Sometimes Keeping Quiet Costs More...

Below is a fictionalized case study that presents dilemma faced in real organization. And written by me is a recommended solution to the problem. This has been published in Business Manager HR Magazine June 2019 edition

Road Roller COO

Hoshiyar Singh, an IIM alumini, with about 15 years of hands on operations experience, is the COO of this HMCG Company, sitting at corporate office. He is here since last 7 years. Slightly loose tempered with having less control on his language and words, he is considered  as high headed  professionals  believes in direct results what come may. He is swift in firing people if not capable of keeping pace with him. He believes that fear is the best motivation and employees should always be on their toes to deliver. Being responsible for operations of two facilities situated at different locations, he keeps travelling to facilities to have his psychological control intact over the people managing the facility. 

At corporate office he also looks after, business development, marketing, supply chain and finance. Only HR is the function which also reports to board in parallel with COO. But functionally, He has been successful in getting nod of the board for his prior approval of all appointments made by HR in respect of corporate and facilities openings.

Gautam being VP HR is a leader who believes in securing his job and lead easy life without any confrontation with either COO or board, it was only because of his nature and trait, Hoshiyar Singh was able to snatch powers of prior approval of all appointments from HR which was not earlier. It was only of information sake; COO was kept in loop by Gautam. Gautam has been in this company since last 10 years and has been close to the directors of the company because of his submissive nature. He accepts things as it is and hardly takes a stand on critical matters. Hoshiyar Singh by understanding Gautam’s personality slowly weakend him and overpowered the decision making process at corporate level being very smart in presentation skills.

During last eight months, about 12 people in corporate office in middle and senior level have left the organisation.  It was becoming a challenge for Gautam to contain the exodus. He put all efforts to fill the vacancies and was also to some extent also but on higher salary.

Board has asked Gautam to put a presentation on the increasing rate of attrition and proposed measures, he want to take. Gautam remembered the incident happened in the office about eight months back.

…. It was when he selected one female Astt. Manager HR for taking charge of PMS and training function. She was selected out of four short listed candidates put before him by the Sunil, DGM -HR. All the papers were sent to COO for formal approval but to his surprise, Hoshiyar Singh rejected the appointment and sent the papers back to Gautam. He was shocked to see the rejection of the person which was selected by him. He stood up and moved to Singh’s cabin along with papers but seeing him coming in gallery of the hall where all staff were sitting, Gautam decided to talk to him on the way.

Gautam: Sir, why did you reject the candidate?

Singh: Useless. Don’t know what you see in person when select. She has changed four jobs in five years. Not even fully qualified.

Gautam: But, I have assessed her, she meets our requirement.

Singh’s volume rose. He could not exercise and shouted at Gautam,” Gautam, you know what you have done to the company? You have appointed the fleet of eunuchs here. Nobody is competent. Don’t know who has shortlisted and selected this girl? He is also not competent.(gautam tumne  pata hai kya kiya hai yahan par? Tumne hijron ki fauj bhartee  kar li hai yahan. Sab gadhe rakhe hue hain… Koi kabil nahi hai). Singh was quite loud but there was a stunning silence in the hall. Singh snatched the papers from gautam’s hand and signed the approval papers.

Before Gautam could understand what happened and why Singh was so loud in open with such remarks on all persons sitting there, Singh went back to his cabin. 

Gautam also came back. He could not resist to what Singh uttered. He even could not assert that Sunil-DGM-HR had shortlisted four persons out of which he selected only one.

In the evening Sunil, DGM –HR and one more employee came to Gautam’s cabin.Gautam could assess that what was going to be discussed.

Gautam: If you all guy want to talk about morning episode, pl. don’t. I am not in a mood to discuss that.

But sir, we all are not here to listen abuses of some one. We report to you. You should have responded and restrained him for talking nonsense where female employees were also sitting . Was this the language COO has to use to Head HR about his people?  Should we show him what we are? Sunil said to Gautam in anger and agony.  We kept quiet sir because of you only but you have not stood by us. We are humiliated openly before you and you could not protect us.

Gautam: Why should I retaliate?  Should I also have to come low to match his words? It is office and I never wanted to create a dirty scene. If you want, you go and say to him whatever you want. I am with you. Go and slap him even. I will see, nothing will happen to you. 

Sunil came out by saying, “we will decide what has to be done now, but sure, without seeking your support sir.”

This happened about eight months back. Much water has flown now till now.

Gautam is busy in preparing a presentation. He is missing Sunil also today. He has also left much before.

Questions for Discussions and Solutions:

1) Analyse the leadership traits of Hoshiyar singh and Gautam?

Hoshiyar Singh believes that by instilling fear in the minds of the employees, disciplining them, by following hiring & firing policy at all times and thus making them feel insecure about their job is the best way to run an organisation. “Company aise hi chalana chahiye” is what is the belief of Hoshiyar Singh. Hoshiyar Singh comes across as a highly temperamental person who must also be a very difficult person to work with. Hoshiyar Singh likes creating an atmosphere of instability, anxiety and uncertainty. He constantly likes to keep on chopping and changing. His is not a people-oriented type personality, lacks people handling skills, does not value employees and is definitely not a sociable person to work with as seen in the case study that he has no control over his language to his subordinates and other office colleagues. Singh comes across as a person who would like to be in control at all times, a controlling type. This type of personality nature also stems from a deep fear of insecurity within that will lose grip if things are not in control or if unaware of everything that is happening. Such type of personalities lack ‘Trust’ in people. They are also very poor in delegating tasks or in getting work done or will get very average quality work output because of attitudinal nature. They will be never be able to inspire or motivate people. Great leaders don’t talk down to their employees or make them feel inferior. Respect is a must.

Gautam on the other hand appears to be a soft spoken person who prefers stability & security and thus would like to avoid confrontation at all times especially with his seniors for the fear of reprisal. Gautam is just playing it safe to preserve his position and privileges, just following orders. Gautam is thus most likely to follow his senior’s instructions at all times without asking any questions or policies. He will go about quietly doing his work & report when done. Gautam also appears to be a highly resilient type person given the fact that he could bear Hoshiyar Singh’s temperamental attitude at all times and work for so long with him. 

2) How do you rate the COO attitude and behaviour?

The COO appears to be a dreadful person to work with who is more worried about pushing his weight around than building relationships. COO think's that the organization revolves around him and that he is indispensible, maybe like the owner of company. COO seems to ignore employee feedback. Attitude of COO seems to be that of a hard “Taskmaster” - whose sole focus is on getting the work done, come what may. By continuously drilling the employees, COO is making them unhappy at work. COO also appears to be a person who will abuse power because of his position. He appears to be of insensitive type. 

This attitude and behaviour may work in the short term and may produce short term results but it is not good for the long term sustainability and health of the organisation. 

3) Where the problem lies in the story and do you also think that Gautam’s attitude was the reason of high attrition?

Employees join companies but leave managers. A Gallup poll concluded that the No. 1 reason people quit their jobs is a bad boss or immediate supervisor. 75% of workers who voluntarily left their jobs did so because of their bosses and not the position itself. In spite of how good a job may be, people will quit if the reporting relationship is not healthy. "People leave managers not companies...in the end, turnover is mostly a manager issue."

Bad bosses are the No. 1 cause of unhappiness at work. People see the company only through their immediate boss. A manager who keeps abusing employees all the time and ill treats them will create an atmosphere of anxiety and distrust. A recent study says that 56% of employees would turn down a 10% raise to stay with a great boss. Treat employees fairly, reward them for their hard work and they will give 110%.

It is seen in the case study that Gautam has lost too many exceptional employees including Sunil DGM-HR who became disheartened because Gautam didn’t stand by him. Sunil too was humiliated by COO Hoshiyar Singh in a particular incident, but kept quiet because of Gautam. After that Sunil just went through the motions and quit HMCG Company until he found another job. Gautam was missing Sunil in present scenario when he was preparing a presentation for Board on increased rate of Attrition and proposed solutions. So the quiet nature of Gautam and not reporting to Board despite him having the authority and power to do so when it needed to be is definitely one of the reason’s for high attrition.

4) Had you been in place of Gautam, how you would have handled the situation?

Had I been in place of Gautam, I would have collected all the facts, data, information on high rate of attrition, summarised and presented them to the Board of the organisation along with the proposed solutions. All Exit Interviews data would be placed in front of the Board indicating the key reasons why people have exited the organisation and what is to be done about it, to stem the flow of attrition. 

Also I would have taken anonymous feedback from current employees, the resulting data of which would have supported the specific reasons for attrition and thus make the presentation to the Board on reasons for attrition more impactful. As VP-HR, it is within my authority to voice out beneficial suggestions for the organisation to tackle attrition and not just be quiet about it.

Also, I would have initiated succession planning for senior leaders, managers, and other workers at all levels of the organisation. This would be a proactive measure to counter attrition rate and fill the vacancies immediately as compared to reacting and taking action after the employee has left. By doing succession planning, by considering candidates, both internal and internal, the focus of the organisation will thus be on future sustainability and growth.