Shailaza's Blog

Tag: employees

  • The Space for The New Hires

    I have worked in different roles in different points of my work life.

    As a manager or the head of a department, I have often felt that the new hires, no matter whatever their level be – entry level to CEO, should be given an incubation period to understand the company culture and its people before they are released into the mainstream.

    By this I mean that the initial 180 days should be kept as a window of observation for both new hires and their reporting managers.

    During this time, work should be the priority because every new hire brings with him a degree of newness and the possiblity of innovation for the company.

    If the new hire is immediately released into the mainstream of the employees, he or she is bound to get influenced by gossip, office politics and other such problems which are often caused or created by the old employees of the company who do not like to work or lose their job.

    Hence, the new hire is unable to innovate and is sucked into mediocrity which does not allow the company to reap the benfits of hiring fresh talent.

    Probably, the ideal way to do this is to give each new hire a new project and give them enough leeway to innovate and put in new ideas to develop a sense of trust and belonging between the new hire and his manager.

    After 180 days, the hire should be officially introduced to the rest of the staff and allowed to present their project.

    This will help them to not only build their credibility amongst the other employees but also give them a sense of ownership and belonging to the company.

    This may also foster healthy competition amongst the old and new employees because the latter would then realize that it is impossible to play politics with someone who is already known and recognized for his or abilities and has developed a relationship of trust with the management.

  • Starring: Office Politics, Scheming Sidekicks and Insecure Bosses

    Many companies craft these great vision and mission statements. They draft pages and pages of policy and code of conduct statements. They love talking about the culture that they want to create in their company and speak about their idealistic plans in gatherings. However, most of it is designed just for the manuals and press releases because reality is quite different.

    Reality is a grimy picture of office politics, suspicious bosses and scheming employees. When a new hire enters the office, the old employees get insecure. The new hire starts working hard and starts getting accolades from his bosses. This creates insecurity amongst the other employees who have learnt how not to work hard and fool the boss. They start conniving ways to malign the new hire’s reputation in the eyes of the boss. Gossips and grapevines are activated. The attention of the old employees is not on their own work but on the new hire. Slowly and steadily they start feeding lies to the very boss who hired the new employee. Flattery, tales and all kinds of tools are used to ensure that the boss becomes so insecure that he makes life difficult for the new employee. The golden goose who was initially hired to deliver one golden egg everyday is now asked to deliver all the eggs at one go. Meanwhile, the old employees don’t have to work on their own targets because when the cat is away the mice will definately play. They simply watch the show. When the cat comes back, they know how to give flimsy excuses and confuse the already insecure cat even more. They ensure that every employee in the group remains a mediocre performer so that the bar of expectations is never raised. Naturally, amidst this gossip mongering and mediocrity, life becomes so difficult for the new employee that he has no choice but to leave.

    Doesn’t this remind you of how Kattapa killed Bahubali in the epic movie on the behest of Shivgami who was fed lies by her own son and made to believe that Bahubali is not a good son? Shivgami believes the lies despite the fact that she knew Bahubali from the day he was born. These insecure bosses and their side kicks stifle the new hires in a similar fashion.

    Do world class companies behave the same way? Do they support their new hires or malign them within a few months after their joining? Do they focus on numbers and performance enhancements or petty gossip? Every employee faces pressure but should the pressure of an insecure boss and his sidekicks be added as a bonus?

    Such bosses can never cultivate a culture of excellence in their companies because for them nothing is more important than their ego. They like people who sing empty praises because they feel they are Gods on earth.

    If you happen to work with a boss who believes in gossip, rumours and naysayers, it is important to exit before you are blamed or spied upon. No matter what you do, nothing will make a difference because these people are not long running horses. They are instead like Don Quixote who like to chase windmills and pretend that they have slayed mighty demons! Hogwash really!

    Have you ever faced such a situation? Do share your story comments section!

    I wish we get more of bosses who….

  • Of Pandemic Benefits, Conniving Employers and Stupid Employees

    I have been meaning to talk about this but then I thought it may sound very pessimistic. What a harbinger of change this pandemic has been especially in case of professional relationships! People have experienced revelations, epiphanies and even realized some hard facts during this time.

    For example, my neighbour was a workaholic to the core. For him, his life began and ended with his job. For the last one decade, he was more bothered about his job than he was for his wife and children. He was the second in command and the first to be booted out when the pandemic happened. His boss very politely told him to either agree to half the pay or sit at home for ‘some time’. He realized that all those words of praise were actually hogwash and the people who actually did not work were having the last laugh. The people who did not work did not have any qualms about receiving half the pay because they as it is did not do anything.

    Another friend agreed to work at half the pay since he could not afford to lose the job. However, even when he worked overtime but was told to not expect any increase for the next few years. He had no choice except to agree.

    It is sad but in some places in India employers still behave like almighty lords and masters who have their workers at their mercy. For them, people who work hard for them are the least important because they know that they have little option to change. And employees of these peple treat them as such. When their employer talks to them, they treat them like royalty and the pandemic has only promoted this treatment. Maybe we haven’t gotten over the slave mentality even after decades of independence.

    I know the pandemic has been hard in employers and employees alike. However, some employers have used it to take the easy way out. Thanks to the pandemic, they have the perfect excuse to ask employees to work for peanuts and reap hundred percent profit in the times to come. I wish employees could understand this game.