Fly With Me

Chapter 5 - The Project Execution

It's 7:00 AM sunny morning when Glaiza left home. She was aware about the traffic in this rush hour of the day. Kaya naman sanang kunin ng 45 minutes from Commonwealth to BGC via C-5 Road kung may sariling car pero gusto niyang makasigurado na makakarating siya sa office before 9:00 AM. This is her first day in her new job kaya naman ayaw niyang magkaroon ng hindi magandang impression ang employer sa kanya.

Isang block lang ang layo ng open parking lot mula sa HGC Building. She's one hour earlier kaya pumunta muna siya sa malapit na Gloria Jean's para magkape. She loves black coffee with a little amount of sugar. She is health conscious and she wants to take everything in minimal.

At 8:45 AM, she started walking towards employer's building. Katulad ng nagdaang araw, dumaan muna siya sa reception booth - but this time not as an applicant but as a new employee of HGC.

Agad naman siyang pinapunta sa 5th floor kung nasaan ang HR Department. Hinanap niya agad si Kate, ang HR staff na kausap niya sa telepono kahapon.

Nakangiti si Kate ng salubungin siya. "Hi Miss Galura, welcome to HGC!"

"Thank you", sagot niya na nakangiti rin.

Pagkatapos nito ay nag-fill out siya ng Form 201-B. Two weeks ago, nag fill out din siya ng Form 201-A na naglalaman tungkol sa kanyang credentials - education, trainings, job experience, honors received and comments from interviewers. Ang Form 201-B naman ay naglalaman tungkol sa governmental benefits and summary of performance evaluation kung sakali at magtatagal siya sa kumpanyang iyon.

Kate fastened all the papers in green expandable folder. Tumayo ito, "please stay here for a while. I'll just go to the office of Mr. Gutierrez, our HR Director". Tumango lang si Glaiza.

Hindi nagtagal ay bumalik na ito pero hindi na hawak ang green folder, "Miss Galura, please come with me. You'll sign your job offer".

Glaiza had already been to the office ni Mr. Gutierrez two weeks ago during her interview. Its size is only half the size of Mr. Howell's office, but it is still spacious. Lihim siyang nangarap na magkaroon ng ganitong office pagdating ng tamang panahon. Iniwan na siya ni Kate sa office ng HR Director nang nakaupo na siya.

"Good morning Sir!" 

"Good morning Miss Galura. Have a seat please. Here is our Job Offer for you. Please read before you sign", the HR Director said.

Binasa niya ang kontrata. Isinasaad dito ang mga benepisyo niya bilang employee tulad ng 13th month pay, sick leave and vacation leave after regularization. She will also be covered by life insurance. And the most important - her basic pay which is Php80,000. This is just 80% of her salary but she will receive the full amount of Php100,000.- upon regularization. That will happen after 6 months. Mabilis na nakapag-mental calculation si Glaiza. Her salary now is equivalent to a little more than US$1,500. Pwede na rin, sabi sa isip niya. As entry level this salary is more than enough lalo na at nasa Pilipinas lang naman siya. Hindi kasi sila nagkaroon ng salary negotiation ni Mr Gutierrez o Mr. Howell noong in-interview siya.

She signed the job offer and Mr. Gutierrez stand up, "Welcome to Howell Group of Companies" wika nito habang nakikipagkamay sa kanya. Ibinigay sa kanya ang isang kopya ng job offer.

--------

Rhian is in her father's office. They are discussing about the mobilization of Amanpulo project. Yesterday afternoon she had a meeting with directors of HR and Suppy Chain. Kabisado na ng mga ito ang gagawin sa mga rush projects na tulad nito dahil matagal na rin naman silang nagtatrabaho sa HGC. They contacted Sulpicio Lines to move their materials and manpower on a charter basis. They have to move fast. All the materials and manpower must be available by Thursday morning next week so that it will be just in time for the mobilization the following Monday morning. Rhian based her calculation of logistics time on a 620 nautical miles distance from Manila to Amanpulo at 15 knots plus a little allowance for downtime. She already received the bill of materials by e-mail from Mr. Johnson which she passed on to procurement department. She already studied the soft copy of plans.