The End of an Era

Five years ago, the head of HR left us. Today, the one who replaced him, has also gone. Most of us are still here, keeping the show running, but it's strange sitting at my desk and looking at her dark office, knowing I'll never see her there again. The friendship will survive and we'll still see each other, but I'll miss the daily interaction.

And when someone else takes up residence in there, it will be a whole new ball game. We've had an emotional couple of weeks, both Anuja and I have spent time with her, consoling her. She's worked for the company for 13 years and no matter how she tried to prepare herself for the final few weeks, it has been tough on her. Today, Anuja and I took her for lunch. And we talked about relationships and hopes and all the stuff that we haven't had much time to explore together, before. It was good. It was healing in a way. It was the sort of time spent together, that shows the bonds we have developed. There are others in the department, but the three of us have always worked well together.

This evening we had our monthly office gathering, catered by our hotel, where the corporate team gets together in the offices. The CEO speaks of our development plans and any highlights regarding business. Today, one of the items on his agenda was to pay tribute to our boss. He really didn't say very much, which I'm glad about, because he doesn't mean a word of it anyway. Anuja and I jointly said a few words too, because we were NOT going to let her hear only platitudes. This is a woman who has put her heart and soul into the job. While she may have lacked some of the qualities he wanted, noone could ever say she didn't give it her all. We spoke of her grace, honour and integrity. Of her support and encouragement. Of her commitment to building up the HR function. And that although we will miss her, we will keep her essence with us, to sustain us. And that although she has tiny feet (she is such a petite little thing), she really does leave behind very big shoes to fill.

And now, a three-day weekend is upon us. When we come back on Tuesday, our working lives will be different. But we will not let ourselves, or anyone we work with, down. Because, quite simply, no matter how we may feel about the way we are led or the way the culture no longer represents a particularly healthy organisation, we care about the people we work with. And that will always motivate us to be the best we can be.