Silly ways to lose a job..

A few weeks ago, Suraksha called me on my extension to say that a gent has been on the phone from the morning, insisting that he talk with me.  On asking for details, her response “I am really sorry, he is refusing to give any details, just keeps saying this is personal, this is urgent, I need to talk to Elango, and he really sounds desperate” .  She sounded like she was going to cry herself. So I took the call  and what i heard is the reason for this blog.

This gent is an ex employee, left the company a few months ago and struggling to find another job. He was in tears, a grown up man, with a family and very upset. What happened? He lost his job with us a few months because he was caught at work under the influence of alcohol.  He admitted he made a mistake, was really sorry, can i please help reinstate him!  I promise you I will never do this again.. please please.. This is a tough one, you want to help but you can’t, these decisions are irrevocable!  It took me a while to shake this incident off.  Then another happened,  a new graduate was apprehended surfing inappropriate sites and obviously had to go! This person accepted, understood he made a mistake and took the disciplinary action on their chin.. and moved on. However this person made a comment that stayed..

 “i wish I knew, I would have never done this”.    That is when i started writing this.   I have tried to dredge every silly action that employees in different companies I have worked in have done to get themselves out of a job.  I have had Gokul, Claudine and Priya Manjooran and many others chip with their experiences.

Forged petrol bills or medical bills! This tops the list, employees submitting bills to claim tax deduction.  I have seen employees submit petrol vouchers they have printed, bills for two tank fills the same day, fake medical bills, facial bill passed as physiotherapy bills… The logic is always this money is anyway mine! But hey the tax exemption is for genuine expenses not for making it up and forging, faking, misrepresenting are all integrity violations.  

False expense claims – team lunches being claimed as client entertainment! Or sometimes taking out family and friends and submitting the bill for reimbursement.

Accessing/viewing inappropriate (read X rated) sites, using company desktops and laptops in office from or on office networks! Recently we had one person who had more than 10 Gig of objectionable videos and pictures stored in their laptop. Some smart Alec, used their data cards, to override network controls, little realizing that we all work out of cubicles and glass offices and electronic footprints are easily traceable!

Sharing passwords and log in ids, whatever the reason. The person who shares, who uses and the person who approves all stand to face the music. Sharing company confidential information, forwarding internal mails to external parties! , posting company, employee information on blogs, external media.

Forwarding inappropriate material on email to group ids or text messages! Seems harmless but dangerous when it lands in an inbox you didn’t want to!

Proxy attendance – getting somebody else to enter your attendance on LAAS(our online attendance system). Recent case a manager found requesting his team member to enter proxy – we had to let go the manager and the employee for complicity. Very sad! I wish the team member had used the open door policy or whistleblower policy to report this coercion. Many a time they had leaves that lapsed and marking a day off would have hardly made an impact.

Like the story in my introduction, getting to work under the influence of alcohol. It always starts as a harmless; let me go with my friends on the way to office, one sip, and another and the inevitable.  There are of course serious offenders like a manager who took his team out for dinner, had a few drinks got back to work, doing reviews, smelling like cotton soaked in spirit!  I am given to understand this same manager was involved in terminating a junior employee a year ago for the same reason! If that is not daft what is!

While on alcohol, I have seen some curious cases of harmless, quiet persons at work, transform to garrulous, aggressive, brash people under the influence of alcohol in office parties. It didn’t lose them a job but did tarnish some reputations built over years of hard work.

One common theme among all the above are, they are all avoidable, none of them have a material impact.. will not make us millionaires or give us any undue advantage, but  instead leave us  irrevocable tragic consequences, after effects of which may linger a working life time.

The reason I write all of this to insure each of us are aware of such situations, avoid them in our personal conduct and take time to educate our teams and colleagues. Let us avoid what happened to the gent and the young person in this blog.   

A few suggestions when in doubt,  go to the intranet check the code of business conduct, or ask your manager. Still in doubt don’t do it , or write to ethics email id or call the ethics helpline…they will guide you. Finally remember a few rupees, dollars, pounds, yen, euro or renminbi, an extra day leave, a night out in the bar with friends, a few thrills surfing sites on the internet is not worth the loss of a job, reputation and worst of all letting your family down.

The annual code of business conduct refresh is a great way to enhance your awareness! This is around the corner – you should hear from Sivaram and Shalu around the third week, take quality time to complete this certification. It is well worth the time spent.

Remember my blog on positivity and don’t read  too much between the lines, this is a genuine attempt at increasing awareness, influencing a lever within my control,  with the hope that we all will read, internalize and carry out in our professional lives.

 It is a tough world but that is the price we pay to work in a civil place where integrity is a given, respect is the hall-mark and prudence and propriety in behaviour is a part of our DNA.  Even if we save one person from committing any of the silly mistakes above – this blog is worth the effort

Good luck, as always leave your comments, give your thoughts, thank me, curse me.. but interact J

Cheers

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Excuse for results.. you!

Shillaja Ottor left an interesting comment on Manpreet’s Leadership Mantra blog,  titled ‘bringing in an element of positivity” .. she says…”There is just one more element that seems to be the need of the hour though, which is the element of positivity which seems to be so lacking. Everyone seems to be going up the path of negativity and grumbling about things not being ok, why can’t we think of how to make the best of whatever situation we are in and not throw a fuss about it and make it worse not only for ourselves but, for all around”

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, but many swallows twittering the same definitely demands attention. Shillaja left the comment, a few sent emails,  one walked upto me and said “.. there are so many good actions/policies, environmental factors about us why is it that as leaders we are forever looking at that one thing that doesn’t work.. or forever complaining rather than looking at the brighter side of things”.  

Honestly i did not have an answer, so i did next best, left it for fate to help me find the answer. And fate came along by way of a Franklin Covey training invite. What I am sharing below is built out based on what I understood in the session peppered with some personal gyan,

It is a fact that all of us in our day to day or night to night(in deference to our BPO and Service desk colleagues).. produce results or atleast believe that is the purpose we are in our jobs. 

For us to produce results universally there are factors within our control and there are factors outside it. When things go well and we produce results, I am sure we all heave a sigh of relief, allow ourselves some celebration, flash a smile and move on. But wait, if I were to ask you the question – what helped you produce these results.. there would be an oscar worthy address of self congratulation in public thanking and sharing credit from the postman to the liftman but in private who do you really think influenced the results, if you are honest you would believe it is “you”! You played the lead role in the success.

Now cut over to when the going gets tough,  results are not happening, deadlines are slipping, customer is yelling, review with the ceo or president is coming up.. take a guess what will we focus on. Close your eyes.. will you focus on factors within your control or factors outside of your control. I don’t know about you but in that room of 300 senior executives all of them said with a silly grin.. Of course factors outside our control! Ah! Sales sold something we could never have delivered, solutioning got all the pricing wrong.. and of course everybody’s favourite oh! Recruitment did not get me the people or got me the wrong people.. the list of woes will continue. 

Leaders who go the path of grumbling, looking at glass half full, and pointing everything are the clearly worried about something, there is some uncertainty.. for which they are unwilling to take ownership and doing the dry run for why they are not successful. On the other hand are leaders who work with the same company, have the same infrastructure, the same sales, solutioning and other teams but are successful. Guess what is the difference – it is their outlook and focus. They focus on what they can control, prepare to ring fence what they can’t control and keep pegging away looking for ways to succeed and not ways to figure out why they can’t! Like somebody said there may be 100 reasons why things wont work but only reason that it will work.. “You”, you need to want to make it happen! 

But why do we find it difficult to take ownership, the comment below gives you some insight.

“You take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame”

Erica Jong,  writer (1942- )

But.. wait a moment,  it is not that simple – there are other perspectives we need to consider.

Here is a perspective Shalu had  to share when i was sounding off this blog with her

“It’s oversimplifying it by saying that we focus on the negative.  Many times we do more damage by charging forward through the deficiencies, with our “get it done” attitude to get to the results because we look at the complainers as nuisances and not what they sometimes really are… a call for help.  Help in trying to control what is uncontrollable for us but is controllable for others.  If no one raises a voice, then how do we know something is broken?  How do we know that we can do better and will do better if this is fixed?  Granted, we shouldn’t whine but still, we need that voice of dissent to strive harder.  (I know I have learnt a lot from the whiners in my life.  Honestly, it both amuses me and makes me more inclusive)”

Agree, completely with both points.  Charging without thinking with just plan B as destiny, with optimism and energy as the only planning – sure fire path to disaster. Clearly only the naïve and fool hardy will tread this path.

Point 2 ignoring the real call for help, and ignoring complaints thinking they are naysayers, complainers and whiners.  No disputes.  Actually an interesting blog line is – how do influence factors that may not be under our control but somebody else has a control. My promise I will write a blog that will share some thoughts on this. 

Before I sign off, I want to share a personal story.  Between 97 and 99 I changed two jobs and wanted to quit the third, when my wife could bear my complaining no more, in a fit of anger she asked “do you know what the common factor is in the three jobs? You changed bosses, peers, companies, job profile.. what about you?” I went to stay 7 years at MphasiS and came back for another 4!  

As always leave your comments, and let me leave with a few questions

1. Do I know what are the factors which influence the results I am accountable for
2. What am I focussing on? Controllable or uncontrollable factors
3. What do I do when under pressure? Do I hunker down and focus harder to make success happen or do I get nervous, anxious and start looking for excuses?

This blog has been tough, I nearly got negative and nervous trying to get this positive blog! I am sure this is one that will get strong reaction.. some close to outrage.  I am happy – any reaction is good.. outrage is a great start for a dialogue.

I have to acknowledge Shalu for helping me shape this blog and insuring it didn’t come out simplistic and hopefully (please!) not kitschy. Thank you Shalu.

Good luck

Related story – contributed by Claudine Louis with a question (I didnt know where to fit it in – so i am leaving this outside the blog as i didnt want to miss this)

The story is from Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore and the time is when the universe was getting created – there was general joy and music all around.   All of a sudden, one star disappeared – the music stopped and there was general gloom where everybody started looking for the lost star.  Looking at this, the other stars laughed saying they are not stopping to look at all the stars that they have but have lost their joy in their search to look for the lost star.

Something similar is about asking people to look at a large white board with a single black dot on it.  Chances are that more number of people will comment about how nice the board would be if the dot was removed rather than people appreciating the whiteness of the board.

Could it be that we take the positive for granted and something that is due to us?

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Mirror Mirror on the wall.. What reflections do other people see of me?

This blog is a bit of sponsored blog! Interested parties (read Kannan and Mamta) have been wanting to ghost-write and have sent me ‘gentle’ reminders, even while I am on time off. As last resort, they seemed to have taken my son on their payroll!

 March 31^st was the last day at school and I went along to pick up my dear son’s annual report card, when I heard an interesting remark – “Oh! Your son does a great imitation of you”!

Intrigued, back home, I asked my son to do what he did in school. How I wish I hadn’t ! He promptly got on the floor,  tucked one hand behind, kept the other to his ear, started pacing up and down as if he is on the phone, saying “hmm”, “ok- yes go ahead”, paused suddenly, looked up and said “one minute” into his make believe phone and looks at me to say…”Baba, I am on the phone. Can I talk to you later please?”

I was, without doubt, devastated because what my son was saying is that he only remembers me on the phone and when he wants to talk to me, I don’t have the time. I, of course, didn’t agree.. but tell me who agrees to feedback? Worse, I thought he was wrong – I spend quality time with him – I do jig saw puzzles, I read stories. But the truth is, that is he is right – I am probably on the phone when he needs me to be with him.  He is providing me feedback in his own way! 

 I have two ways to react to this – get angry, blame my son, call him ungrateful and continue to do what I did. Or take his feedback for what its worth, and see how I can change.

 The first hurdle is of course getting this frank feedback! Even when you ask, particularly at work, you never get genuine feedback as most people are worried about repercussions; of being misunderstood.

A great opportunity for opening this window is the 360 Degree Feedback initiative that Mamta and Co have rolled out through Kenexa!

I recommend each of you,  grab this opportunity to get the perspective that I stumbled on with my son.  This is my fourth 360 degree and I am nervously excited. Each one has thrown surprises at me but after each, I have walked away a more effective professional. I haven’t taken all the feedback – some I agreed, some I violently disagreed, some amused but mostly it provided me a peek into how people saw my actions, my behavior, my words, my inaction and helped me build, in many ways, an effective professional style.

But I love this exercise! It is an opportunity that I wouldn’t let go and I suggest each one of you take the time to participate in this both by setting up your feedback* and by providing feedback when you one of your fellow Mphasian invite you to do so!

Interestingly, even the most thick-skinned person gets nervous opening their 360 feedback report. People you work with rate you on your behavior, skills and experience, and everything that they have noticed, observed and experienced over the last few months, comes pouring out. Everything! There’s no place to run to and no place to hide.

Your boss tells you what they think of you. Your team tells you what they think of you. Your colleagues and customers tell you exactly what they think of you. And then you have to figure out what you think of yourself. Yikees – feedback overload!

We all know feedback can be useful. At it’s simplest, it gives you great insight of  what people like about your behavior and what they don’t like.

Good luck and hey, don’t worry! Big-Bad Leadership is not going to take this report and start taking action. They are not even going to see it. YOU get to decide who you’d like to share this report with.

Now go on.. what are you waiting for?  Go click on the link… and start your journey of self discovery. And as always, leave your comments, reach out on mail / phone and keep the dialogue going.  I am working on an interesting blog based on a comment left by Shillaja Ottor on the blog last week. It is a tough one..you will either love it or hate it, but you will not be able to ignore it when it hits the stands!  

* Rater Registration log in details for Reflections- 360 Degree Development Survey –

 Option 1

• Log onto SSP –
  • https://mployee.corp.mphasis.com/Authentication/Login.aspx?APPTOKEN=d3d1eb77-a354-4c76-81cd-f2967e217383&URL=https://mployee.corp.mphasis.com/ssp/aspx/home.aspx&AppId=SSP001
• Select the right domain, use your LAN User ID and Password to log in.
• Click the “360 Degree Survey” tab under the Employee Links section
• Click on “Launch” to be redirected to the Kenexa site – A new window will open up
• Carefully read and follow the instructions provided

 

Option 2

 

• Log onto the following link – https://surveys.kenexa.com/mphasis360/login.asp
• Click on the “Forgot Password” feature
• Enter your MphasiS/EDS mail id and click continue
• Your User ID /Password will be emailed directly to you

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