Was my employer justified to treat my co-worker this way?

A colleague resigned to contest in the concluded party primaries. His position was taken up by his assistant, awaiting formal confirmation. He however failed to clinch the ticket and returned to work. The organisation readmitted him, and handed him back his position. PHOTO | FILE

What you need to know:

  • You say this colleague is only returning to the organisation since he was unsuccessful. That he got his job back could mean that he had a special arrangement with the management, which allowed him to return to his previous position if he failed in the party primaries.
  • In this case, maybe he possesses unique competencies that the organisation would not want to lose.
  • You should encourage the assistant to treat the scenario with a positive attitude. He has a competitive advantage in that he is capable of performing a role at a higher level.

Q. A colleague resigned to contest in the concluded party primaries.

His position was taken up by his assistant, awaiting formal confirmation. He however failed to clinch the ticket and returned to work.

The organisation readmitted him, and handed him back his position, which made his assistant the laughing stock in the organisation.

Is this fair?  

 

Most organisations have a clear written or unwritten rule that whoever is interested in a political seat should tender their resignation before their embark on their campaign.

This is because it is not possible to undertake two roles at the same time, since one role will suffer, most probably the professional one. Most organisations do not want their staff to have strong political inclinations to a particular party, and prefer that they support the government of the day. Taking a political stand may jeopardise their business interests.

You say this colleague is only returning to the organisation since he was unsuccessful. That he got his job back could mean that he had a special arrangement with the management, which allowed him to return to his previous position if he failed in the party primaries. In this case, maybe he possesses unique competencies that the organisation would not want to lose.

You should encourage the assistant to treat the scenario with a positive attitude. He has a competitive advantage in that he is capable of performing a role at a higher level. Should the position fall vacant in future, he would be the obvious successor. Encourage him to concentrate on his deliverables and ignore the colleagues that are laughing behind his back.

If he however feels that he is not able to deliver in his current station due to the environment, he could consider proceeding on leave, hoping that by the time he resumes work, the issue will have been forgotten or taken a back seat. If the organisation has other branches, he could also ask for a transfer.

He also has the option of scouting for a role in a different organisation – if he is not happy, his performance will simply deteriorate, which might lead him to losing his current role.

In our professional journeys, certain incidents happen to get us out of our comfort zones and unleash our full potential by reaching out to new horizons.