

JOB HUNTING 3

Some generalizations about job hunting:- - Nigeria has a national malady called NEPOTISM and the job market is not spared of this national malady. - Most companies with weak management and low integrity make job adverts without mentioning their names. - Unorganized companies waste candidates time and claim they are testing their patience. - You are not allowed to endure any job, sack the employer. - Most employers do not want intelligent and person's of high integrity to head their HR function. - Companies without integrity do not hire men with integrity. - It is a disservice to oneself to attend an interview in a company you know next to nothing about. - For tomorrow's sake as regards your career, take a small paying job in a well organized place for starters. - It is a tragedy to report to a boss who knows next to nothing in your chosen career. - Do not join a company with a high turnover of the head of HR function, it is a company without policies and pro

JOB HUNTING 2

Armed with the M.Sc. degree in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, the story changed to the extent that the M.Sc. cost me the first job in 1991, the employer said I was overqualified for the job stating that I will not stay. I destroyed the philosophy of "Man-Know-Man" in securing job in Nigeria. Between 1991 and 2012 I wrote over 150 applications, attended well over 90 interviews and offered over 50 jobs. There werr times I had multiple job offers which led to my having "good problems" of choice. Apart from my first job in a public quoted manufacturing company, every other company I worked, I applied twice within a period of between three and seven years before I landed the job. Another interesting thing about my job hunting was that I was not intimidated by names or sizes of companies. Most interviews I attended that landed me jobs were through management consultants. There were job offers I ignored and others that I rejected outrightly. The