Steven's Work Week

July 3, 2022

Steven is a twenty-five-year-old bachelor, who signed up as a videographer at a certain advertising company. His work includes taking photos and videos to cover events and important affairs. He is also in charge of producing creative promotional videos to satisfy customers' requests. He is currently promoted as the musical director of their church.

For the past six months, he encountered numerous lapses. His boss doesn't seem to be satisfied with his work. He was given tasks but rarely did he accomplish them on time. He also doesn't take initiative in developing his creativity. He waits for his superiors to guide him and tell him the things that he should incorporate into his videos. He also doesn't work efficiently. Many times he is caught watching Facebook reels in between working on very urgently needed promotional videos. On top of that, Steven is the major consumer of all the supplies in the pantry. His bosses also complain about his body odour. He is not a lean man. He is stuffed as his workmates describe him for that reason, he easily gets sweat which results in the body odour.

On the other hand, Steven is also soft-spoken. He greets everyone 'good morning' even the workmates who dislike him. He often says 'sorry' like it has become his default response to every workmate that would approach him. He also shows his gratitude. He's very innocent to the point that his workmates would be easily irritated. It seems like he has his world and whenever he uses his phone, he gets drowned in it and there's no way his workmates can reach out to him.

His girlfriend doesn't also help in his situation. Many times he is distracted by her attitude. His colleagues caught him chatting long messages to his girlfriend. They argue online makes him distracted to work. His girlfriend also demands he buy viand for them which is very inconvenient because he is in the middle of intricate video-editing work.

On top of that, he also engages in gossip. He never fails to join other people's conversations even when he is working. His boss reprimanded him about this.

All of these made his boss doubtful if ever she would extend his contract. She isn't confident anymore about him doing his job well but he can't just let go of him because she feels pity for him. She then comes up with a plan of renewing his contract but she will change his job description. He would only be the one to take photos and videos. She will hire someone creative and good at video editing. But the boss' decision was questioned by Steven's colleague. They convinced her to let go of him to make way for a creative one to be the next addition to the workers in the office.

So, he wasn't able to come back. He wasn't informed yet about his status and he has never the slightest idea that he wouldn't be able to come back. The last time he reports on duty he asks his workmates when will they report back to the office. But his workmate's advised him that they will all be waiting for the heads-up from the HR office.

But today, he shows up for work in the afternoon. Everyone was puzzled about whether he got a confirmation message. Later on, his boss invited him over and asked him if he received one. It was found out that it was just his initiative to show up for work. He was then advised and told about his status which was very sad because his contract isn't renewed anymore.

That's how Steven's week went last week.

Thanks for reading and until the next read!

• The lead image is from Unsplash.com