TODAY the whole building of the bank, including its headquarters and main branch, is working in less than a quarter of its human resources. It is not for reasons concerning the weather, like snow fall and the inability of many of the employees to reach the bank, not because of rain falling, which might delay some from being at the bank at the exact time, not to execute a plan to use up the accumulated vacations, which forced the bank's management to suffer because most of the employees had taken their vacations in executing this plan, not because today is a holiday and the present employees have come to finish the delayed tasks they had, and not because the working hours had ended and those employees staying at the bank were forced by their circumstances to delay till they finish the tasks they had. It was not for any of these reasons that the bank works today in less than a quarter of its human resources. Today is a normal business day, the weather is nice – it is noon, but it is due to the fact that the bank's building, that combines the headquarter and the main branch, is facing the big hotel, where an Arab summit was held in Amman that year. The security matters necessitated the evacuation of the administrative buildings located in the same street, where the hotel is located. Few of them worked at the minimum of their human capability, which barely helps keep things running on the day of the convention of the summit and holding it at the grand hall at the big hotel, which is right in front of the bank's building. I have already chosen a small number of the Departments' employees to come. They had been named, and their names were given out to the authorities. The first of these names were my name, my secretary's, the public relations employee's and the names of some of the employees working in some of the Departments, such as the Financial Department, the External Department, Dealing Room, Credit Department, Administrative Affairs Department and two of the workers, head of the main branch and some of its employees. As for the rest of the companies and the administrative and commercial offices that are in the same street where our bank is located, they were closed and the street was completely empty of pedestrians and cars except for the conference cars. I used to look out of the window every now and then amazed at the general tranquility that prevailed over the area and was not broken but by the sirens of the cars announcing the arrival of a president, king, prince or Arabic delegation chairman to attend the conference. In this unusual atmosphere, I did not find in myself any willingness to engage in work. I was looking every now and then out of the window whenever I heard the sirens of the cars to see an Arab leader on his way to the conference; this distracted my concentration away from my performance. Every now and then I used to check the building and the few employees who were with me in the bank this day, or occupy myself in phoning the branches. Throughout the conference days, the bank's building was used for security purposes. There were security personnel with their weapons on the same floor where I was, as well as the roof to secure the conference and the attendees. It was a nice opportunity to get acquainted with those people who are the unknown soldiers who secure the conference and the participants. Their eyes, brains and weapons are directed towards the conference hall location. They are people who work silently and nobody knows about them. They are obedient, faithful, serious, patient people who are totally dedicated to their assignment. Their personal problems and tough circumstances – how many they are – diminished when facing the missions assigned to them. I got acquainted with the staffs that were carrying out their duty from the floor I was occupying. We used to exchange short and light conversations throughout the conference hours without distracting their attention from anything. My many concerns and big worries diminished compared to what they were doing with all the patience and concentration and without any complaint or weariness. I became sure that my concerns in directing the bank were insignificant compared to the concerns of these people in securing the conference and the participants. [email protected]. Mahdi is a veteran Egyptian banking expert.
