Seeking for employment in an organization

This piece speaks boldly to the people who understand that being an employee at a time in your life helps one to prepare for the world ahead of you, especially for those who have the ambition to birth their own businesses someday which they hope to grow into companies.

 Even if you have to be employed for a while so as to gain some basic insights into how the corporate world functions or how businesses are run, before stepping out to set up your own business or stepping into a position that would have been reserved for you in an institution built by your family over the years, it is worth it.

One thing you must agree with is that the privilege to work for someone either in the private sector or in the government owned sector gives you the opportunity to learn how institutions are sustainably run to achieve the objectives of such organisations.

We are also aware that not everyone would ever have to work for someone before starting off their own businesses. From research which we have done on the Chief Executive officers of Vodi Group, Mr. Seyi Adekunle whose WhatsApp status inspired this write up, he is one of the extremely successful entrepreneurs who did not have the privilege of learning the business of entrepreneurship as an employee, as all he ever knows in business, he taught himself.

Igba Boi as a form of employment

When we talk about employment, some people are made to believe that this conversation holds true only for corporate outfits but then that is not true at all.

Any arrangement that entails that you come into an established business or organisation to work for a while in any form of legitimate exchange for your services while it lasts, that is not exploitative of you the employee could be called an employment of some sort.

The Igba boi system otherwise called the Igbo apprenticeship system of grooming business owners from the scratch could be termed a form of timed employment. This entails that the employee – Nwa Boi in this instance goes to live with his master who grooms him in the art of running a successful business with the Oga’s business while Nwa Boi is provided with food, clothing, shelter, stipends and discipline in exchange.

The Oga does this by making the Nwa Boi go through all there is about the business, making the necessary mistakes and learning.

These skills cumulatively aggregate into the smart, experienced business owner the Nwa Boi eventually becomes when he is done with the apprenticeship and decides to float his own business. They often succeed to the extent of growing theirs into a world class brand with the least of resources as is often experienced with most of these former employees of the Igba Boi apprentice system. Innoson Group and Coscharis Group of companies are testaments to this.

As an employee, give your job your best and exit when it is time

The bottom line of this thought pattern about employees is that being an employee at a time of one’s life offers one the privilege of learning how institutions are profitably run with hands on experience, allowing them to make mistakes and learn the appropriate way to run their own business when they eventually set out.

It is often advised that even for one who hopes to run their own business, that it is always helpful to work in an organisation at a time to understand the nuances of running a business before delving into starting off yours.

While you are an employee, it would always be in your best interest to give the institution you work for the very best of yourself, assisting them in any conceivable way with your skills and talent once the environment supports that. Always endeavour to keep an eye on your growth as an employee, so as to know when to leave the space for something more rewarding when the time is ripe.

Very big brand names like Cubana Chiefpriest who was once an employee at a time in their lives gave their employer all they had at the time, which helped in positioning those brands excellently before branching out to start off later to build his own businesses. We can see the milestones that Chiefpriest has attained with their own business brands, as a result of the skills he earned in his former employed job as a Cubana Club or Bar Manager. He is arguably one of the best promoters in Nigeria and these skills he built and honed while he was employed.

When it is time to exit, do it with class and style

While some staff of so many organisations may work for such organisations till retirement for the sake of job security, some others work for a specified period of time in their employed spaces, acquire the necessary skills and then move on to run their own businesses.

How you choose to leave your establishment at any time speaks so much about you as an employee and to what your aspirations in life are.

While we acknowledge that some work spaces are innately toxic, such that you as their former victim may want to leave such spaces with some form of ridicule to the ones that might have tormented you while you worked for them, it maynot always be in your best interest to do so. Try to exit well from your former place of employment.

What transpired between Cubana Chiefpriest and the Cubana Group at the time provides a lot of lessons for employees. Despite things going sour between the employee and his employer at the time, Cubana Chiefpriest appeased his former Boss during their mother’s funeral in a way that had not been witnessed around here in a while and made every effort to give it the needed publicity. As a smart young man, he made sure that he atoned for his sins in lieu of a greater future that lay ahead of him.

Summarily, when you are done with any space you worked in at any time in your career, do the much you can to avoid leaving such institution in a way that makes it difficult for you to ever come back to such institutions in the years to come or do not leave in a way that you are not able to make recommendations for people to be taken into these institutions as employees or for business.

Build great relationships with your employers

When it is time to move on from your former place of employment as an employee, endeavour to make sure that you do not burn the bridge of great relationships you might have built over time except in extremely difficult situations where you cannot afford to help it. If you finally do, endeavour to make amends especially if such organisations you once worked for did nothing wrong to you.

In the picture shared above, Seyi Vodi shares a detailed screenshot of a communication he had with a staff who had left his organisation some years back. From the conversation we can see clearly that the only reason why the young man was readmitted into the Vodi brand crew was as a result of Mr. Seyi Vodi’s milk of kindness and not on the merit of the former employee’s strength of character.

You maybe amazed to realise that there are also employees that on their exit day, they are given open cheques to either feel free to come back to the organisation they are exiting from whenever they wish or feel free to recommend anyone of their choice to the institution as such recommendations would be honoured.

This level of influence can only be achieved by a deliberate staff who served well while it mattered and most importantly who exited their institution of work excellently.

Conclusion

Finally, for those who did not exit well from their former organisation of employment you can still reach out to your former employers through a well scripted letter/email, appreciating them for the privilege of working with them while you did. Ask them to feel free to reach out to you incase they need anything from you within the scope of your ability to assist. Learn to not burn bridges unnecessarily as much as it lies within your power especially when it is not absolutely necessary, deliberately build purposeful relationships with your former employers.