Treating Employees When You Don't Need Them

In today's world of economic vacillation, businesses need to have the flexibility of hiring and firing employees at will. This may sound particularly harsh, but is a bitter pill that we all need to swallow. However, firing an employee cannot be arbitrary, inconsiderate and inhuman. The character of a company is determined not by how it treats its employees when it needs them, but by how it treats employees when it does not need them.

One comes across innumerable horror stories of companies firing employees at will, without even having the grace of intimating employees in advance about any such move. After having worked for two decades in the corporate world across India and other countries, I have come to the conclusion that employee retrenchment is usually a result of managements failure in recognizing business challenges or taking appropriate action at the right time. 

If a company fires 100 employees because it has lost a major account, then there are two ways to look at the problem. The obvious way to look at it is that the company can no longer afford to keep 100 employees because it does not have enough business to support it. However, very rarely do people ask questions like 'Why did the company lose the account' or 'What could it have done to prevent this loss' or 'Who exactly is responsible for the company's failure to anticipate this loss'. But, in almost all the cases, the axe falls on the hapless employee who has had no role to play in senior level decisions. Senior managers either escape penalty or move on to greener pastures while leaving a trail of destruction behind them. At the peak of sub-prime crisis in the US, financial organizations were crashing left, right and centre. Employees at the middle and junior levels lost jobs in the thousands but senior management escaped penalties in most cases. Surprisingly, many of the people who were responsible for the crisis were given the responsibility of investigating the crisis or in recommending solutions to prevent such crises in future. No thought was spared for the innocent clerk or computer operator or teller in these banks who had virtually no role to play in the crisis itself. 

Now if a certain number of employees have to be fired, then the most important task is to handle the activity in a humane and sensitive manner. Simple inexpensive steps can often go a long way in reducing the impact of such moves. For e.g.

1) Companies don't ever crash all of a sudden. If the writing is on the wall, let the employees know about the eventuality as soon as possible. Wasting too much time in informing employees actually heightens the pain for them, as it does not allow them time to plan their personal lives.

2) If the company has other subsidiaries, offices and divisions, explore opportunities for employees with requisite skills in those divisions. It makes no sense to lose employees who can be productively employed in other divisions

3) If the company is firing employees for extraneous reasons, be honest with the employee. Don't hurt the employees confidence unnecessarily by blaming him for the loss, if that is not the truth. I remember the incident about an Indian software company that once fired an employee one fine day saying that his performance was not upto the mark. Till that point, the company neither informed the employee about his lack of performance or invested enough time and resources to improve his performance. The incident would have gone unnoticed had the employee not had the presence of mind to record the exit interview and put it up on social media.

4) Pay the employee all his rightful dues without him having to run from pillar to post to claim his dues. Most companies get it wrong on this aspect as they do not see terminated employees dues as a priority. If cash flows are indeed a serious issue and the company needs time to settle dues in full, offer an installment based payment with clear assurances on settlement of dues like post dated cheques, bank guarantees or other financial instruments. 

5) Offer the employees a good recommendation letter and provide a positive reference so that they can seek gainful employment elsewhere. 

A little humaneness never goes waste. After all, the world is a small place and the employee you fire may become a client for you or a major supplier etc. Why burn bridges in this small world? I remember an incident from my own life wherein my management forced me to fire an employee for no obvious fault of his. While I was dead against this decision, I was forced into it. It was as much my fault, as I did not stand for what was right. The same employee ended up on the client side and it was no surprise that we did not get any business from them. 

What 2004 Tsunami Taught Me About Public Sector Companies In India

The 2004 Tsunami was one of the most tragic natural disasters that the country ever faced. Thousands of people lost their lives and many people who were on sea were never found. Personally too, this incident marked a change in my views on public sector companies and why they have a strong and definite role to play in our country.

It was the day after Tsunami and I was on a flight from Bangalore to Vishakhapatnam via Hyderabad. After landing in Hyderabad, I was informed that our onward flight on Alliance Air (sister concern of Indian Airlines) to Vishakhapatnam was cancelled. I was furious as I had an important meeting the next morning, for which I needed to be in Vishakhapatnam by atleast 730 am the next morning. It was almost 4pm and with 600 kms of travel, reaching Vishakhapatnam on time was indeed looking difficult. I was furious and started venting my frustration at a hapless young officer at the counter.  An experienced officer was watching all this from inside the cabin

What he said after that made me feel ashamed of my behavior. I don’t remember his exact words, but it was somewhat like this. “Gentlemen, as you are aware, a huge Tsunami has struck our country. Places like Andaman and Nicobar islands have been worst hit. Hundreds of tourists and residents are living in absolutely hazardous conditions. We also have patients, people who are on life support and other vulnerable groups. They need to be airlifted to safety or to places where they can receive requisite medical care. As a national airline, we have diverted many of our aircraft on non-core sectors for this purpose as sea transport is not safe at this time. As fellow citizens, I hope you understand the challenge we are facing and the need to stand up with people who deserve our help”. The moment he said this, I was terribly embarrassed at my outburst. It set me thinking about how the social service activities of public sector companies go unnoticed.

·       For all its weaknesses, the Election Commission indeed tries to ensure that a voting center is always within the reach of each and every citizen, be it the desert, water or mountains. 

·       BSNL may today be a loss making company but that’s because it put service above profits at all times. They spent money in erecting towers and creating infrastructure to ensure that even remote villages get access to telecom services. Like private companies, if they had put profit above all else, many parts of our country would have been in telecom darkness even today.

·       Government banks have branches or extension centres across villages and small towns in India. It costs a lot of money to maintain these branches and to provide banking services to the resident population. If the banks were to put profits above everything, then a big chunk of rural India would have had no access to banking services even today.

·       Coming back to the example of Indian Airlines (now Air India), all what we talk or remember is the high handed behavior of staff. But, does everyone know that Air India does not have complete freedom in the way it operates for being profitable. Non profitable routes have to be flown to ensure air connectivity to remote areas, aircrafts have to be diverted for any national disasters or emergencies, for international travels of PM, President and dignitaries, commercial aircrafts are diverted and very often, payments are not made for ages.

I would like to delve on the subject of Air India for a little longer. I have briefly explained a few reasons why Air India is in the position it is in today. Let me throw a little more light and possibly, that will change your views.

a)     Slots in airports are a prized commodity, as it allows airlines to operate more flights or add capacity. As number of slots in an airport are limited, airlines fight for this limited capacity. The slots which belonged to Air India were surrendered to private airlines by successive governments thereby preventing Air India from leveraging the available capacity.

b)     Even in case of agreements with airlines of other countries, where both parties agree to a certain capacity permitted for airlines of each country, the government (especially in BJP governments … please check records if you wish) of India has accepted a lower number of seats for Air India. This just does not make sense … why would a country not want its national airline to benefit from capacity in a particular route.

c)     In the airline industry, size of network is a competency for any airline. Bigger the network, stronger the reason to fly an airline. This in turn means more profits but the government kept on dragging its feet when Air India wanted newer, fuel efficient aircrafts for its fleet. They were still operating older, fuel inefficient aircrafts which obviously meant higher operating costs. Additionally, without enough aircrafts to service capacity on international sectors, Air India was losing out on potential sources of revenue.

d)     The profitable gulf sector was earlier the main domain of Air India. By allowing Air India certain privileges on these routes, the government was allowing Air India to compensate themselves for the social service they render otherwise. Even this tiny privilege was slowly taken away from them.

To be fair to Air India, it has for long kept on asking for level playing field with private and other airlines. But, surprise, that is exactly what Air India does not have. Now, the most often repeated complaint about Air India workforce rudeness, inefficiency etc. You will be surprised about the fact that there are as many people who have positive experiences as negative experiences, just like any other airline. But, in case of Air India, they get over amplified needlessly. Now on the question of excess staff … yes, they have excess staff compared to other airlines because the whole operation of running the airline, managing aircrafts, technical support is in-house. In private airlines, most of the staff is outsourced. That’s because these are older staff who were recruited at a different time and in different conditions. In the last ten years, Air India has been very slow on recruitment. It is actually facing a staff shortage in certain roles and once the current lot retires, the situation will be even worse for Air India.

So, as I explain a situation is being deliberately created by the government to ensure that Air India does not prosper. Conditions are being created to give the public an impression that Air India is wasting taxpayer money and that privatization is the only answer. I would like readers to not just read what I have written but take the trouble of finding out facts before running down the airline.

Similarly, many other public sector companies are being deliberately run down by the current government so that a case can be created for disinvestment, even where none exist. These profitable government companies and their assets will be transferred to private players for their benefit. The public will be shown that government is doing away with loss making companies whereas in actuality it is allowing transfer of benefits which could have been made by the government to crony capitalists. We all need to protest this mindless privatization without giving the government sector its due recognition.

a)     Recently, six new AAI airports have been privatized, with all six going to the Adani group who otherwise have no experience in airport management. As far as I know, AAI was not even allowed to bid for these airports.

b)     An old story, but relevant, in 1999, VSNL was privatized and sold to the Tata group by Vajpayee government for something around 1000 crores. At that time, VSNL had more than 1000 crores in its bank accounts and more than 3000 crores of real estate across the country

c)     In Godavari basin, in gas blocks, Reliance Industries was drilling gas even in areas where it had no license to. It has siphoned off hundreds of crores of government property without paying due royalty.

My point is very simple. Rather than simply privatizing why don’t you give government companies a fair chance to compete, survive and contribute to the country.

Has Democracy Really Succeeded In India?

India gained independence in 1947 and our constitution came into existence in 1950. Since then, we have had several governments voted to power by the Indian public. World over, we were called as the biggest democracy and as the best example for people's rule in the world. In my personal opinion, our being the biggest or the most progressive democracy is nothing but a sheer myth propagated by vested interests. In this blog, I would like to detail my reasons for the same:

The most powerful person in the Indian system is the Prime Minister and sadly, the people of India have no say in who becomes the Prime Minister. People across India vote for their Member of Parliament and many MPs like him then go on to select a Prime Minister from their midst. There is no clarity or set of guidelines on the parameters for selection of the Prime Minister i.e. whether he has a criminal record, does he have any ill-gotten wealth, what has been his track record at the social and political level, what kind of views does he hold etc. Honestly, I don't know what is the solution to this problem, but the ordinary person needs to have a say or else parties need to declare their PM before hand. In this regard, I do not agree with the position of parties like Indian National Congress who never declare their PM candidate before hand.

In any job, if a person does not perform to expectations, the organization shows the door to him at any time. But, in India, if an MP does not perform, the public have to suffer for a whole five years before they can exercise their right to vote him out. There are many examples that I can quote on the same. For e.g. as per recent news, Sunny Deol, the BJP MP from Gurdaspur has nominated a proxy to carry on with his affairs as an MP. Not only has he let down his voters, but has also committed an unconstitutional act. An extra constitutional authority is being formally created by Sunny Deol, who has no legal sanction to do so. If I was the voter in Gurdaspur, I would have wanted the right to impeach my MP. Another example is someone like LK Advani, who was an MP in the 2014 government. He rarely visited his constituency, never spoke in Parliament and was outside the cynosure of public eyes. So, what did he became an MP for. Why should the voters in his constituency then not vote him out for his non-performance? Thankfully, BJP did not nominate him again from the same seat.

The biggest problem however in my opinion is allowing MPs who have not been formally convicted but accused of criminal behavior to participate in elections and occupy ministerial positions. This clause was originally included to prevent innocent people from losing their right to represent people till they were formally convicted. However, criminals and wrong-doers are using this clause and continuously prolonging cases to further their tenure in Parliament. There are many examples across parties in this regard. Pragya Thakur has been accused of something as serious as terrorism, charges have been filed against her and cases going on in court. The judge even refused to grant her bail, given the nature of prima facie evidence against her. But, she gets bail on medical grounds. Someone like her should have either been in hospital or in jail but she joins BJP and wins Bhopal's parliamentary seat as well. Her campaign was full of illegal and anti-national campaigning but she still wins the election. I am unable to understand whether it is her charisma as an individual, her acceptance amongst people or the failure of our system that led to this situation. Another example is Sakshi Maharaj who continues to win, election after election, despite having tons of cases against him. He is a loose cannon and regularly spews anti-Muslim views. But, he still continues to be in a parliament, thereby destroying every principle that went into building our constitution. Years continue to pass by, but one does not see any attempt by any party to address this issue. Everyone seems to be benefiting from it including Congress, BJP and almost every other party. In this context, it may be important to mention the case of Laloo Prasad Yadav ... his imprisonment in several cases in the wake of unquestionable evidence is not disputed by anyone. However, offenders in far more heinous cases are roaming scot free while Laloo is not even getting bail on medical grounds even though he has many old age illnesses. The law has to treat every offender equally but it does not.

The issue of electoral bonds has not been discussed by anyone and neither do people seem to be bothered by it. Strangely, the media in India has maintained a stoic silence on this issue. The path of electoral bonds will give people with money to contribute to a party that can satisfy their illegal needs without being identified by anyone. It works to the advantage of both parties. Once in power, the same party can repay the favor by bending and breaking laws wherever possible. The way in which pristine forests of Chattisgarh and the lush Aarey gardens of Mumbai have been handed to the corporate sector for pilferage provides ample evidence of such unholy nexus.

An MP has many constitutional responsibilities. He has to have his feet on the ground, should be sensitive to realities of people and should be in a position to interact and get work done for people in his constituency. This requires some intelligence, experience, especially in social, bureaucratic or political areas. But, in our country, anyone can become an MP or try to become an MP, without having any basic qualifications for it. Not for a moment am I saying that people with no experience cannot prove themselves, but our experience over the last 70 years tells us otherwise. Govinda, the erstwhile Congress MP from North Mumbai parliamentary seat was voted without any experience of any kind except in movies. When his constituency faced bad floods and people & property were at risk, he was nowhere to be found. He was missing when his voters needed him the most. Also, it seems he had no clue on what was to be done to ameliorate the suffering of people. Other examples include Sunny Deol, Moon Moon Sen, Gautam Gambhir. This is possibly a very long list across parties.

I would finally like to talk about the farce called the Election Commission. During the recent elections, a number of offences were committed by BJP candidates including the Prime Minister. This included hate speech, misuse of army personnel, branding Indian army achievements as BJP achievements, religious polarization etc. etc. However, in not a single case did the EC take any concrete action on the PM. The best that it could do was to prevent participation in election campaigning for a few days and that too for leaders who did not really matter. The PM went scot free in almost all the cases. In a democracy, the sanctity of elections is of utmost importance but the current Election Commission has failed miserably. Not only has it failed, it stubbornly refuses to answer valid questions or even make an attempt to provide evidence on fairness of election procedures. The Supreme Court has recently let down India again by not even entertaining a petition against EVMs, even though there is ample evidence on how they were misused or can be misused. In a democracy, what can be more important for the Supreme Court than take up a case that concerns the edifice of our democracy. When it can entertain so many frivolous and non serious petitions, how can such a serious petition be disallowed. If the SC CJI can be a part of a committee that absolves him of serious sexual harassment allegations, what else can be expected. 

Honestly, I am fast losing faith in our democratic institutions. I am pretty sure that I am not the only one.

Jai Hind