They Said WHAT?

One of the special joys of being an HR Manager is that every employee who’s a little “off” ends up in your office at one point or another. Employees have told me some crazy things over the years, so I thought it might be fun to share some of my favorites:

“You don’t have children? What – you don’t like kids? Baby Hater! I knew there was evil in this place!” – said by a woman who quit on her first day. Apparently she felt she needed a better reason than that she just didn’t like the job.

“Satan is using you to ruin my life! You're a tool of the devil!” – said by a man I was terminating for goofing off instead of working.

“I need some time off because my mother was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas.” Sure…

“You should stop trying so hard to help people. Nobody cares when you’re nice to them, and it doesn’t make a difference. You’re wasting your time.”

That one was said recently, and it has been weighing fairly heavily on my mind. Am I wasting my time? Because that guy was right – I try extremely hard to make things better for my employees, but they don’t really seem to care. If I do something fantastic for people, they remain silent. But if I have to do something they don’t like, you’d better believe I hear about it!

The guy who made the comment was actually trying to be kind. He felt sorry for me because I continue to carry what he sees as false hope. And I have to say that sometimes, I am very tempted to follow his advice. It would be so much easier to turn myself off, slip into complacency, and stop caring so I don’t keep getting disappointed. But I just can’t do it.

Colossians 3:23 says, “Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” As low as I get sometimes, I am always eventually reminded that I am really working for God, and His approval is all I should need.

I hope things at my job get better, but regardless, I will keep working doggedly and taking on more responsibility, even though I know there won’t be more compensation. I will continue to throw myself out there to be unappreciated and abused. I guess most people will think I’m nuts, but maybe someone will be curious enough to ask why I keep pounding away. And then maybe I’ll get to tell them about my Lord, who makes it all worthwhile.