Turn the threat into an opportunity

Social Media Policy at Workplace,  A double edged sword - to be or not to be

Monkey IT solutions is a web designing and software development company.  The technology based company is into the business of app based applications, website development, digital marketing. The only five years old company has earned very good reputation in terms of timey delivery of products and after sales service resulting into capturing the big chunk of  mid size segment of clients . The USP of the company has always been to keep fewer profit margins and increase sales volume. In some digit marketing campaigns the company has earned good name.  During covid company could visualize the growing need of tech based applications and started developing this vertical especially for Tech HR applications and their solutions.

Company increased hiring in a time when others were laying off their staff. Company HR department policies are very progressive, sensitive and responsive to employee needs. Its headcount reached to around 300 after new hiring. Having its HO in Gurugram, Company has also plans to open new offices in Pune and Bengaluru.

Working in a vibrant work culture with high degree of trust, company never thought of putting any restrictions on employees’ movement, flexible working hours were in place since inception of company, work from home and remote working was introduced in company much before covid disrupted the business and work life. There were no restrictions on employees for using social networking sites even during working hours. Employees were frequently active and live on networking sites also   while working on their projects.

Meher Sen  the newly joined product manager was though excited  to work in such a open work environment, but somehow noticed that employees in his section were consuming much office time in chatting on networking sites and keeping them engaged in digital world which hardly had any connection with company work or benefitting company in any way. Sen concluded of his own that few projects which were delayed was due to this reason and employees were not able to concentrate them fully on the projects and meet the deadline.

Sen also noticed that few employees were freely exchanging their political views on social media sites while working resulting into mutual conflicts in teams affecting the company work.  Employees with differing political ideology got polarized in teams against those who aired different views without assessing its impact on their teamwork. On some occasions during lunch or tea breaks people were noticed getting in heated exchanges of discussions on political issues.

One day when Sen was passing through the row of one of his team to take a check on the status of the modules assigned to him. The modules were to be sent to the client after noon of that day and wanted to ensure if the things were on right track.  He noticed that team lead was surfing through the networking sites and exchanging messages. Sen looked at team lead computer screen from behind and found him accessing Face book and relaxing with ease, contrary to his expectations of finding team lead working on the module. One hour back when Sen  checked with him on the status of the  module work, team lead replied to him that he is working on the same will send to client well before time. He needs not to worry.

Sen did not interrupt team lead in between and quietly went back getting annoyed.  Sen has always been against the use of social media networking sites by employees at workplace. He was of the considered opinion that  use these sites  by employees  is a double edged weapon which can be used against the company management by ant disgruntled employee and has potential to malign the brand image of the company. It was because in his earlier company some employee recorded an official conversation held between him and his manager and posted at social media that brought bad name to the company. After that, company decided to block all the social media/ networking sites and prohibited employees for its use during duty hours. Company also brought in new social media use policy for employees where employees were restricted to post any message in official capacity at any networking sites about company affairs or business or any happens. Communication department was created and after their approval only things were allowed to go on air.  

Sen wanted same policy here. He initiated this idea earlier also in meetings but HR was not in favour any such policy. HR Head Malti  was of the  view that employees  should be trusted to complete their work productivity in time and networking on social media is something that helps them to relieve , rejuvenate and de-in an otherwise hectic and pressured work schedule. Using networking sites in free moments can serve as a stress buster. 

Sen went to Malti seat and requested her to come to meeting room to discuss some important issue. Malti was taken aback. She was engaged in some other important assignment and was not prepared for non scheduled meeting just before lunch timings.

“Can we meet after lunch”? Said Malti.

“That would be too late”. Replied Sen.

Malti got up and went to meeting room with Sen. Sen started, “what I was suspecting, has now proved. I need your immediate attention and action on the issue. I have just come from the seat of Team lead who supposed to complete the modules, show me and send to clients today by 2.30 PM.  Now It Is 1PM and he is busy on face book commenting on friends’ posts. I wonder when he gets time to work, when he is mentally engaged in these social media chats. I am scared whether he will be able to complete them within the scheduled time? 

 “Did you enquire with him about the progress on modules? Malti said

“Yes, in the morning. He assured me of completing the work in time but nothing heard from him now”. Sen was little agitated. He said, “Pl. Malti take a quick decision and block all networking sites and stop employees using during working hours. It is a waste of productive time and cost heavily on company. Don’t be so liberal and progressive. We all are here to do business and give employees a feel that they are in a mall spending leisure time.”

“Well Mr. Sen, I appreciate your point of view. You raised this point earlier also. But I am scared that if we decide to block the use of social media sites during office hours it may back fire and there may be serious discontentment among employees.”  Malti shared her apprehension.

 “ Malti you are conditioned, it appears. You have to break the status quo. The things which were not harmful in past cannot be a guarantee that will not be in future too. It is time for management to take a call on it and review its policy on social media use during office hours.”

“Ok. Mr. Sen, thank you for your inputs. Give me time to have a relook.” With meeting ended and Malti went to take her lunch in cafeteria.

She noticed the team lead also there having lunch. She went to her table and asked her to see her after lunch around 2.30.PM. Malti decided to speak to him on the issue.

Team Lead reached to her cabin around 2.30. 

Malti offered her seat and straightway came on point. She asked him about the modules progress which he was to send top client today by 2.30.

“Yes mam, Completed and sent to client too. I completed all that even before lunch and kept ready to send after lunch. I have come to you after sending the mail to the client.” Team Lead responded.

“Did you inform the completion to your manager?

“I told him in the morning that he needs not to increase anxiety. He will complete before time and send well within timeline. Something Happened?”

“Yes, there is an issue surfacing of increased use of social media sites by employees during working hours thus causing delays to projects and loss of productivity by losing valuable company time. Also there have been instances of members conflicts because of political ideology differences surfaced on social media posts by employees. Company can’t tolerate all this. Why should an employee’s personal ideology become a cause of Team conflict in the Organisation?  If one facility given to employees is creating bad feeling among employees and loss of work productivity, then?”

“ I Think mam you are   reading too much in it.  We are not at all misusing it. Rather we all use this tool to enhance our knowledge and talk to working in other companies for some solutions also when we are not able to solve it. Our professional network helps achieving and completing tasks in time.”

 “Take care that company does not get a feel that you guys are abusing this facility.”  Concluded Malti

Now the ball was in Malti court. She has to take a call.

Questions for discussion and solutions:

1) Critically analyze the policy of allowing the employees to use social media sites during working hours?

Social media can be a powerful communication tool for employees, helping them to collaborate, share ideas and solve problems. Research studies have shown that more than 80% of employees think that social media can improve work relationships and 60% of employees believe that social media supports their decision-making processes. These studies affirm that a majority of workers connect with colleagues on social media, even during work hours. This is also seen in the case study during conversation between HR Malti and Team Lead wherein the team lead confidently responds to Malti’s question that she is reading too much on a probable issue that may surface due to increased use of social media sites by employees during working hours thereby causing delays to projects and loss of productivity by losing valuable company time. Team Lead clarified to Malti that they are not at all misusing social media, rather using it as a tool to enhance their knowledge by speaking to working professionals in other companies for solutions that they themselves are not able to solve, basically are collaborating together to achieve solutions which is the future of work going forward, post pandemic. Team Lead drove home the point to Malti that such type of professional networking helps them in achieving and completing the tasks in time which in turn is ultimately benefitting the company only.

Moreover, it seems that the concerns of Meher Sen, the newly joined product manager at Monkey IT solutions are misguided. He is carrying the baggage of his social media experience from his earlier company wherein some employee had recorded an official conversation held between him and his manager and posted it on social media that ultimately brought bad name to the company. After that, the company decided to block all the social media / networking sites and prohibited employees for its use during duty hours. Company also brought in new social media usage policy for it’s employees wherein they were restricted to post any message in official capacity at any networking sites about company affairs or business or any happens. Communication department was created and after their approval only things were allowed to go on air. Sen wanted the same policy here also in the new organization. This is a typical development in any organization wherein whenever a new manager joins, he or she wants to bring in changes that they were doing or following in their previous companies. They want the same thing to be repeated in the new organization as well rather than spending time & understanding work culture of the new organization, how things work there, how it is different from previous organizations, how it is beneficial to them, what new things they can learn and what they should unlearn from the past.

Social media doesn’t reduce productivity nearly as much as it kills employee retention. Effects of social media depend on who employees interact with. Employees who interact with their colleagues share meaningful work experiences. Employees who engage in online social interactions with coworkers through social media blogs tend to be more motivated and come up with innovative ideas which is exactly what is required for Monkey IT solutions, a technology driven company. 

Hence I agree with it’s HR policies that are progressive, sensitive and responsive to employee needs and thereby there are no restrictions on employees for using social networking sites even during working hours. This has resulted in the employees being frequently active and live on networking sites also while working on their projects. The work culture was vibrant and with a high degree of trust. The employees were motivated, less distracted & productive. I don’t think there was any complaint from the client side regarding end user delay in their requirements & or it not being met as per the specifications due to employee behavior or misconduct. Rather the company was growing, it’s headcount had scaled to 300 in HO, had plans to open new offices in other IT hubs like Pune and Bengaluru and some of it’s digital marketing campaigns had earned good name for the organization.

I feel that the problem is not with the Social Media policies or the employees of Monkey IT solutions but rather with Meher Sen. The problem is more person – oriented rather than a process or policy related. Meher is telling to HR Malti that she appears conditioned & informing that the things which were not harmful in past cannot be a guarantee that will not be in future too. Rather, Meher Sen should have a hard look at himself in the mirror before commenting such statements to others. Just because he had some bad experience in his previous companies w.r.t. employees misusing social media sites to tarnish image of company, it does not necessarily mean that it will happen in his new organization also i.e. Monkey IT solutions. I support HR Malti that in tech driven IT companies, the work atmosphere should be free, vibrant & open because that it when employees are at their productive best and will be able to give tangible outputs to the clients that will be beneficial. You cannot have a culture of micromanagement and control which is what Meher Sen was accustomed of having it around. Malti is justified in her apprehension that if HR decides to block the use of social media sites during office hours it may back fire and there may be serious discontentment among employees. 

Employees who engage in online social interactions with co-workers through social media blogs tend to be more motivated and may tend to come up with innovative ideas. The effects of social media depend on who employees interact with and for what purpose; employees who interact with their colleagues share meaningful work experiences and also to upskill themselves e.g. LinkedIn also offers a great learning platform to learn the relevant skills one needs to build the experiences.

2) How should Malti handle the situation now?

Having stated all of the above, research studies have also shown that employees using social media were more likely to leave an organization. This may be because they were more likely to engage with potential new employers than their less social peers. Employees using social media for work take an interest in other organizations they find on social media, compared to employees using social media only for leisure. These employees engage in some key activities including researching new organizations and making new work connections. This presents a dilemma for HR managers, Functional Line Managers and the organization too as employees using social media at work are more engaged and more productive, but they are also more likely to leave the company. This is seen in the case study aptly titled as “Double-edge – Be or not be”. The ball was now in Malti’s court to take a call. She temporarily resolved the situation by having a dialogue with the Team Lead and understanding the entire context. So far she had only listened to Meher Sen’s version of story. Now she heard the Team Lead’s story version too. Having been satisfied by the response given by Team Lead, she concluded by cautiously instructing the team lead to take care that the company does not get a feeling or warning signs that it’s facility is being abused. Malti trusted the story version of the team lead as long as they were delivering the customer’s requirements and timeline’s were met. 

This problem can be addressed by implementing solutions that neutralize the employee retention risk caused by social media. Social media training should be done to make employees focus on positive social media behaviors, like collaboration, which can increase satisfaction and attachment, countering turnover risks.

HR can also look at turning this threat into an opportunity by creating social media groups in which employees will be more likely to collaborate and less likely to share withdrawal Intentions or have discussions on political issues resulting into mutual conflicts in teams ultimately affecting company work (as seen in the case study here). HR can use social media to have a positive influence on the employees by recognizing employees’ accomplishments and giving visibility to employees’ success stories. This approach if implemented can also serve as a recruiting tool because if, on one side, the use of social media can make the employees leave the organization or have other harmful effects, on the other side, the same use of social media from employees of other organizations could also attract them to Monkey IT solutions.

Work life Balance is a cycle, not an achievement

Looking for balance in work life

For Vikram it was third offer of appointment during last two months. Last two, he declined. One offer he declined because he was bed ridden because of having plaster in leg. The joining date was falling in between. Company was not ready to extend the joining period.  For Other one, Vikram was not ready to leave the existing company immediately and join the new one by flouting the notice period norms. Vikram was of the view that it was his moral and ethical value not to ditch the organisation from where he has worked and learnt a lot to leave abruptly and join new one. Company persuaded him to breach the notice period condition and join them immediately which he declined.

This third one offer was from a retail organisation having e-commerce platform also. The company has big plans to open stores pan India, strengthen the e commerce platform people policies, recruit people for new stores, train them and build the organisation. In this young age Vikram was offered the position of CHRO (Chief HR Officer) having ultimate control over the affairs of the people matters of the company. He was directly reporting to the president operation that was very close and trustworthy of promoters.

From the very first day of joining after getting formal induction and orientation, he was on job. He planned his tour program to visit the outlet sites, stay there till local recruitment and operational formalities including legal compliances are completed and the outlet is launched.

He presented his aggressive plan to the president and fixes his own target to open one outlet every month. President was impressed with his energy level meaning that he would be out of his home for about one year except few intervening days between two outlets launching.

He was single child in the family. His mother was putting her all efforts to get him marry but somehow this was not matured.  Since his father was class one govt. officer having transferable post, all responsibilities came on her shoulders. Now on knowing that Vikram would also be on constant touring to discharge bigger responsibilities, she felt falling alone in this “progress” of Vikram.

Three years later-Vikram was successful in launching 38 outlets throughout the country, Recruited people, got them trained, put all people processes in order, handled E commerce platform field employees agitation also, settled the issue with them, and designed new formula to raise their earnings along with company productivity also.  On professional front he achieved with satisfaction what he promised to self and management.  He became a blue eyed boy of the company directors. He was busier than ever.  Hunger to become more successful gifted Vikram unending travels and office hours. 

On personal front, what he could not get might be of little value at that relevant time but he started realising that it was also very important. He could not get married during this time when he got offers.  One was on the verge of getting matured but Vikram delayed it because his president did not allow him to proceed on one week leave for marriage as new outlet launch was on the cards. Ultimately the girl and family decided to break the alliance as they were not in a mood to delay it further. Moreover, they were little   apprehensive with the workalcohlic attitude of Vikram. Girl was also sacred with his approach that marriage can be delayed but not the work. His mother was helpless. She stopped trying for further marriage proposals.

Due to pandemic and repeated lock downs, the retail business was disrupted though e commerce activities got a boost. This disruption derailed the growth plans of the organisation which promoters now wanted to do very fast to recover the time loss. But this time also brought a new challenge for the company. People started leaving and within two months three managers holding strategic positions put up their papers. When president held discussion with them, one reason among others surfaced was the strong result oriented and tough attitude of Vikram in the matter of outlet establishments and people processes.  His bullying habits and getting hyper on even small issues were becoming difficult for people working around him. In spite of that company loaded with more responsibilities of supply chain and vendor management. During pandemic he was also doing work from home along with others and during that time there were instances of not even talking to his more for a week living under same roof.

One day when sitting in office his most trusted colleague discussed about drastic changes in his behaviour and attitude from last some time and advised him to consult some doctor; he just smiled and rejected the idea. Vikram became short tempered thus losing his cool on very small matters. All his colleagues and subordinates were worried as to what happened to him and how much he has changed.

Vikram has now stopped getting good matrimonial offers. He got himself registered on matrimony sites but nothing was on cards. The kind of offers he was getting were either from widows or divorcees having one or two child to which is mother would not agree.

One day when tea boy came little late with tea asked by him, Vikram shouted on him and threw back the hot tea cup on his face. People immediately came in and intervened. This incident was worrisome for all. His colleague persuaded him to go to hospital and get himself thoroughly checked.

Vikram was in hospital for whole day passing through different tests. Within next two days all reports were before the doctor who identified that he was passing through extreme stress, and psychological panic disorder. His arteries were started getting blocked to some extent resulted in to hypertension. After seeing the reports and discussion with Doctor, he realised that his greed to earn more and more money, untamed ambition, and absence of personal life hours from work had pushed him into this dark tunnel. Doctor prescribed him medicines, instructed certain changes in work and life style and takes some rest.

He came back to home, sat before mother but did not share anything with her about medical examination and diagnosis. He took dinner with mother after a long time. Talked to her on many matters, inquired about father as to when he will come and expressed desire to sleep in the room of mother with her.

His mother was surprised to notice this change in Vikram behaviour. She got worried also but kept quiet. Vikram got a flash message of money credit in his account. It was his half yearly   performance incentive. Vikram saw the message and switched off the mobile. He did not happy about it. He was wondering as what he achieved and what he lost in these years. If he had known that his madness towards work though fetch huge money and fatty bank balance but also would push him to a stage, where regular,  doctor’s visits and matrimonial offers from widows and divorcees with children and a lonely mother would be on his way , he would not have joined this company. Next day he decided to resign from the company.

Questions for discussions and solutions:

1) Was organisation failed to see the importance of work life balance in employee’s life?

To some extent yes, the organisation did fail to see or rather I would say neglect the aspect of work life balance in Vikram’s life. After all, who would not be aware of the importance of maintaining a work life balance especially in today’s pandemic times where home and office are the same, there is no such thing as ‘calling it a day’ or ‘left office for home’, etc…There are no fixed work hour timings. Employees are burnt out working from home continuously ever since the pandemic started and no immediate solution seems in sight. Infact, the necessity of maintaining a work life balance has become all the more important now. So to say that the organisation failed to see importance of work life balance in Vikram’s life is ironical. 

If I were to look at it from an employer’s perspective, here I have recruited someone with me who is young, ambitious, talented, hungry for success, is an achiever, workaholic, is able to manage huge loads of work, can work 24*7*365, travel, can do all the work assigned to him and deliver results in quick time, then why should I stop him from doing that. After all, it is going to benefit the organisation and generate more revenue & profits and I am paying him the salary equivalent to that, then I should get those results too. An organisation is in existence to make money and profits, no matter how. Competition is ruthless in today’s times. Who gets there quicker, better, faster and cheaper is the one who wins. So organisations will be more focused on results and deliverables with quick turnaround time as compared to taking it easy and going slow because of an old saying that says need to maintain work life balance in employee’s life.

 2) How do you describe the approach Vikram adopted towards work and life in the case study?

The approach described by Vikram in the case study is that of a young ambitious person who wants to achieve all that he can in a very short span of time. It is also very natural for a person as he is full of energy, enthusiasm and go getter attitude. Also Vikram had full liberty and authority to do everything as per his liking with no one to question or stop him as long as the results were delivered, the organisation was growing, generating revenue and making profits. Also there was no family pressure on Vikram as his father was class one government officer and he the lone child of his parents. So they were a small family. Besides Vikram’s father was travelling most of the time and so most of the time, it was just Vikram and his mother who were at home. Hence there was no one to counsel or guide Vikram some good wisdom that life is a never ending journey and not a destination that is to be reached in a short span of time. 

Corporate philosophy states that reward for good work is more work and that’s exactly what Vikram got, busier than ever, unending travels and office hours. However in all this so called corporate rat race to be successful & on top of the world, Vikram forgot the need to balance his personal life too. He forgot that every human being goes through different stages of life and wherein one has to fulfil his or her obligation towards it. Incase of Vikram, it was time to get married and settle down life and have a family of his own after establishing himself in professional life and being fairly successful at it. However he choose to ignore that and instead got hungrier for more work and more success. He should have looked at the warning signs when his marriage was spurned by the bride and her father because he choose to delay it and priortised work over family. Or that time had flown so fast & he had aged so much beyond a marriageable age that he was now getting marriage offers from divorcees & widowers with children. That should have been the early warning signals for Vikram that something is not right in life and that he needed to take time off and introspect as to in which direction it is heading.

This started having further effect on professional life that unable to find a suitable life partner by the fact that his behavior & attitude had started changing, he was becoming short tempered and losing his cool on very small matters. It could be seen by the example of Vikram throwing hot tea back on the face of the boy just because he served it a little bit late. Vikram was getting irritated by small matters too and losing his cool and temper. 

It was only when Vikram had to go to hospital, left with no other option, for health check-up and when the doctor identified that he was passing through extreme stress and psychological panic disorders. His arteries were started getting blocked to some extent resulting in hypertension. It was only after seeing the reports and discussion with Doctor that Vikram realised that his greed to earn more and more money, untamed ambition, and absence of personal life hours from work had pushed him into this deep dark corporate tunnel. So it tool a failing health & doctor to dawn upon Vikram that he needed to slow down, wondering as to what he achieved and what he lost in those years. Only if Vikram had known that this madness towards work although it fetched him huge money and a fat bank balance, it had also pushed him to a stage, where doctor’s visits were regular and matrimonial offers were from widows and divorcees with children and a lonely mother.

Vikram should have realized that although working long hours was inevitable, he should have been able to resist this pressure and achieve a healthier balance through a process of increasing awareness, conscious reprioritizing, and implementation of public and private changes. It’s often a major life event such as the one that has happened to Vikram which has catalyzed these realizations. Vikram should realise that he is under the influence of an overpowering culture of long work hours and that it’s easy to slide back into “business as usual”.

3) Was company right in giving added responsibility to Vikram even after noticing the changes in his behaviour?

No, the company was not right in giving added responsibility to Vikram of supply chain and vendor management even after noticing changes in his behaviour, resignations of other managers due to it and inspite of it being brought to their notice. The company chose to remain silent about it, ignore it, because Vikram was their blue-eyed boy and he had achieved many a laurels for them and more importantly was capable of handling additional responsibilities too. So they chose not to upset him lest their revival and growth plans post the pandemic get hampered. Company had it’s own objectives & targets in mind and were least bothered with what was happening in the personal life of Vikram as long as it was not affecting their’s.

4) Suggest Vikram and company a way out?

Work-Life Balance Is a Cycle, Not an Achievement. Research has shown that overwork isn’t good for employees or their companies and yet, in practice, it can be hard to overcome unhealthy work habits and reach a more sustainable work-life balance. To achieve lasting change, both must view this process of work life balance not as a one-time activity, but as a cycle in which one constantly re-evaluates the evolving feelings and priorities, and adjust one's work and life choices accordingly. Despite the resounding evidence that working long hours can be harmful to both employees and employers, many professionals still struggle to overcome their assumptions and their deeply-ingrained habits around work hours as seen in the case of Vikram in this case study. For the company and especially for Vikram, to free himself from these unhealthy patterns and reach a more sustainable, rewarding work-life balance, achieving better balance between professional and personal priorities boils down to a combination of reflexivity — or questioning assumptions to increase self-awareness — and intentional role redefinition. Both should note that this is not a one-time fix, but rather, a cycle that they must engage in continuously as the circumstances and priorities evolve. 

i) Pause and denormalize: Vikram should take a step back and ask himself: What is currently causing me stress, unbalance, or dissatisfaction? How are these circumstances affecting how I perform and engage with my job? How are they impacting my personal life? What am I prioritizing? What am I sacrificing? What is getting lost? Only after Vikram has taken a mental pause and acknowledged these factors can he begin to tackle them.

ii) Pay attention to emotions: Once Vikram has increased his awareness of his current situation, he should examine how that situation makes him feel. Ask himself, do I feel energized, fulfilled, satisfied? Or do I feel angry, resentful, sad? A rational understanding of the decisions and priorities driving one's life is important, but equally important is emotional reflexivity — that is, the capacity to recognize how a situation is making you feel. Awareness of the emotional state is essential in order to determine the changes one wants to make in one's work and in life.

iii) Reprioritize: Increasing the cognitive and emotional awareness will give Vikram the tools he needs to put things into perspective and determine how his priorities need to be adjusted. He should ask himself: What am I willing to sacrifice, and for how long? If I have been prioritizing work over family, for example, why do I feel that it is important to prioritize my life in this way? Is it really necessary? Is it really inevitable? What regrets do I already have, and what will I regret if I continue along my current path?

Priorities often shift faster than our day-to-day time allocation habits. A more positive work-life balance intentionally reprioritized how one spends their time in a way that lined up with their true priorities will go a long way in achieving harmony between work life. Example - Vikram could describe how he still saw himself as a professional, but redefined that professional role to be more inclusive of other valued roles, such as that of a caring son for his family

iv) Consider alternatives: Before jumping into solutions, both Vikram & the company should ponder if there are components of the job that both would like to see changed? How much time would Vikram like to spend with his family, or on hobbies? Improving situation takes time and experimentation

v) Implement changes: Finally, once the priorities have been recognized and carefully considered the options that could help improve the situation and especially to Vikram, take action. That can mean taking on a new role that’s designed to be less time-demanding or allows for a compressed-week model — or an informal one wherein Vikram changes his work patterns, without necessarily attempting to change the company's expectations.

In order to achieve harmony & work life balance, Vikram could look at self-imposing boundaries such as choosing not to work on evenings, weekends or during holidays and sticking to that decision, or turning down demands typically associated with his role such as new projects or travel requests, even when he feels pressure to take them on. Another suggested solution for Vikram is securing support from key mentors, partners, and coworkers or a flexible working scheme is likely to result in more lasting change.

Vikram must note that in order to make real changes in his life, he must continuously remember to pause, connect with his emotions, rethink priorities, evaluate alternatives, and implement changes throughout personal and professional lives especially since the steps outlined above are not a one-time activity, but rather a cycle of continuous re-evaluation and improvement.

No need to be violent for the sake of rule book

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 July 2019 edition.

When perception differs !

It was not a good day for Vishnu, Asst. manager- Finance and Accounts, when external audit team while conducting audit of the last quarter, raised as many as 15 objections of various payments made to different employees in respect of different expenses incurred by them. Vishnu was looking after all payables of internal and external stakeholders. He was responsible to ensure that all expenses reimbursed to employees are as per co. policy. But in many cases he simply overlooked because expenses were related to higher officials and were approved by financial controller. Few Objections were related to toll expenses but were not supported   by toll slips. Other expenses reimbursed were of few taxis going for different destinations by same person in the same dates.

Financial controller called Vishnu and expressed his dissatisfaction and annoyance that the payments were cleared by him without examining the veracity of expenses. Vishnu told him his inability to stop payments when the bills were cleared by senior officials, director or even by him. Whenever he tried to hold, he was thrashed by senior managers and humiliated and shown his status. He was told to the extent that it was not his duty to see the documents and once signed and approved, he should simply release the payment. Financial controller was speechless.  He said, “Vishnu, even if you feel that something is not proper, he could bring to his notice”. Vishnu said he will do that in future. He also suggested that company should frame a policy about all such matters so that he is not humiliated and pressurised by the seniors for releasing the payment immediately.

Financial controller discussed the matter with auditors to resolve the objections. Somehow on the advice of auditors, he filled the gaps and regularised the payments. It was also decided that a comprehensive policy should be framed in respect of employees’ expenses especially in respect of outdoor expenses, guest expenses, and travel and other misc. expenses.  Policy was framed   and made applicable. Apart from certain points, it was specifically mentioned that liquor expenses on any one will not be permitted except it was approved by the director and financial controller in special cases with clear mention that it was done in deviation of policy in company interest. This power of moving away from policy was vested only in two authorities.

Vishnu was quite relaxed. He kept the copy of the policy with him. Vishnu was not generally liked by other managers and colleagues. He was perceived as too much legalistic and going by rule book. He was not very much go getter and friendly with peers. He was self centred and intrinsic. May be due to this reason, his annual performance feedback was not too good. He was appraised average or below average. After serving company for about 15 years, he was only elevated to Astt. Manager level last year with bare minimum increment. But his integrity was never questioned.

It was last Wednesday, when few foreign visitors came to visit the plant. They were potential buyers of Co. Products. Marketing head and his team were on looking after them well. They were taken to a sightseeing tour. Marketing head submitted all the bills of  expenses. Vishnu examined them and raised the following queries:

1-The bills do not have details of guests with names. 

2-Liquour expenses not permissible.

3-Mere Four Taxis bills were unable to justify the numbers of guests.

On getting informed by Vishnu, Marketing Head came to his seat. Vishnu returned the bunch of bills to him and advised that all the queries should be removed. Little discomfortable, marketing head said that he will get the covering page (Summary of expenses) of the bunch signed by the financial controller. After sometime marketing head returned back and pushed the bills bunch on his table. He asked authoritatively, “Now release the payment”.

Vishnu saw the bills and said,” sir, mere signature on summary of expenses will not suffice. You know the policy. All bills have to be approved with the note that “approved with policy deviation as special case”. Kindly get it done. Also mention the names of all the guests also, who were on sightseeing tour.”

Marketing Head felt bad about requisitioning the bills expenses. He uttered, “You are not bigger than your boss and director.”  I am not going to get it signed again. Now it is your problem, go and get it done from anyone you want, but I want payment to be released by today evening. You are in habit of insulting everyone, do you think everybody in the company is dishonest and you are the only one holy cow here?”  His tone was little loud.

Vishnu simply pushed the bills again towards marketing head, who was standing in front of his seat and said, sorry sir, it was not his job. If you want payment, kindly get it done.”  Probably marketing head could not bear this. He roughed him up, hit at his legs by shoes and said in a loud voice, “how dare you to return the bills of a senior manager? Don’t forget you level. You are nothing, but a small clerk. How you can misbehave with me like this. I can show you the door just now.”

Vishnu lost the temper. He stood up, thrown the bills on his face and physically pushed him away. Seeing the situation, other staff sitting along, intervened, kept both aside and requested to both to keep the volume low and don’t low down to physical assault on each other. Whole atmosphere was charged. Marketing head went back. Vishnu continued shouting,” I know the reality of these bills. He is dishonest. That’s why he doesn’t have courage to get it signed on all pages. All are siphoning the money from company on false bills.”

After sometime, Vishnu was called by financial controller in his cabin. HR head was also sitting there. Matter was to be resolved. While going to FC cabin, everybody could see the shoe impression on his black pant. By evening, it was heard that Vishnu was suspended and disciplinary proceedings against him was under consideration.

Questions for Discussions and Solutions

1) How you assess the role and behaviour of both marketing head and Vishnu in this case? Who was at fault and why?

Vishnu being the introvert person that he is and going by the rule book all the time was justified in his actions. He tried to be act in a dignified and professional manner and befitting in a way that the company would expect him. Vishnu infact felt that now he had the support of the Financial Controller after resolving the issues raised by external auditors w.r.t. earlier bill payments and their one to one discussions and also subsequent framing of a revised policy wherein only two senior personnel were authorized to approve payments in deviation cases. Hence Vishnu was justified in his role and behavior and he had always maintained it that way even though it came at the cost of his PMS ratings, increment amount and career progression.

The marketing head probably being responsible to get new business by taking proper care of the company’s potential customers didn’t care for the rule book or company’s policies. He only wanted things to be done his way because he was getting business for the company. But it doesn’t work all the time. A company who is serious about its systems, processes and policies and knows that Finance has to be strictly monitored or controlled because that is the only way it can survive, sustain and grow will not allow such leeway expenses to be approved without proper justification or a business case related to it. The marketing head should have checked with his finance counterpart on the expense policies before embarking on lavish expenses for the company’s potential customers. A little bit of common sense on part of the marketing head could have avoided the entire situation.

2) Was marketing head justified in hitting at Vishnu’s legs in the wake of provocation given by Vishnu? How marketing head being senior could have handled the situation in a better way?

Absolutely not, physically abusing someone doesn’t justify the actions especially if you are in a senior most and leadership level position which in this case is the marketing head. People look up to you for command and respect as a leader but if the marketing head starts verbally abusing his subordinates trying to show them as to who’s the boss and even gets physical in certain scenario’s, then he is not fit to be a head for any position in any organisation. Leadership and people management skills matter at a certain seniority level and not just technical skills alone, no matter how good one maybe at it. Ability to get along with colleagues, work together with them and not just by authority and use of force do matter a lot in 21st century times. BOSS culture just does not work any longer.

3) Do you think that Vishnu being junior was right in arguing and becoming physical with marketing head and not heeding to his advice and instructions?

Yes, Vishnu was right to some extent. It’s not being junior or senior when it comes to following company’s rules, policies and processes. They are meant to be same for everyone. There can’t be two different yard sticks for measurement for two different people in the same organization. And Vishnu was ultimately responsible for all payables for all internal and external stakeholders. Vishnu was also liable to answer to external auditors for payments made by him to the stakeholders. Also Vishnu was comforted by the fact that he had the Financial Controller’s backing incase of deviations from policies for making payments & the fact that a revised policy had also been made to that effect.

However inspite of all this, the Marketing head wanted to have his way. He wanted to circumvent the rules in his favor as he was not used to following policies. When Vishnu pointed out what was right and what needed to be done, the marketing head did some patchy work to show compliance. Vishnu being the compliant person that he is didn’t accept it. This provoked the marketing head who tried to show him who’s the boss and that resulted in physical altercation between the two.

Ideally,Vishnu should have escalated the matter to his reporting authority i.e. the Financial Controller. He should have stopped there since it was getting out of his control and boundary. Retaliation although a natural human tendency can be controlled. Vishnu should have known that confronting his senior will not work in his favor as the odds were stacked against him. And Vishnu was not a popular person in the organization nor were his performances on paper that great even though he was sincere and loyal. Tactfully referring the payment matter to his superiors for resolution would have helped avoiding the confrontation.   

4) Was the management’s action suspending Vishnu appropriate? Had you been in place of HR head, how would you have handled the matter?

No, the management’s action in suspending Vishnu is neither right nor appropriate. It sends out the wrong message to others in the organisation that superiority or seniority will have it’s way and that insubordination to them will not be tolerated.

As HR head, I would have first taken note of all the facts that led to this situation. I would have heard versions of both the parties. Also the HR policies would have served as a guide or reference book when it came to analyzing the situation and determining as to who is right and who is wrong. Arbitrarily suspending Vishnu just because he confronted the marketing head over a matter what he felt was right is not the correct thing to do. He should have been an opportunity to present his version of the case. Also the HR head can speak to his marketing colleague and counsel him as how to handle such situations as he is in a senior position. The HR Head could have also taken views of the Financial Controller before arriving at a final decision as ultimately the matter was related to Finance & Payment.  

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. 

Whistle blower should not become scapegoat

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 April 2019 edition

The Unethical HR

P. Mohan Reddy , the works director was not happy to see an email in his mailbox after coming from routine meeting of all managers  and taking a review of manpower planning and continuous inflow of people to cater the plant needs. The main issue was of failure of  providing sufficient man power supply by HR to different departments on daily basis. The manufacturing facility was new so the recruitment drive was on full swing.

Initially the company thought of a policy of outsourcing many activities through  agencies to cater maximum needs and keep a stable minimum numbers of employees on permanent rolls. But after joining of new Recruitment Manager Shiva prakash from last one year, the policy was changed. On his suggestion, management agreed to increase employees’ numbers slowly on co. rolls to maintain the minimum inventory of head counts. Shiva was appointed by the corporate office with some reference of one of the independent board director.

Shiva prakash was devoting his maximum time with placement vendors to acquire maximum people to appoint them on co. permanent rolls.

The mail before Mr. Reddy was sent by Maintenance manager. He expressed his uneasiness about growing rate of attrition of people appointed on permanent Rolls. Maximum duration of employees was less than six months. His last line was much disturbing. He mentioned that the some boys had revealed that the same vendor providing us the manpower approached them for better opportunities and also poached them for some other organisations.  The people crisis was rather becoming more and more complex. It was becoming a challenge for Mr. Reddy. Till now he left everything on Shiva prakash . But after reading mail, he decided to get involved and go deeper to find out the reasons  behind all this. He called Shiva prakash to discuss the issue. Here is the conversation:

Reddy: Shiva what is this happening? Why we are not able to stable the employees inventory. Why so much attrition?

Shiva: sir, it is demand and supply issue. We are at very remote location. People join us, stay for some time and then leave as soon as get other opportunity.

Reddy: But we have increased the base salary rate and other allowances also as advised by you. What more you want to do ?

Shiva: I will ask placement vendor to be more serious and send us the candidates who are willing to stay back for long time.

Reddy: Everything is not right in your process. Call that vendor. I would like to meet him.

Shiva: Ok Sir.

Even after one week, placement vendor did not come to meet Mr. Reddy. This raised his eye brows.During this time, Reddy got  message from one HR officer assisting Shiva in recruitment process. He wanted to meet Reddy not in plant but at his residence. It was not normal. Things were looking messed up. He responded –“Send context of meet at my personal mail Id from your personal mail.  Then will meet.” 

Reddy got the mail in the same night. “ Sir, Everything is not right in Recruitment. I am no more involved in recruitment now. Things are not transparent. Mr. Shiva and other female colleague only are doing all activities.  Shiva does not trust me more . He is deeply involved with the placement vendor. I am never allowed to talk to him. He does everything of his own. I can share much if you permit to meet.”

Reddy Replied back. “Come 2maro morning before leaving for plant.”

HR officer, Sumit who was recruited by Reddy was in his first job. He belonged to well educated family. His father was senior bureaucrat. Many times sumit demonstrated his integrity and commitment towards organisation. Initially when he was assisting the administration, He caught scrap vendors loading/carrying material in collision with security guard at the post, which was not purchased by them. He compelled the vendor to unload the truck and re-segregated the scrap material. Rajni was appointed by Shiva.

When Sumit met Mr. Reddy at his residence and exposed Shiva, it was like a bombing. Sumit revealed that shiva was favouring the vendor unreasonably. He diluted the agreement terms also. Earlier, the vendor was responsible for providing free replacement if the candidate leaves within six month. Now the condition has been diluted to three months. Earlier the payment terms were of  three months. Now it has been reduced to one month only. The persons who are approaching directly to Co. for possible employment opportunities are discouraged and advised to come through vendor. In many cases Shiva shared the information of direct applicants to vendor and asked him to contact them and send their CVs through him. Sumit also requested that he can further investigate and takeout more details if Reddy permits him to do so. Reddy assured him that nothing will happen and he should continue watching him and his activities.

Reddy came to office, asked the finance manager to provide him the details of payments made to placement vendor during last one year. He was surprised to see the whopping payment figure. It was touching 10 million. He decided to put Shiva under surveillance.  He engaged a private vigilance agency. After fifteen days the agency shared his report of findings. It ran like this:

“The Placement agency named Metaphor executive search agency address provided was of a residential flat. There is no display board. People of the area do not know about any such business activity being carried out from the flat. Neighbourers revealed that an old couple resides there. The proprietor of the placement agency is relative of Mr. Shiva. The account statement obtained from bank unofficially in confidence reveals the interesting pattern of funds flow. Whenever the payment from the company was credited in the account of the agency, It was transferred to another account in the different branch of the same bank. The ultimate beneficiary in which amounts were used to be transferred belonged to one woman, who happened to be the wife of Shiva.  Rajni,the female employee working in the HR assisting in recruitment activities was spotted with Shiva in the restaurants and  malls of the  city far away from factory location during last fifteen days. The relationship reflected was not of a boss and a subordinate.”

Agency also enclosed the photographs of Shiva and Rajni while in restaurants and malls, bank statements of the agency, and his wife where amounts were transferred.”

Next morning , Before Reddy could think of any action against Shiva after discussing with corporate office and his confident managers, Shiva came running  to meeting room where Reddy was discussing some other issues with different managers in meeting room. He was perplexed. He said that that the female employee working in HR department has given a complaint of sexual harassment against Sumit  and the issue was very sensitive. He tried to molest her in the office when they were alone.  Shiva put the written complaint before Mr. Reddy. Shiva said that she was standing outside meeting room and wanted to see you sir. She is insisting that she will report the matter to the police.

Questions for Discussion and Solutions

1. Discuss the functional style and behavioural traits of Shiva vis-a vis of Mr. Reddy.

P Mohan Reddy seemed to be systematic & organised in his working style who obviously knows his work well & is deeply entrenched in it. He also appears to be a senior pro in his functional role as works director. The fact that he became alert of suspicious activities in hiring process once the attrition rate was pointed out by maintenance manager, seeing the enormous amount paid to a single placement agency vendor in last one year, dilution of T&C in agreements with vendor and also hiring of a vigilance agency for reporting of fraudulent activities states so. However one could point out that Mr. Reddy should not have given complete authority to Shiva to handle all recruitments & policy and decision making in that regards. Some level of control or regular reporting system had to be put in place by Mr. Reddy for Shiva. This was one of the lapse in the processes that has led ultimately to this fraudulent practices. However Mr. Reddy could also be forgiven on his part for this lapse as Shiva was recruited by reference of an independent board director.

Shiva Prakash appears to be a fraudulent employee whose sole objective is to make money using the company’s resources for his personal gains. He is also observed to be involved in extra-marital affairs in spite of having a family. Ethical behaviour or following ethical practices is not in the DNA of Shiva. Shiv Prakash cannot be trusted. The fact that he was devoting maximum time to recruitment activities by co-ordinating with his relative who ran the placement agency inspite of him being at a managerial position and not allowing his juniors to do so states the fact. Also due to lack of degree of control in work reporting to superiors, he misused the complete freedom & authority given to him to change recruitment policies, recruitment agreements with the vendors for his personal gains. Needs of the company were never his prerogative

Shiva Prakash’s acts are also very short-term minded. For how long, this will continue, one doesn’t know. It will be very difficult for Shiva Prakash to find another job after he is suspended from his current organisation once his fraudulent activities are found out, reported and acted upon.  

2. Discuss the people processes of the organisation? Were they correct or some review is required if so, what would you suggest?

Definitely, lots of review is required in the people processes of the organisation and also in other processes like finance, legal and vendor empanelment. First of all, Finance should have questioned as to why an enormous amount like 10 million is paid to a single placement agency Metaphor Executive. Finance should have questioned HR or atleast brought it to notice of Reddy since he is Director. Finance should not just be processing payments arbitrarily. Finance should be proactive

All agreements with vendors including HR related should have by Finance / Legal’s stamp of approval too on it. Because ultimately Finance is going to make payment & legal will come in the picture if there is some issue like the one as reported by the vigilance agency. So they should also be aware of it in the first place. The recruitment manager or for that matter HR should not be the sole approving authority. It’s too much of a risk. There has to be a maker-checker system.

There also seems to be absence of an authorised signatory process to sign all legal documents / T&C with vendors. Usually companies appoint a senior person to sign all external agreements / documents on behalf of the management / directors. But here it seems that it didn’t exist. Shiva made use of this process lapse to empanel his relative as an executive search firm. He only became the approving authority. Both maker and checker.

Also if Shiva had tendency of unethical & fraudulent behaviour, why wasn’t his previous employment reference check & background verification done. If this was done properly or had it been in place, then perhaps the organisation would have known his past history and maybe not hired Shiva in 1st place itself and all these issues that have happened as a result of it could have been avoided. 

It is to be noted that the case study mentions that Shiva Prakash was hired with the reference of an independent director by the corporate office. So what is the company HR’s hiring and selection policy if a candidate is referred by a director / management, will that candidate be given preference or should merit and need based selection be the sole criteria?

There also seems to be absence or lack of employment service rules that an employee should sign on the day of joining an organisation. The employment service rules should mention that the person in responsible function is strictly prohibited in entering into business contracts on behalf of the company with relatives. Basically, there should not be any conflict of interest which was seen here.  

Lastly, there also seems to be lack of whistle blower policy in the organisation wherein one can report fraudulent activities happening without any fear or malpractice happening to the whistle-blowing person that was seen in the case of Sumit being reported for sexual harassment by Shiva on behalf of female employee’s working in his dept. This means that employee’s working under Shiva are involved with him in his activities or might be doing it because he is their boss and has told them to do so or for fear of being exposed and nailed. Also why Sumit had to visit residence of Reddy and report the unethical behaviour of Shiva. Ideally, the company environment and culture should be such that one can work freely and report any wrong doings in the office itself. Shiva would have come to know Sumit has visited residence of Reddy and would have thus become suspicious. Hence in order to protect himself and his co-workers who are working in tandem with him, he counter levelled charges of sexual harassment against Sumit to protect his wrong doings.

3. What do you suggest, how Reddy should handle the situation move forward step by step now and come out as successful leader in a crisis?

There are two situations that Reddy has to handle now. Firstly, to expose the fraudulent activities by Shiva Prakash. Reddy has gone about systematically for that. He got information from maintenance dept. Based on that he verified the attrition report and reasons underlying it. Following that trail, he took details from Finance that further confirmed his doubts. He then had an independent agency conduct probe against Shiva Prakash who submitted their report.

Secondly, Reddy has to handle the counter allegation move by Shiva Prakash of sexual harassment against Sumit who had exposed his unethical behavior in the first place itself. Reddy can’t be seemed biased against Sumit also just because he has got proof against Shiva Prakash. For the sexual harassment complaint, it should be referred to the committee that the company would have setup or have in place as per POST Act, 2013. Reddy should also furnish the information that he has got about Shiva Prakash’s other activities to that committee so that they are aware of the background and credentials of the complainant too in the first place and so as to take an informed decision.

Regarding the fraudulent activities information collected by Reddy about Shiva Prakash, depending on the policies of the company, Reddy should forward it to the Corporate Office who will look into it and arrive at a decision. Reddy has done his duty as works director. The corporate office has to act upon it.

Sumit should be supported by Reddy and the company in his hour of crisis since he has done the whistle-blowing act in the best interests of the company against his departmental colleagues. Reddy should ensure that Sumit doesn’t become the scapegoat in these two incidences. The trail of information collected by Reddy against Shiva Prakash including the report by private agency should aid the case of both Reddy and Sumit. 

Technical skills alone are not enough to survive

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 January 2019 edition 

When arrogance dilutes competence

It was not a very good start of the day for Ravinarayan DGM production engineering of this manufacturing unit. Joined only six months before, Ravi was finding some difficulty in handing his manager sushant who was there for lat 12 years i.e. since start of the unit and gradually promoted to this level.

The factory is a joint venture of India and Japan with management control of Indian professionals but at the same time Japanese management has deep interference in operational activities as they have deputed their people as operations head, quality and engineering Head. Indian Management Board also kept one manufacturing head having administrative control over all affairs. Both these Operations head and manufacturing heads were reporting to Indian MD.

Half an hour before Ravi had a hot altercation with sushant. Actually Ravi asked the new graduate trainee to submit his activity details for discussion, because in spite of repeated calling to sushant, he was not providing the details to Ravi which caused delay in planning certain activities. Knowing about asking graduate trainee to provide activity details directly by Ravi, sushant shouted on him in a derogatory manner as to why he asked the GET directly to provide details and bypassed him? Sushant’s tone was on high pitch. He cautioned Ravi, his boss that this way he can’t survive in the company and he (sushant) was not afraid of anyone as he has seen many bosses who have failed to control him and ultimately left the company.

Ravi was not prepared for this in front office openly when Ravi came out from daily morning meeting.  “Sushant- what happened? Why are you so annoyed? Let us go to the office and talk”, Ravi tried to play down the incident which was noticed by other managers also coming out of the meeting room along with him but nobody stayed there and pretended as nothing happened. It was shocks for Ravi as he never imagined that asking GET directly to provide details will make sushant so furious.

Both went towards Ravi’s Office but on the way while passing through corridors of manufacturing area, Sushant was talking very loudly. He also  challenged Ravi that he can do whatever he likes. He does not care for anyone. Ravi decided not to go to office with him and replied, “Sushant, I had to ask GET because you were not caring for my request since last 15 days and thing were getting delayed. I must know what you are planning and how you are going to deliver.” Ravi reminded Sushant that few days back he was instructed to take along another Astt. Manager while visiting Tooling Vendor companies, but he avoided his instructions and went alone for visit.  Ravi came to know only this fact when inquired from Astt. Manager about the outcome of visit and he revealed that sushant did not take him along as he kept waiting.
Ravi felt humiliated. He went to Manufacturing head Mr. Gopalan and reported the matter. Ravi briefed him about the incident and also said that it was not his first incident. Sometime back also he misbehaved with some store people when Sushant was requested not to avoid/bypass the laid down process for dispatch of moulds and dies to tooling Vendor Company. Sushant    thrashed him also for “intervening” in his way of working.

Actually sushant was blue eyed boy of  Japanese  Operations head Mr. Takimoka  and whenever,  his incidents  were reported to him, he took casually and advised manufacturing head Gopalan and Ravi to adjust with him as sushant was very old, senior and high potential manager and was delivering the things as per expat’s desire. Sushant’s ability to perform at high level put by putting his heart and soul without caring for working hours in completing tasks made him ignoring of following processes. Sushant did not enjoy reporting to Ravi or any other senior including Gopalan except operations head Mr. Takimoka.

Manufacturing head Gopalan was also not happy with sushant’s behaviour and attitude and he was getting repeated reports about his arrogant behaviour.  After listening to Ravi, he said, “need not to worry, don’t get upset, I will take care”.

Next day after morning meeting Gopalan   met MD where Mr. Takimoka was also sitting in his cabin.

Gopalan: sir, now enough is enough . We need to take call about sushant. His incidents of misbehaviour are increasing. Yesterday, he openly insulted and shouted on Ravi  in front office. He does not want to follow processes and systems. In last five years we have lost three DGMs.

MD kept listening  and saw towards Takimoka for a moment. “But Mr. Takimoka, You always gave very positive report about sushant? What I am listening? Don’t you think  we should do something  about this issue.”

Takimoka, sensing the gravity of matter, made an attempt to control the damages. He said , no issue, I will talk to sushant  and make him to apologise to Ravi and he will also improve about his behaviour. Leave it to me. I will handle. He then asked Gopalan to meet him in his cabin with Ravi to discuss and resolve the matter.
Before Gopalan  could take HR head into confidence and brief him about incidence, He saw a mail from sushant with copy to Takimoka, Ravi,  HR head and M.D. Following is the mail:

“Dear sir, Regarding yesterday Incident, I want to say that I was very much engaged in various jobs since last few days causing stress and during that state of mind I talked to Ravi sir. If something has hurt him, I feel sorry for that. I never intended to insult him. I have been giving  all my time with full devotion at the cost of my family and personal life to the company. No one should doubt my loyalty and commitment. I will try to improve upon my behaviour also.”

Gopalan gave a call to HR head and Ravi and requested them to come to his office immediately.  But, after reading sushant’s mail, Gopalan was thinking in different direction.

Questions for Discussion and Solutions

How do you interpret the personality traits of sushant? Was he a good manager?

Sushant may be good as a worker, as an individual lone contributor who by the sheer presence of his talent, skills, perseverance and hard work has worked his way up the ladder in his current manufacturing organisation. However Sushant should realize that talent and technical skills alone is not good enough. As one grows in the organisation and the number of years pass by, demands of the job and the organisation vary, they change. So one needs to adapt to it, develop themselves as per it. Repeatedly being in the same profile will not help.

Also by virtue of being in the same organisation for the past 12 years since the start of it, one tends to develop a laid back attitude and of being that in a comfort zone that nothing will happen to me as seen in the statement by Sushant to his boss Ravi that he has seen many bosses who have failed to control him and ultimately left the company. Sushant is also comforted by the fact in the back-end that he is the blue-eyed poster boy of Mr. Takimoka, Operations Head from Japan who had deep interference in operational activities of the Manufacturing Unit.

How do you underline the approach of Mr. Takimoka in this episode?

Mr. Takimoka took a conciliatory approach in this matter. Their Indian counterparts Mr. Ravi and Mr. Gopalan had decided to take the matter of Sushant hands on and had decided to confront him and also show to him as to who is the boss. However since the matter was reported to Mr. Takimoka who always had a positive report about Sushant and was impressed by his work decided to speak to Sushant alone, calm him down, maybe give him some guidance, tips on how to get along with everyone by improving his behavior including his seniors as it would be good for everyone in the organisation, it would be a win-win situation as compared to a confrontational approach.

However Mr. Takimoka knew that time was running out from him, Sushant’s matter had indeed become grave and there was not much he could do to control the damages as Mr. Gopalan the Manufacturing Head had reported that due to Sushant’s Behavior and inclination to not follow systems and processes, the organisation had lost 3 DGM’s in the last 5 years. It would be a matter of time that the organisation would have to let go of Sushant if he did not change or improve his behavior and look for a replacement. As ultimately, systems and processes are important, that define an organisation and not an individual.

How Manufacturing head Mr. Gopalan should handle this matter now?

Gopalan was going to take the HR head into confidence and was going to brief him about the incidence. However he saw an email from Sushant apologizing about the incidence that had happened and the underlying factors that led to it. Since the matter has come on record, on mail, Gopalan should still speak to the HR head about it including with Ravi and give their views also. Let the HR head then take a judicious call. Sushant’s mail should also be replied to. Since Sushant has apologized, everyone can move on but care should be taken that such instances do not repeat again
Sushant should be informed to improve his behavior and attitude. Maybe some sort of coaching and mentoring in behavioral attitude can help Sushant. Also since Sushant has said that he was engaged in various jobs for the past few days and was pursuing it passionately at the cost of his family and personal life, all his 3 seniors should have a meeting with him and see if he needs a helping hand so as to reduce his workload and thus work pressure. That will perhaps lead to Sushant being in a better frame of mind and thus in behavior also.

Should Ravi also change his functioning style keeping in view the prevailing relations dynamics?

No, I don’t think Ravi should change his functioning style keeping in view the prevailing relations dynamics. He was right in asking details directly from the Graduate Engineering Trainee (GET) when Sushant failed to provide it to him inspite of regular reminders. Ravi was also right in knowing as to what the reportees under him were going about doing their planning work and how are they going to deliver. As a boss, he has the right to know as to what his subordinates are up to. Ravi was also right in reminding Sushant how he had failed in his other duties of taking the AM along with him during visit to Tooling Vendors but did so alone. Ignoring your reporting authority’s instructions repeatedly is not a good sign of things to come and hence Ravi was right in his actions.

Sushant should learn to respect his seniors, his colleagues instead of confronting them verbally or by not following their instructions. If Sushant did not enjoy reporting to either Ravi or Gopalan, he should make it explicitly clear and try to work out a solution towards it. Either sit with them and tell to them what he sees are right or wrongs in their working relationship and also listen to their views and see if some amicable solution can be worked out. Else, Sushant can go for a change of profile or reporting authority.

Identify leadership competencies within team

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 July 2017 edition  

Case Study - Dilemma at Infocom

Arun gazed wistfully at the picturesque view out of his window on the third floor of his Mangalore office. As the senior project manager at the Insurance Healthcare and Life Science division at Infocom Ltd, he hoped that the dark clouds were not an indicator of the times to come for his department. His meeting with Pradeep Shetty, the global division manager, had thrown up more questions than answers. Pradeep was not happy with the department’s recent performance and had expressed his displeasure quite openly. The stream of new projects from their main client, the US-based Insurance major Northwestern Mutual, had all but dried up. Even more worrying were the pressing conflicts within the sustainable support project groups.

Meenal Singh, a veteran with the most profitable project of his division had applied for a transfer. A programmer analyst and a team leader with Application Support in the past 4 years, she was well versed with the nuances of all the processes involved. Also, she was a brilliant team leader an always kept the morale of her team high. Having returned from a stint at the headquarters of Northwestern Mutual, Meenal had decided to get married and move base to Pune.

The support team that earned the bread and butter for Arun’s department consisted of two divisions: Application Support and Production Support. Meenal headed both the divisions. The members of the Application Support team consisted of Abhishek Singh, a software engineer with three years of experience. The senior most member of the team, Abhishek, had two years’ experience with a software start-up and had expected to be recruited at Infocom as a programmer analyst .Technically, Abhishek was almost as competent as Meenal and at the same time had also mastered the obscure insurance processes in a very short span of time. However, Abhishek lacked strong communication skills. Also, he was disgruntled with his role as a software engineer. Karan Ramakrishnan was another software engineer who had been involved in the project for quite some time. He had lesser total work experience than Abhishek and had been involved in the project for over a year. Karan was looking for a change from what he thought to be a mundane work of support and wanted desperately to get into a development project.

The other team members included Mukund Nair and Jathin Krishnan. Fresh recruits involved in the project for less than a year, they brought a lot of fresh blood and vitality into the Application Support team. Although quick learners, they were not mature enough to be put into positions of leadership of such a critical project so soon. Shilpa and Remy had just joined the company and were still in the induction phase.

Arun had decided on Mohan Kailash Gupta as the replacement for Meenal. Mohan had worked with the development team at the headquarters of Northwestern Mutual at Wisconsin. Although a software engineer with only two years of work experience, Mohan had shown tremendous technical competence on site. However, Arun was not so sure of how the Application Support team, particularly Abhishek, would take to this new leader. Meenal had been a very effective leader and maintained her relationship with the team even beyond the workplace, often taking them out for parties. Mohan, on the other hand, although very well versed with the system, was considered to be an introvert and not known to be a party animal. The interest and motivation levels of people involved with Application Support projects also seemed to wane quickly. People got bored quickly with the mundane support work involved and thus had to be kept motivated all the time.

Looming over Arun’s head like the proverbial sword of Damocles was also the newly started offshore support at Production Support. Production Support involved more of client interaction and consultation projects, while Application support primarily dealt with defect fixes. Although Production Support required a more in-depth understanding of the insurance processes involved and the system specific to Northwestern Mutual, the Client had insisted on appointing Shweta, a new recruit as a single-point offshore contact. Their rationale behind this demand was to have someone with a longer commitment to Production Support. Despite a slow initiation and a rigorous training programme, Shweta. Also, owing to health problems she was frequently absent from work.

Questions for discussions

1. How can you help Arun arrive at a decision that is beneficial for him as well as for Infocom?

2. What kind of decision-making strategies can be applied to solve the present problem?

3. Is there a possibility that Arun may revert to taking unethical decisions? How can he be                       prevented from doing so?

4. Will Shweta be a right choice in this present scenario? Why or Why not?

Case Study Analysis

The underlying solution to the dilemma at Infocom Ltd is absence of a process for preparing it's employees towards changing capability and capacity needs that will ensure smooth transition incase of need to help it in minimizing the impact in such a period. This is exactly the scenario that Arun as Senior Project Manager at the Insurance Healthcare and Life Science division at Infocom Division is facing.

Meenal Singh, who was heading the project as well as both the profitable divisions i.e. Application Support and Production Support had applied for transfer to Pune as she was getting married. Meenal also demonstrated good team management skills by keeping her team members engaged & motivated in work like taking them out for parties. Her replacement Mohan though technically competent was an introvert and hence not considered as suitable replacement. 

Other possible replacements for Meenal, Abhishek Singh, though equally competent, lacked strong communication skills that is essential when managing a team in a project management environment. Other incumbents like Karan, Mukund & Jathin lacked maturity & leadership skills for managing such critical projects. There were other possible candidates namely Shilpa & Remy, however they were in induction phase.

All these dilemma's also show the need for identifying Leadership Competencies within the team and necessary training. This is currently lacking right now resulting into this dilemma. If this were in place, perhaps the scenario would not have been that dim as currently faced by Arun and in his meeting with Pradeep Shetty, global division manager, that threw up more questions than answers.

This dilemma also shows lack of system of training employees in ensuring effective career progression path. A mechanism / matrix to help employees exceed performance expectations and address overall employee related strategic challenges like this one would support both the employees & the organization to go beyond minimum work performance related standards.

It is also to be noted that to add to the dilemma was the Project Client's demand to appoint Shweta, a new recruit as a single-point offshore contact. The reasoning behind their demand was to have someone with longer commitment to Production Support. Although Shweta was subject to a rigorous training programme w.r.t. future, she was found to be frequently absent from work due to health issues. Hence there is no question of Shweta being a right choice in the present scenario due to frequent absenteeism from work that will result in loss of productivity, problems for other employees & considering the criticality of project work nature.  

There are chances that Arun may revert to taking unethical decisions due to complex nature of the dilemma that he is facing with so many parties involved, due to not understanding the complexity of the issues and also due to external factors like client pressure and meeting their expectations like client request for appointing Shweta, lack of new projects from their main client Northwestern Mutual

Arun can be prevented by doing so in case of this dilemma is by first recognising if the request is unethical. If found so, he can buy time to do some research on it, speak to his company's HR or legal department for expert advise on determining the best course of action. Poor decision making in this case here can have a negative impact here in terms of resignations of employees that can affect the project as well