Pink slip - keep all communication channels open

Pink slips are no longer news. It’s like, a neighbour’s just received one, a friend, a colleague, or a cousin has got the sack. It’s no longer something that happens to someone else. It could be just anyone, you or I. In a way it’s a great leveler—a pink slip scares everyone, right from the senior executives to the frontline staff. No one is immune.

A job is not just the loss of an income. A job is not just a job, it’s a career. It’s not simply the loss of a steady source of income. For a person it is his/her identity. Majority of the waking hours are spent at work. A lot of energy is spent on a project to nurture it. Family and entertainment are pushed to the back burner. And then without any notice, on a fine day, an HR executive calls for a meeting and simply puts it across, “We are sorry it hasn’t worked, we tried our best to retain you”. ID cards are returned, laptop handed over. It's like you are being stripped of your identity. The HR continues with its processes to clean up after you. Now there's nothing to show for any of your earlier efforts. Be good. You sure want your papers in order. You get sympathetic glances from the other cubicles. It’s not their turn yet! You ask someone to open the doors for you as you no longer have an identity card. And then you are out of there. The end.

Initial days are filled with hope. You’re sure you will be an asset somewhere. But then, nothing seems to be happening! Is there light at the end of this dark tunnel? None in sight, especially if you are a senior person. And, frankly, there’s no opportunity out there now. No one’s hiring. Your confidence takes a beating. It simply seems like you are in this tunnel forever.

Perhaps the best thing to do is to keep all channels of communication open. Hiding the fact would never help. You never know where help would come from. You might just be surprised!

Corporate fraud

I have come across many people who could empathise with Ramalinga Raju, ex-Chairman of Satyam. Guess why? They felt they were also in one way or the other treading the same path. Take the example of a sales person. In his own way, he routinely inflated his monthly sales figures. He often changed the dates to accommodate sales to the particular month. He often got into trouble, but managed to get away as his figures were small and could be written off easily. This is the case of an entry level salesman, an insignificant cog in the wheel!

How about a senior manager in a top company? He literally went against company policies to meet the target by backdating and fudging accounts. If caught, he would be in a soup. Many of his teammates are aware of these wrong doings. However, they are wary of discussing this with him as he was a senior person. He is confident that he can pull it off. He also feels it is okay to do such things as meeting the target was the most important thing. However, he doesn’t realize or refuses to understand that this is fraud. Figures are more important to him. Even his boss wanted “figures”. Did his boss expect his manager to say he couldn’t meet the target? No way. It’s not for nothing, people say, “by hook or crook”. Why would people coin such terms if they don’t mean it? “Anything is fair in love and war.” Is the corporate situation any less than war? Of course, no one is a thief until he is caught!

Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone”. So, there we are!

Economic recession, a story

Scene: An IT company in Bangalore
July 2008
News: The company’s quarterly results are out and the projected revenue for the next quarter is quite a dream.
An employee calls the admin department, “I need two pencils. Could you please send it to my table?” “It will be there in 10 minutes”, replies the lady in the admin department. The items reach her table in less than 10 minutes.
Sept 2008
News: Fall of Lehman Brothers!
The employee calls the admin department, “I need two pencils. Could you please send it to my table?” She gets the reply, “Please come and meet me”. She goes to the department. The admin personnel says, “Please fill in a requisition form, sign and then take a pencil”. “But I need two, says the employee”. “Sorry, we can give you only one. We are trying to cut costs you know”.
November 2008
News: Global recession hits India
The employee goes to the admin department, fills the form for a pencil. The admin personnel says, “This pencil is for the whole team”. “wha…t?” “I hope you have read the internal circular about reducing overheads”. “Yeah”. “Anyways, I can’t understand what you want to write”
December 2008
News: Recession expected to worsen
The employee goes to the admin department, fills the form for a pencil. “The team needs a pencil”, said she. “Sorry, you will have to bring your own pencils. You don’t have any project. What do you want to write anyway?”
January 2009
News: An IT company chairman quits over inflated revenue; company in tatters.
The employee goes to the admin department and pulls out a box of pencils hands it over to the admin personnel and says, “Here, in case you need it, I just read an internal circular asking employees to contribute to help save the company”.

Management lessons - learned and unlearned

We learn and unlearn a lot with each organization we leave behind. No one ever gets to learn these management lessons in the IIMs.

1. Keep your eyes and ears open. It’s not a good idea to be the last person to know that your section is closing down. Believe me, gossips are good for health.
2. Nobody is indispensable, not even the boss.
3. Know that boss is always right. He likes it that way. No point in arguing with him. It’s like arguing with a 10-year-old.
4. Don’t ask, “Why are you only asking me about my late comings? Why aren’t you talking about me staying back later than office hours, and many other things I go out of the way to do?” Believe me, office clock starts at 9.00 am and stops at 6.00 pm and works only week days.
5. Is there a dumb boss preventing your growth? It’s time to quit. Most companies are management-friendly. They might prefer the dumb manager over the smart employee. Management does not really want brilliant employees. Too smart employees may be difficult to handle as they don’t easily swallow the management’s ideas.
6. Anything you do out of the way soon becomes part of your duty.
7. If your manager scolds you, put on a blank look on your face. That would deprive him of any sadistic pleasure.
8. Not doing well at the current job? Don’t feel dejected. Everyone has their own inherent qualities. Your may not be suitable for this job. Polar bears are not for Rajasthan. A situation of mismatch in requirement here. There is an employer looking for these qualities and has lots of money to spare too. You only have to find him.
9. Be honest. Employers can simply feel it. Not even harmless things like faking fever. Earn their trust.
10. Know your rights. Don’t allow yourself to be taken for a ride. Complain. Make yourself heard. Crying child gets milk. When you have to prove a point, don’t lose your temper. You will lose your cause too. Simply pretend to be angry. That helps.