Pamela
So, I had opportunity to go into my old company today and talk to Pamela, corporate counsel and HR guru.
Let me just say, what a star.
When I started with the company, I kept seeing people bang their heads into "people issues" over and over. For all of the lip service that was paid to how important people were at the company, in reality, it was awful nice to be one of the "circle of friends," but if you weren't that, you were not likely to meet with a lot of understanding in terms of your needs. Or at least, nothing proactive. More likely, you would be given an $800 chair to sit on, a hideously expensive rug to walk on, and some ugly ass "art" chairs to walk past. And godhelpyou if you had to take a dump in the mirrored monstrosity known as the basement bathroom. Raises? Nah, we had bonuses! Flex time? Heh, if you were a VP, you could come in at noon. Other than that, god help you if you weren't in your desk by 9, even if you routinely stayed until 7 or 8. Since the managers didn't live like the rest of us, no accomodation was really given to the rest of us.
All of that changed when Pamela started. People below the VP level had a great advocate. All sorts of great things happened. Flex time (of a sort), people coming into the office from retirement planning and insurance groups to explain things, goofy little picnics and cooking contests, and a host of other "people" things.
Well, all that is nice, but when the chips really went down, she showed her true mettle.
When I decided that getting out of the game industry and back into straight engineering was the right thing for me and K and Pavel(ina), there was a lot of work to be done on my resume. A lot. I took revision after revision to Pamela, and she worked through it with me. I had resumes out before Friday the 13th even happened. And they've worked. She came up with a format, and a way to look at things that I would never have gotten to.
Well, yay for me or whatever. What is even bigger is her dedication to the empolyees still there and recently gone. Things are a total mess there, and she is still holding together what she can. And it can't be easy, as it all has to go through the big two. What a nightmare. And yet she still fights, and has managed to fight the insanity to a draw and take care of an ugly insurance mess. So thanks Pamela.
Let me just say, what a star.
When I started with the company, I kept seeing people bang their heads into "people issues" over and over. For all of the lip service that was paid to how important people were at the company, in reality, it was awful nice to be one of the "circle of friends," but if you weren't that, you were not likely to meet with a lot of understanding in terms of your needs. Or at least, nothing proactive. More likely, you would be given an $800 chair to sit on, a hideously expensive rug to walk on, and some ugly ass "art" chairs to walk past. And godhelpyou if you had to take a dump in the mirrored monstrosity known as the basement bathroom. Raises? Nah, we had bonuses! Flex time? Heh, if you were a VP, you could come in at noon. Other than that, god help you if you weren't in your desk by 9, even if you routinely stayed until 7 or 8. Since the managers didn't live like the rest of us, no accomodation was really given to the rest of us.
All of that changed when Pamela started. People below the VP level had a great advocate. All sorts of great things happened. Flex time (of a sort), people coming into the office from retirement planning and insurance groups to explain things, goofy little picnics and cooking contests, and a host of other "people" things.
Well, all that is nice, but when the chips really went down, she showed her true mettle.
When I decided that getting out of the game industry and back into straight engineering was the right thing for me and K and Pavel(ina), there was a lot of work to be done on my resume. A lot. I took revision after revision to Pamela, and she worked through it with me. I had resumes out before Friday the 13th even happened. And they've worked. She came up with a format, and a way to look at things that I would never have gotten to.
Well, yay for me or whatever. What is even bigger is her dedication to the empolyees still there and recently gone. Things are a total mess there, and she is still holding together what she can. And it can't be easy, as it all has to go through the big two. What a nightmare. And yet she still fights, and has managed to fight the insanity to a draw and take care of an ugly insurance mess. So thanks Pamela.
posted by Tom at 11:02 PM
9 Comments:
What a star. Agreed.
Here here.
I found out about the insurance mess while somewhere in Indiana on my drive out here. For those of you coming in late, Company D didn't pay the insurance bill for two months. You know, if they don't have the money, that's one thing. But NOT NOTIFYING YOUR EMPLOYEES WITH CHILDREN FOR CHRIST'S SAKE IS INEXCUSABLE!!!
I do not blame Pamela for this. I thank her for fixing it. I had some nice conversations at the end with her and I wish her nothing but the best.
Yes, agreed in full, thank God for Pamela.
the best. hands down. the voice of reason.
I need to get her on our company staff.......really.....our fols are non-human machines......glad to hear she is on your side!
People like that make you have just a little bit of faith in the human race.
PB is/was the star of the show. But I hear she's available now if you want her, Royce :)
Marcus, are you saying she's quit??
Funny, I got a raise and came in at 9:30...
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