June 7, 2013
Old Wisdom
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES
Serial 1l
In
the same Esso Refinery of the 1960s, I found a unique but simple motivational
practice, which I did not encounter in the rest of my career…
Each time a senior went on leave or was to
be out on assignment, a selected junior was appointed to his Position, as
‘Officiating”. The Refinery Manager
would issue a circular:
Mr. Junior will be officiating in the place
of Mr. Senior during the latter’s annual
vacation from…. to …….. During this period Mr. Junior is authorized to sign all
papers normally signed by Mr. Senior.
And if the Mr. Junior happened to be a
bargainable employee officiating in the place of a Management person, he was
entitled to an Officiating Allowance and was expected to eat in the Management
Cafeteria.
I had personally found this practice a
great motivational n training tool. The officiating person got to rub shoulders
with those at a higher level than him. He got to understand his boss’s’ job n
responsibilities more clearly. This was a great way of preparing successors.
Such that when a senior left the organization, there was a successor ready
willing n able to take his place.
I
had had a couple of ‘officiating’ stints, before I was promoted to
Management staff. Thereafter on several occasions, it was a pleasure to
officiate in the place of my
department head, the Employee Relations
Manager.
May 31, 2013
Early release due to topicality…
Old Wisdom
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES…
SERIAL
10
Continuing from the previous post about
intra office affairs:
In the old times, in case of an affair, adage
used to be:
DO THE HONOURABLE THING…….MARRY HER..
Unfortunately,
in affairs between married people, it involves a divorce, which hurts the most innocent
parties to the affair: the spouses, and children if any.
In one of the companies that I worked with,
an affair developed between a man n a woman, boss n subordinate, who were
already married at that time. In course of time, the man did the HONOURABLE
THING: they got married. Of course both
of them got divorced (or separated) from their respective spouses.
I did not n don’t know the quality of their
earlier marriage, and cant vouch whether bad marriages drove them to the
affair.
Yet the fact remains that their spouses,
and in one case child(ren?) were the ones who had to suffer all the turmoil.
……………………………
On a separate note: I had posted about the
potential for exploitation by the woman of the man, when the relationship sours
n what was consensual, is converted into
‘harassment’ or worse ‘rape”. The Delhi High Court has taken the same
view n vindicated my posts, which all my friends on FB or outside had
‘condemned with silence:
I stand vindicated by the Delhi High Court:
I quote Sunday Times of 26 May, front page:
WOMEN MISUSING RAPE LAWS FOR VENGEANCE; HC
May 25:
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has slammed
the misuse of rape laws, saying women were using them as a 'weapon for
vengeance n vendetta' to extort money from men or force them into marriage.
Observing that many women, after consensual
sex, accuse their boyfriends of rape if the relationship ends, the HC said,
forcing men to get married by slapping the charge not only makes a 'mockery' of
marriage but also inflates the number of rape cases.
'It defeats the very purpose of the (penal)
provisions (for rape), Justice Kailash Ghambir said.... full report on p 11.
…………………………………
In conclusion I repeat my advice to men
contemplating such relationships: Get a
pre-nup like contract signed waving her rights to any claims of such nature…
before you pour the first drink….
…………………………………………………
May 24, 2013
Old Wisdom
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT
PRACTICES….
Serial 9
STOP PRESS…
The pre-prepared serial must yield its turn
to this topical subject of sexual harassment in work place.
The old adage had a lot of wisdom to it:
DON’T
MESS UP YOUR OWN FRONT YARD
Indian companies have handled such
situations in varied manner.
Earlier in my career at the Refinery, I had
witnessed two office romances, both of which had resulted in marriage. The
Management had not taken exception to this. Nor did they ask one of the
partners to leave. In fact in one case, the wife was employed under the
husband. Incidentally the later belonged to an illustrious Mumbai family who
have a road named after a forebear.
In later years, I learnt of a company where
a Director had married a secretary. Also one of the married Directors had had
an affair with another secretary. The affair took a huge toll of her
health…after a lot of humming n hawing, the Director asked the HR head to
counsel her to leave saying …..”I think I can face it now”. She left the
company without any fuss. Tragically it was learnt later that she had committed
suicide. Perhaps it was becoz of this guilty history, that the directors had
looked the other way upon one or two other office romances.
In my last job, two employees in the same
department fell in love and planned to get married. After a lot of soul searching, the Management
asked the couple that one of them should resign. The company would have
preferred to retain the man, but it was he who resigned… presumably becoz he
had a more ready market for his skill set.
(Elsewhere I have written couple of post,
seeing the problem from Men's angle...referring to the 'exploitative' potential
in such regulations. Unlike my other posts, these have drawn no response from
my friends. Perhaps I am a MCP....Ayn
Rand says: the smallest minority is the INDIVIDUAL... so I am a minority of
one....)
……………………………..
May 17 2013
Old Wisdom:
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Serial 8
In the same Esso Refinery, that I mentioned
last week, I learnt another lesson:
In
your success, remember the role played by the lowest of the low in the
organization.
Early in 1967, the Refinery concluded a
landmark Settlement with the trade union and all had assembled for the final
session n signing ceremony. The
secretary to the MD was typing the text on a ‘mat’ which would then be run for
making copies: that was the step up in technology compared to cutting a
‘stencil’…. Any old timers remember that?
Finally, the Top officials of the Refinery
and the Union signed the Settlement.
The ‘mats’ were then handed over to Mr.
Bhoi the ‘office boy’ in charge of the duplicating room.
After the signing ceremony, there were
handshakes all around. From a corner, Mr. Bhoi spoke out loud n clear:
But for me the Settlement could NOT have
been signed. Thank heavens that MD’s secretary did NOT make the same claim.
But they were right: We the Managers might
have negotiated and arrived at the Settlement, but it was the ‘little fellows’
at the bottom of the pyramid who had made it “materialize’.
Even more important, it will be them n
their hundreds of colleagues who will need to do their bit to ‘implement’ the
Settlement.
May 10, 2013
Old Wisdom:
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRCTICES
Serial 7
Autobiographical
Note:
I spent first 15 years of my Bombay based
career with ESSO Refinery n HO i.e. 1955-71. Those 15 years taught me the basics of
Management: not only Employee Relations, which was my stream but also General
Management. The later, by observing n interacting with some great Managers at
work. The Esso culture supported learning on the job n classroom; open
communications; upward Mobility. In retrospect, most of what I learnt in those
years stood me in good stead in the remainder of the 20th Century.
Serial 6 which preceded this one was based
on my being part of the innovative exercise of locating Management Potential
among lower ranks. Two of my good friends n colleagues in the Refinery were
among dozens who got promoted as a result.
The Mechanical Supdt of the same Refinery taught me a valuable
lesson:
Old Wisdom: Serial 7
Any
change should contain an element of ‘improvement’ for the largest number
involved… Remember the slogan: greater
good of the greatest number.
The refinery had two eating places: A
Cafeteria for 100 odd Management Staff and a Canteen for 700 ‘Bargainable” employees i.e. operators,
mechanics, technicians, clerical staff. Management
staff paid a rupee for a western style meal and the ‘employees’ paid 4 annas for
‘well balanced’ thali and both the meals were talk of the town.
In the early 60’s, the ‘employees’
representatives on the rather vibrant Works Committee demanded that employees
should also be allowed to eat at the Cafeteria on payment of one Rupee. The suggestion was turned down. Then two of
the employee reps tried to force the
issue but were firmly turned away and disciplined for their efforts.
Nonetheless, the Management Team was quite
concerned about the issue and were pondering a solution:
i.e.
to have one Common eating place for all.
The Mechanical Supdt undertook the task of
evaluating the feasibility of having a common eating place and drawing up a
design for the new eating place. He came up with a concept that resembled more the
Cafeteria than the Canteen. It had air
conditioned dining hall with proper tables, chairs; rather than the fan cooled
Canteen with its long stainless steel tables and connected steel seats.
I, as the Employee Relations man in charge
of the both the eating places, questioned him on the reason for such a design
and the cost n feasibility of accommodating a much larger number of people.
His answer in substance was: In this
changed Common facility the great majority of the users should experience an
‘improvement’ in their condition. Otherwise it will be a sham. He went on to say
that:
to be able to implement any change
successfully, the great majority should be the gainers.
Not an easy Lesson to implement in all
situations, but he showed the path for implementing “Change”…
Ps: In later years I came across common
eating places in Maruti Udyog’s Gurgaon plant and some other engineering companies
in Chennai. They all resembled more the
Canteen than the Cafeteria. To cap it all, in the early 70s when I joined an
Engineering Company, they had three eating places: for the workers/clerks, Junior Officers and
Senior Officers.
May3, 2013
Old Wisdom...
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Serial 6
Put
two Problems together to make a solution.(cont’d)
It is Case Study of a MNC Oil company in
the 1960s.
By then writing was on the wall for the MNC
OIL companies that all growth will go to the Public Sector Oil Companies.
Therefore the MNCs had already put in place an embargo on hiring. With
progressive computerization, n consolidation of staff functions for the
Refineries n the Marketing organizations, there were surpluses of human
resources in certain areas.
At the same time there were ‘vacancies’ for
different categories of Supervisory and Management Staff.
Two Problems:
1. Surplus human resources of clerical and
operational employees especially in the Refineries.
2. Unfilled vacancies for different
categories of management staff esp in the Marketing Organization.
One Solution:
Internal
Recruitment drive using aptitude tests to select
from among clerical and operating staff, Management Trainees to be trained as
future Managers.
End Result:
The surpluses were reduced; vacancies were
filled and selected Trainees got upward mobility. Many Clerks n Operators became Depot
Superintendents, Aviation Refueling Supdts.
Some others became
Draftsmen. This opportunity may not have come their way, in their old
situations.
April 26, 2013
Old Wisdom...
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Serial 5
Put
two Problems together to make a solution.
It is Case Study of a direct sales consumer
product company.
ConPro Ltd was a Joint Venture of an Indian
Company n an MNC. To begin with, the Company was a single product venture. The
MNC had deputed an expat to launch the product n to train the direct-sales
workforce. He was doing a great job of it too. In course of time the company
hired a Chief Executive so that he could replace the expat when the time came. Meanwhile
the company introduced a second product, which was of a pioneering nature.
Two
problems:
1. The Expat Sales Trainer was not yielding
any space to the President. Nor was he paying any attention to the 2nd
Product.
2. The President was feeling frustrated not
having any thing substantial to do.
One
Solution:
The President was asked to take over the
Second Product, hire and train a separate sales force and build a market for
it.
Both of them were happy. The expat was
happy to get rid of the Second Product and the President was happy to have
something useful to do. It was a great learning experience for him and he did a
good job of it…
End
result:
In course of time, the Expat left, the
President got charge of both the products… and by then he was ‘ready n able’ to
run both the products…
(Next week: another case study along the
same lines)
April 16, 2013
Old Wisdom
20TH CENTURY MANAGEMENT WISDOM
Serial 4
It is better for the Boss not to sit on judgement when two
senior colleagues are in conflict. Better to get another unconnected senior
person to hear out the two, share his views with them and then report to the
Boss in their presence.
Our Group Chairman did that when the MD of a Group Company and I as Group HR Head came into conflict.
The issue was that in the course of IR negotiations, the MD had exceeded the
Mandate which his company had proposed n got approved by Group Chairman. (and
the negotiations had not yet succeeded).
The c/man got the dy.chairman of that company into the act... the latter
talked to both of us n other actors in the drama...and reported to the Chairman
his findings..in our presence.....which confirmed that the mandate had been
exceeded.. but also that my rep was not sufficiently respectful of the MD......
What is more significant was that:
as a result of this excercize itself, the conflict had been dissipated.
If the C/man himself had handled it, he may have created a Line
vs Staff situation which would not have helped either party...
This way the MD n I remained good friends for the rest of his
tenure nay life. RIP my good friend...
……………………………………………………………….
APRIL 12, 2013
Old Wisdom..
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Serial 3
Red Circle the Boss's pet phobia. dont break your head against
the wall...... and work on other areas, get results and have satisfaction of work
well done...
A friend was a director in a closely held public ltd co. His
parent stream was Industrial Relations... However the Chairman had a long
history of handling IR in this Company... and had his own baggage of
'experience'. Therefore my friend just could not make a head way. Fortunately
IR HR were only a part of his portfolio...
So he concentrated on
Manufacturing... The company was constantly capacity constrained.. yet being
closely held foreign owned company had few options to build new plants etc. My
friend found ways to boost production capacity: he vastly expanded contract
manufacture of low value products, invested in de bottlenecking and re laying
out existing plants to get more out of them et al. Of course in course of time
Indian laws changed... and that is another
story...
.............................................
April 6, 2013
Old Wisdom
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
– SERIAL
2.
–
–
Boss
may not always be right….
DON’T resign each time you have a difference of
opinion with the boss on a business issue...Your career is more important than
some temporary ego trips...Remember the Boss may not always be right.. but he
is always the boss
–
– .
....................................
–
–
Apr
4, 2013
Old Wisdome
20th CENTURY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
Serial 1.
Friends: here is the first piece as a trailer... Please read n
comment to set the tone for those to follow:
Authority is a river of red hot
lawa...
you can pick up as much as you want....
beware of burnt fingers
though...
A colleague went above his mandate in an IR situation. He came n
reported that the problem had been solved
APR 3, 2013
FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK:
HEADSUP;
Old Wisdom any one? I
retired finally in 2003... ten years ago...Have not held a job since....So what
I represent is 20TH CENTURY Management Practices... They could not all have
become obsolete...like the qwerty keyboard has survived... I have thumped it
for almost 60 years..from Remington, Facit to Mac n I Mac I want to SHARE these
concepts I shall post one-at-a-time a concept that worked for me.... I am
giving you a chance to say Nay or Aye... louder voice shall have it.. Have your
Say now or forever hold your peace
