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Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
August 28, 2014
When the section head or boss starts to lose his way and go off course there are certain giveaway signs that can serve as a warning to those who like to desert the sinking ship. After all, the rat who does scamper off is also the first to know the ship is sinking.
In the industrial world the difference between success and failure can depend on one bad decision and things can begin to go horribly wrong if the decision does not pan out.
When that happens the boss will go into ‘save’ mode.
If it is a slow collapse he will divert attention by rearranging the furniture, both literally and figuratively. He will redesign the office sitting pattern, move departments upstairs downstairs and hold long and tiresome meetings to discuss such trivia. If there is a visual difference in the scene around him he subconsciously believes there might also be a change in the bottom line. He will also move people willy nilly in what is often known as an in house shake up but is actually an act of sheer panic.
Another sign of ‘uh oh, it’s going’ is when the chief goes into a heavy bout of memo writing.
This flurry is aimed at letting the staff know the boss is at the helm of affairs. That he might also be shooting straight for the rapids is left to the imagination. These memos will exhort everyone to greater deeds for the sake of company and everyone will be asked to pull up their socks as we pass stormy waters (difficult times) and be ready to make sacrifices for the sake of the organization (where did that come from, hear the trumpets from up on high) which is a nice way of saying there is going to be no more money to look forward to.
Captains preparing to jump ship indicate the possibility by getting into the walk the plank act.
They start retrenching people, removing deadwood (except themselves) and bringing in fresh blood (consultants on twice the salary) and downsizing the company. At the same time the thrice a day tea service is reduced to two times and the travel budget is sharply cut. The moment the travel budget is ripped be sure the party is about to be over.
Another indication that the boss is going about in ever increasing circles is that he begins the scapegoat serenade. This is where some poor guy is sacked for a minor infringement, like those World Cup soccer referees who suddenly gave red cards to a player for doing a dainty little two step after letting off others who had trampled the opposition’s face. The sacking is supposed to have shock value and make everyone produce magical results.
Around here you can be pretty sure he is going to disassociate himself from the ongoing disaster by making reports to headquarters where his bosses reside. In these reports he is going to play passing the buck and you, sunshine, are most likely to be the buck.
To save his skin he will even recommend closing the branch down or moving it another orbit, anything that he feels is in the corporate interest (for that read his interest).
Finally, when the ship is skittering around completely out of control he will tell the section heads to make project reports and these project reports will have to include pro-jec-tions phor the phuture which means if you can’t perform the miracle it is your job on the line.
Be sure he has already told the top man how disappointed he is in you and how wrong his choice was and how he regrets having given you so much faith and trust and how badly he feels at the way you failed to bring home the goods.
You won’t even know this is happening until you receive that crisp white 5pm envelope telling you how everyone up there regrets having to let you go.
As if your going will promptly change the company fortunes around.
Amazing, isn’t it that the man who is supposed to hold the buck always gets away.
(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)
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