Arrive in Hope, Eit in Pain

8/8/2019 Arrive in Hope, Eit in Pain

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"--'.Aarti has come out of an Iexit interview feeling mauled Iand violated. What kind of Iorganisation makes !departure so humiliating? i

IEERASETHARTIJoseph stared at the note on her tablewhich r:ead:"Whistle-blowing, eh?" Thenote was unsigned. It amazed her howrapidly and radically the scene was build-ing up. Aarti had resigned last week. and

this morning had been her exit interview.Already, there was one hate mail on hertabl. "Why?" she wondered. What was itwith Calpro India?

T:?e day after she had resigned, her friend Sharada Nairhad said: "Ifyou have quit, don't waste time going over it againand again. Examine and study the next step and get O!l.Calprohereafter ishistory."

Bythe terms ofher contract, Aartihad 23days ofnotice pe-riod left of the mandatory 30 days. But her director (financeand accounts), SameerVaidya, was invokin~ the clause whichsaid: "The notice period may be waived or altered at the dis-cretion of the management" Accordingly, he had told her shewould have to serve a three-month noticE.period! Aarti had

been surprised. Yetshe said: "Iwill let you know tomorrow."Aarti thought about it. Ifit was critical, she could make a re-

quest to her new employers Freehouse; they would agree to aIS-day delay. But three months? And why? 'There are lots ofloose ends," her boss explained. He wouldn't say what looseends. Aarti had never felt this bad before. Despite the goings-on of the last three years, she had been patient and hopedthings would improve. The recession only made itworse. Thejob at Freehouse had been a lucky one, she cO-.lldnot ruin it.

She sat at her table, fingering the numerous photographsunder the glass top of her table. Team building workshops,leadership building, succession management, time planning, i

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I delegation achievement, personality enhancement... pro-i grammes she had attended with 9-10 of her colleagues since. she had joined Calpro 12years ago. These were the regularSwamis, Vaidyas, Singhs. Bases and Shirkes - three to fouryears apart in age,all ate together at;he lunch hall. exchangedanxieties in whispers and shared reliefs in whoops, fOl;lghtover ideals and ideologies, left post -its on shared books withmessages like:Trout should visit Calpro for a book pn brandabuse', left rude graffiti outside the door of Product Develop-ment reading 'Corporate Undertaker'; bonding and bendingtogether, suffering and smiling together.

Then the roads forked; some led to the fast track, some tothe slow.Swami became VPHR, BoseVPsales.Vaidyabecameher boss asVPfinance and accounts. Aarti herself was seatedon the fence bya management committee, which was unSl:rewhat to do with her.

As it happened, Aarti had blown the whistle on Vaidya'spredecessor, Desai, for sending lewd messages to his secretaryover emaiL Forsometime.ilie lady had born~ it quietly; ther.she broke down and told Aarti all.And Aarti had used the ge-nius ofthe systems people and trapped the man.

Desai was not sacked. but lransferred to Indonesia, with apromise that he would behave himself or lose his job forever.But this had created a flutter and tremor at Calpro ofa differ-ent kind: it put people on ~ lard against Aarti. Until then, thedust was usually swept under the carpet. More critically,


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udy_. ..) Aarti's asset value was depreciated bya set ofwary seniors.

That was when Vaidya replaced Desai to become Aarti'sboss. The move was glaring for more reasons tllan one - Aartiwas the only one who had not risen up the ladder. OK,this iswhat happened. Early in the year, there had been a job evalua-tion exercise after which the jobs of tile financial accountantand payroll accountant were upgraded to 3A. In Systems andMIS,which was 'headed' byAarti (in daily parlance itwas care-fully described as 'managed byAarti'), Calpro created a newposition above her, thereby subtly downgrading her job. Ofcourse, this had nothing to do with her whistle blO\\ing on De-sai, but an old scepticism at Calpro over allowing women insales and accounting. CEO Dasgupta had once pUtitthus: shewas not boardroom material. The ones with the maximumsense of humour were tile secretilry folk. fish-curry-in-cheekthey swore: 'i\t eaipro wewait for the men togrow first."

To be fair, Aarti had regislered her protest in a quiet andcalm way.She had told HR that her job did not qualifYto be a2Aclas~..Jtwas 3Ain all other C"Ipro companies wo~:.s:'~~But she was tol3 that job classes also derived their weightsfrom the internal customers itserved, impl}ing that her cus-tomers had rated her service:; poorly. Which didn't makesense, because in the last two 360-degree feedback rounds shehad been rated A++ from every senior who received her re-ports in the global chain. Soon the argument changed to 'in.formation systems is a tough portfolio requiring a lot oflateralthinking: Yet, in the two years since that position above herwas created, it was not filled, which made Aarti press harderfor her rights. She now asked to be promoted to 3A.

DURING each of the last fivequarterly assessments,Aarti asked about her promotion. At this juncture,her boss Deepak Vaidya, in characteristic fashion,

usually stood up, swung his chair and hands inpocket, looked down at her from his high vanta.,aepositionand said: '~There has to be an organisational justification?"Which really meant nothing.

Itwas early this year that Arnawaz Davar,a senior managerin internal audit, whispered to her: "If Iwere you. I wouldn'twaste my career and youth in this place." Aarti smiled. Ofcourse, she had seen through the management's game. Butequally,Aarti had been very preoccupied with developing aninteractive and dynamic brand performance tool. Kot at thebehest of Calpro, but together with her students at the man-agement institute where she taught marketing finance. What

started off as idle hypothesis now became a very involved ex-ercise. They were testing the hypothesis of one srudent thatadvertising to sales (A:S)ratio was not a linear relationship;that increase in ad expenditure beyond the retail fatigue pointwasbound to result in a more than proportionate fall in sales,what the student called the 'Fatigue Value Curve'.

At first this claim had seemed startlingly far ferched. ButAarti had studied some examples over time and began to feelthe need to test it. She then set about applying the theory tosimulate a model that would reveal the optimum ad expendi-ture level for varying levels of sales under three scenarios ofoptimality testing.

But then that was Aarti.Wh:1eany stray spectator ;)fher ca-Ireer would have called halt and asked her to toeus on her

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dwindling fate at Calpro, Aarti felt a compulsive need to ~~the fatigue value curve all anention. No,she wasn't meaningt~.put her career on the slowburner; itwas just that everyday s)lt.was battling with the variables inher model which caused H~to think less about her immediate life. Yet,there was some-thing structured and educated about her moves; she had sentout her resume to just two placement firms stating clearly herdesire to be in a medium-sized organisation as head of man-

agement accounting...

Last montll the proverbial last straw played its bit. Calpro'ssubsidiary Alpine needed to replace its head offinance. JanakDave had quit over som~ 'irreconcilable' differences withVaidya.Calpro had an internal job posting cell,where employ-ees aspiring for a v;,sancy could send in their application andtllen be interviewed for the job.Aarti, therefore, applied for thepost vacated by Dave. Davar, who was interviewing candi-dates for this job, told Aarti:"Sillygirl.It'sall nicely rigged. JaggiSuri has been informally chosen!"

Aarti did not follow up with HR. She called theplacement firms instead. Bright and Thakur, whowere hiring tor Freehouse, grabbed her for two-and-a-half times her income. In their recom-mendation note they observed: "Twelveyears in one organisation, steady, highlyregarded at the management institute,emotionally intelligent."

On 13Maywhen Aarti resigned, allhell broke loose at Calpro. This hap- .pened for various reasons. One, six

jothers had resigned from Financebetween October 2003 and March,2004; two, with the elections in May,the finance budget would happenin June/July; if Aarti served a one-month notice period she would not beavailable for the budget simulation exer-cise - a job she had done with great finessefor many years.

Itwas with this in mind that Vaidya, throughCalpro's VP HR Swami, demanded Aarti to servethree-months' notice. Very calmly Aarti said: "Don't beabsurd Swami." Swami was her partner during the 'buildingteams through trust' outbound development programme lastyear. That Swami now said tentatively: "Don't be rash Aarti,there can be unnecessary complications. Calpro can bring a

breach of confidentiality charge against you. Everyone knowsabout the model you are working on."

Aartiwas immeasurably stunned. That model? Itwas a tinyresearch attempt among first-year management studentswhich she was helping with. Howwas that breaching any con-fidentiality? "This is disgusting," said her friend Sharada Nair.And sure enough, Swami led an attack campaign againstAarti."What worries me about this whole episode," Aarti told Nair,"is hgw quick everyone is to point fingers and to distanceili-:E:~::;;!':esrom me! Some are even trying to use this oppor-tunity to settle scores with others they may have a problemwith, by associating their names with me!And all in the name

of probity and transparency and accountability. I find itnau-seating and deeply depres~ing."

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Sure enough, Aani's subordinates were questioned antiprobed. "Who has been helping her? Wha: da:a has she si-phoned out from here? Heads willroll!"

t;or all her initial bravcrywith Swami. Aani was nowdL'Cply Ipained and disturbed. This was the Calpro where she hadworked for 12years. addressed the Board on many occasions(despite her not beillg 'boarrl material'). arbitrated for themwith the CUI and auditors, advised them on public issues...

she was nomean employeewho giggledher waythrough life! IMay 15, Gp.m., Aani sat alone and shell-shocked in herIroom. Why were they doing this? for three years they wouldn't

promote her, wouldn't explain why. Three years ago 'they' Iwere made up of ditTerent people, her seniors. Today, 'they' Iwere made up of peers who had become herseniorin the hier- Iarchy. A slow feeling of misery welled up inside her. !

The next day she was given a date for her exit interview, 19May 10a.m. The rest of Aarti's story can be best understood

from her late night chat overYanoo with Nair, ",ho wasaway in Kuala Lumpur.

Aarti: Ijust had my exit inte:'viewandspokE~f~. as objectively as possible. My causes of'c"~~'}"

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fmstration at Calpro: no promotion, slow'c~ decision making. lad of illSpiration,

ineffective information usage. Forthe most fXlrt. I was on the stand:"Maybe YOlihave high expectations,you are being unrealistic, how canyou say 'i'leffective usage?'" I toldthem that the only reason I was sit-ting there was because I wantd tomakE a differena.

TIle after-taste is acidic. I won-der, have I be.come vitriolic? I let thepeople here affect me so much that ithas totally fXJisoned my being. Today I

was called a ll'lzistle~blozver!Because to-day I told rllem I was being sitklined. Ifirst

blew the whistle on myformer boss here whowas harassing his secretary. Now this. I am

wondering if I have a personality problem.Sharada: I understand your feelings about these exit

interviews. How isstating somedling as it is blowing the whis-tle? You think they do not know what they are doing? If theydon't, then it's time they km.w. Sometimes when 10 people gettogether and try and run I' place. tlleir individual actions,which are aimed at individual agendas only, result in situa-tions likEdlis. If even one of those 10 worked towards corporategood, then that one person would have had the guts to stand upand ask, what isgoing on? But clearly oone of them was awareof what was happening to the aueeTS of even two or three peo-ple, if we go by thefact that only lI'Olllen were beingsidelined.No, emphatically 00,youl..ave not been ascerbic, vitriolic orwhatever...you simply said what you lI'eresubject to.

Aarti: Then why do Ifeel thiSmisgiving?Sharada: I will tellyou why: you are the kind who will not

protest immediately. You allow people to do hann foras longasyou can take it. Then, when Y'Ju can't take it,you opt out... andeven then you won't.tell anyone why you are opting out... but,

BUT.. ifatthat stL1geomeoneasks)'old4arti wlzyareyouLeav-

ingt like they did throllgh the exit chat... then it all comeslikeafroth and ulet tlzemIwveit. .

And tltal makes IIfeci bad because YO/Iwislz they hadn'tasked; u wish YOIididn't JIllZI(!o be the one who sllOwed themtheir corns and warts...wislzll didn't have to tell them tllat yollhad seen tlZroligh their game. Not that you wa1lt to be goodytwo SllOes...Uust don't want tobepart of the 'Iam here toset theworld right' caravall.1311lif they maul you and force it Ollt,thenIItell tllell/. But thell YOIlweren't plallning to tell...so what llap-pens is, u dun't haw a script ready alld as a resl,lt it all tull/blesout ill any 1I/(//lIIet:..thenllfeel /Jad. .

"llIat'sall that Iwppened. "I7zeyare all big boys; runlling anorganisation isalso abuut taking respo/lSibility.Ifsomething iswrong, t.'IeYneed tosee it.Relax, startfocusing o/z tizenext step...don't waste time and energ;(..luok at the world from tI,e top...see tI,e road llhave to take and get on it quick. Say your good-byes alld dUll'twaste/spend time anymore discussing Calpro.YOIiunderstand? 111erewill be many who will come to)'Oli andsay: "all we heard YOllsuid x-y-.: to the manage, ilent:... Dondon't, don't, dontget into this... smile and say: That's betweentherrzand me.' YOlldon't need to dissect the issues, because youare /wt management anymore; you don't need a soundingboard. you have sOllnded them off in the most formal forum.Now pack up, sing a song and canyon.

Aarti: Yea '1,I agree. But there is a part of me that isfeelinvery worn out, attacked, mauled. Guess it'spart ofgrowing up!

Sharad a:Listen, I thiTikan exit interviw isthemost sellf-ish act of mankind. It's like an autopsy." so crueLWhliving, no one wants to be alert tofeelings; then whensomeone wants to leave, they lookfor self aggrandiSe-

ment in the innards of the Leaver. This ismanldnd, baby. Calproisafeaifu.l organisation. As afavour toyourself, sit down andwrite about your feelings.

Aarti: It is a fXlinful thing really.Funny isn't it,)'Ouactuallytell a company what itsdoing wrong when you areleaving!

Sharada: No...you have been saying itfor three years. Tht}'cOOsetohear it now, thus making it doubly fXlinful for them

Aarti: There is no measurement mechanism for exit inte/.views at Calpro.And it is usually handled by HR,which doesn'thave much clout within the company. So, tile exit interviewmains a trallScript, without any action points and deadlines.

Sharada:Pah! Feaifu.lorganisations will notsave exit in ter-views into their records.Feaifu.l organisatiollS are made up offeaifu.l people!Who werethestars that morning?

Aarti:Primarily the vice-presitkntHRHe wasgetting hyper

because six people have left Calpro'sfinana and accounts inthe last eight nwnths. I7lat istremendous turnover.And it isnorlikEtfr?yareLeavingforplushjobs, it was more likE~etmeoutofthis place: normal lateral jobs. One became a consultant, onejoined his dad's practice. ApfXlrently, all of them gave similarfeedback: lack of inspirational leadership, poor leadership,slowdecision-TnQking, poor empowerment, etc.

Sharada: I7lat is tremendous turnover. ~es...this Cflnbe up-setting... so woo carries the can?An emasculated HR?A tyranttop management that will not emfXJwer perfurmers? So really.when you seesix people leauingfinanayou need to ask: why isthere this dichotomy in the way finance is heing managed?

Now when six people have left, there is this huge cry over why.. ...


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1p( '( ll '/e art! lemdllg Why do they (',me? Is it because someolle isaskillg ,ohy pcolile are lea/lillg. or is th(/( persOl' asking whyspecifically !,eople from ji IIfll/mare le{'"il/g? 71wn!issometlling111m'! /1li5is [;ettillg 1!Cf)'nteresting as there is an allgle... u:ere

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Illose six people men? TIuo. wlmf u'as HR and top mflnage-mell(~ reactioll to tllei,. exit inter"ieu's? Did t!ley use strong-(/,.", ((/cticsI/lith them too? 0,; did tlrey[;etaway lightly beo.lIlsetll(~\'ul('re IIotjoining some other company? /fyoll are joiniug

d(/{r~husiness.orgoillg illto teac1ling.orllligmting.. none of I1111'Si' irectly aJJi'Cf he image o(compal/Y or I-m...hilt Ifyo IIIt'{/f'l' 10 joil//slrengtllell jillmlce ill aI/other coml}(lI/,I:..00000011,that:~llOtnice! Yes?ItVhatelse happened?

Aarti: Then I was sellt to the MD /dlo was briefed bySlmmi.IIefJlIlme 01/the stand by asking: "HOlt'can YOIImake a com-melll 011our expertise?" He said: 'Tollre..\perience is less t1lmlYOllrsuperiors. Ive are slich a bi!~brand because ofthegoodfi-nallcial management we have.Ilhinkyolircommenrsare I'itri-olic because you haven't got promoted. "1711'irade wem on a11don till I s imply said: "Iam sitting here not because thf~ is myproblem, it isthe campany's problem. I have no stakes wi"1 this

colllpanyanymore, I want to makeadifferenm, that's why I amlellingyouwhy I am leaving."

Sharada' {t\I'hatwas his response OIterall?" Aarti: It was difficult getting through tDhim; he was totally

in denial... not willing to believe I;wt there can be people-re-lated issues at Calpro. After all, ;L'eare posting profi rs}mr afrer

CASESTUDY_. --.-

I year.And ill his mind~ I am just a bitter /(/oman tryillg toget back at the company for some perceived llIlrts. His lOOmswerescathillg! . .

After ti,ediscussion,I'(I(lstOlallydrainedallddepressed bc-cmL~eIfelt violated and my emotions were clteapened. AndSllaradn.I have beenfeeling quite sick about ti,e way my imme-diate sllperiors are behaving. You won't beliel'e tllis, they:oal/fed me to l/alld overall my workings 011ti,eA:Smodel withdetailed lIoles,alld... IIIis will sicken you, tlley want to put it 011record tlrm tire IdlDle tlrillg isa propertvofOI/I'm. 7111'rorrilile/IIOldhe w'ed was il/fellectllal property!

Sharada' Utter nonsense... ifyoiir brain was so crilical.

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" wIlYdidll't tlley promote you? Meanwhile I am startled byyour feelillgs, comil'5 to tl/(/t in a moment For 1I01U.do a

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h.a!ld-oucr note, Imt all matters related tc your work. TIle A:Suwzg belongs to your swdents! As for Ca/pro. YOIl have dOliI'what they paid you for and part oftlwt is the handover note,wlliell, yes,you must do diligently. But theA:S model? No way!Sure enollgh, your boss is going to claim authorship andleverage his next posting to Switzerland or wherever. Some-

times it isbest:o let people learn tIle hard way. 77wt's the way tomake a d~!ference!

BUT wait a I?"zinute, in all this I don't see any chat with

your immediate boss...did HRask jour llnmediateboss whyyou were leavingand what had hedone toretain you? ~fI were the MD, I wouid like to know

what your immediate buss had dOTIEorelain you... after all,heis the first customel: So was there any tripartite chat hetweenHR, you and boss?

Aard: None at all.Vaidy..1did Iwt slww up, 1wr did he ('..skobethere.

Sharada: This is bi:am!More and more I want t.oknow i:-heywitI record your Dtat.ement

Aarti: I told you, iiR i,; lJJecl here, a pawn. Tell11l, :;,;hat is tosP:JPthem from not rticording my rom men rsend ft2lings?

:~harada: Who is the t :!Jl

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Arrive in Hope, Eit in Pain