Power Suits, Small Perks, and Big Titles

 

So… the Children Who Wanted to Be Managers—How’s That Going?

In my first serious job at a local bank, all I remember is my first manager.

Sharp—both in dressing and thinking.
Only three staff drove to the office: him, his assistant, and one other person.
The rest of us? On foot or by matatu.
We were the makers; he and his assistant, the checkers.
Ooh, must be nice!
That title—manager—was prestigious.

At my entry interview, Faith from HR asked me,
"Where do you see yourself five years from now?"
Imagine me, fresh and blunt, saying:
“I want to be a mum.” 🙆🏽‍♀️
Who says that in a bank job interview?! 😏
Well, five years later—I was a mum. Kusema na kutenda! 😂

If they had asked me the same question after I landed the graduate clerk position, I’d probably have said:
“I want to be a manager.”
Because after a few years observing how powerful these fellas were, that became the dream.

Some used their power well.
Some, of course, abused it.
Like the one who told me, when my daughter was just a few months old:
“You’re not the first or the last to get a baby, so move to night shift.”
Never mind there were others who could’ve easily taken the off-hour schedule.

Managers had the final word—and the lifestyle to match.
Nice cars, mortgages, well-cut suits, salon-fresh hairstyles.
Actually, in those quick street catch-ups, if someone said,
“I’m a manager,”
the rest of the sentence didn’t matter. You automatically saw power and money in that person.

Then, we have companies who have noticed that Kenyans thrive on titles.
So what do they do?
They make quite a percentage of their employees “managers”… with minimal wage. 😏

In conclusion, we’ve now moved on to branding each other:
“kiongozi,” “mkuu,” “mzito”
—even with empty pockets. 😀
So yes, “mhesh,” we appreciate the titles…
But please scroll down a bit on that memo:
Title comes together with good perks!

Ni hayo tu kwa sasa.