I was recently having a chitchat with a colleague at the office canteen during lunch when a statement she made struck me differently. Our discussion went thus;
My colleague: “You remember when we had TOE’s birthday, it was quite fun, and there was a lot to eat,”
Me: “Oh wow! I can’t recall witnessing his birthday. When was it?”
My colleague: “It was in March.”
Me: “But I joined a month after, April”
My colleague: “Really? It seems like you have been with us since forever.”
This line struck a chord in my thought process, and then I realised something I had not thought of sharing before.
One of the fears I often have when joining an organisation is being able to synergise quickly. But, in this case, as a new recruit at Transcorp Plc, my fears were only but a mirage. It is tempting to take the credit and liken it to my out-going nature but far from it, the warmth, welcome and support from my colleagues turned family, made my onboarding seamless.
On my first day in the office, I had smiling faces walk up to welcome me to my desk. This included managers in the office. I found it rather awkward, but with time I understood that this was the Transcorp style and by extension the HH group way, which has now become my way.
Or is it the welcoming party/TGIF held on the last Friday of every month? I remember the first one I witnessed. Top executives within the business formed playgroups with subordinates, everyone was at ease including me. I felt a sense of belonging, a sense of being home away from home. Well, not to exaggerate, that day brought out the long-rusted dance monster in me, and the highlight of the day was when I won the cash prize (chuckles). Oh yes! It happened all in one night, all within the span of one month, I got my synergy! So, it is no wonder that my colleague made the statement above.
According to popular calculations, every career person spends an average of 9-10 hours in a day and 45-50 hours in a week at the office. This is a lot of time. The need to ensure that you pick the right organisation to belong to is critical. And you should love what you do in order not to feel depressed while you carry on work tasks. That is why a sense of belonging and building a workplace family, I believe, is very important for mental health.
I am happy to say that I have found this at Transcorp. Not only did I find colleagues turned family, but I also found colleagues turned friends and people I can comfortably relate with. It has even become “a thing” among the youth in the business to psyche ourselves up and have long productive conversations at the close of business until we become weary of time.
You know, it is funny how three months ago I was a greenhorn in the system, but today I feel like an expert, ready to guide the next recruit on their journey of discovering the culture of our Company if the need arises.
There is so much more to learn, and I will continue to learn with the liberty of knowing that I have a new family now, the Transcorp family, that will always be ready to help me along the way.
