Slavery

Oscar Wilde once said:

The fact is, that civilisation requires slaves. The Greeks were quite right there. Unless there are slaves to do the ugly, horrible, uninteresting work, culture and contemplation become almost impossible.

One might consider that the days of slavery, with slaves being whipped, hanged or tortured are begone with the Dark Ages. However, a new form of slavery is on the rise - corporate slavery. No matter how fancy your designation is, the world can be divided into two clear-cut 'classes'. Like we had 'the haves' and the 'have-nots', we now can divide society into 'the slaves' and 'the slave-nots'.

The urban dictionary defines 'corporate slavery' as:

The people who make the business world go round and round, without them executives might actually have to do something besides make rules to make it more difficult for the slaves under them to do their job. Corporate slaves are easily identifiable by the vacant look in their eyes as they are always overworked, underpaid and underappreciated.

That actually sounds a lot like my job description. What do you think; does this seem like what you do all the time?

Up in the Air

Finally, I got a chance to see this movie yesterday. And well, I had heard a lot about it for the right reasons. However, this is not a review. It’s just a collection of some thoughts that entered my head on watching it.

First, I’ve been in a situation where I’ve had to tell people that they were being let go of. As a trainer, I’ve had to tell some trainees that due to poor academic performance, they would have to seek ‘re-fitment’, or ‘re-deployment’. I tried to use the Clooney-esque method of being polite, firm and giving the person options on what to do in life, rather than stripping people of their dignity.

Not many people understand this, but layoffs/retrenchments don’t always make the axe fall on the poor performers. Sometimes, it is the ‘cream of the crop’ who may have to be ‘right-sized’. But, at such a tough time, it is easy for any employee to be bitter and devastated, and have issues with self-belief.

Moreover, someone who handles the situation has to ensure that he/she is empathetic, and not condescending or patronizing. That’s a tough one.

In fact, the first time I had to tell someone that he would have to leave, I couldn’t even walk into the room and had to ask a senior colleague to take charge. However, the colleague was sensible enough and encouraged me to handle what was surely my responsibility. Also, I owed this much to the people who had spent nearly 2 months with me in training, hanging on to most of what I had to say.

I never liked asking anyone to leave, though I had to. And now, as an MBA in HR, I might be faced with scenarios where I have to ask people to leave. Frankly, it’s a morbid thought. But, after watching the movie, I wouldn’t really look upon myself as a butcher, if I have to do the same job.

I guess the only thing I might hate is the living out of suitcases bit. :)

P.S. If you haven’t seen the movie, do so! It’s worth a watch.

100 not out!

All right, folks! This is a definitive moment for this blog. You see, this post is the 100th to mark its presence on this space. Heck! 100 posts of insanity? In less than 6 months, wow!

 

I would like to thank my mom, my dad, my brother, my ex-roommate, the washerman, the sweeper, the guard, my profs, all you wonderful folks at Bloggersville, the stray black cat downstairs, those folks who play blaring music around and yada yada yada… *wipes tear from cheek*

 

I think verbal diarrhoea just manifested itself here. Or maybe narcissism, or may be both.

 

Anyway, let me shed the ‘Mr. Mope’ tag that has been bestowed on me by my dear pal Ramaa and talk of happier things in life. Well, firstly a clarification. I do not mope! (Though I do concede that there are some occasions when I crib. So what, huh? Don’t you? HMPH!!)

 

This blog had taken birth as an aimless, directionless entity that began as a whimper, and stayed shut for many months. However, a chance trip to Simlipal and Chandipur-on-sea gave it a new lease of life nearly 5 months ago, and since then the insanity has only grown.

 

I’ve ranted about my miserable life, dumped some amateurish pieces of writing at people, tried being funny, and sometimes just blabbered on without reason. And well, Google Analytics tells me that nearly 2700 unique visitors from all across the world have been tearing their hair apart over the last few months, having made 6000+ visits to my blog.

 

Thanks to Google’s eye that spies on people much like Sauron’s, I know which area you’re from, which OS you use, the name of your browser, and yes, the colour of your family dog. (The last one’s a lame joke, eh! Don’t take it too seriously. But the rest are all facts. *evil laugh*)

 

I didn’t know if I’d be able to post as frequently as I do now, but it’s mainly thanks to you, the readers who keep egging me on. (Your fault, ha!)

 

It’s been fun, and I hope to write with regularity from now on. Thanks for reading, and appreciating.

 

Also, another thing that’s making me happy is the launch of my own website. It’s a site dedicated to HR and can be viewed at eleventHR. It’s in collaboration with some of my friends and we intend to run it like a business. A lot of sections are still under construction but we hope to launch in about a week.

 

Do subscribe to it please, and share the link on your blogs too. We can do with the free publicity. :)

 

Meanwhile, your bouquets and brickbats will be appreciated. Keep them coming.

Lay off, will ya?

Please don't be alarmed at the title of the post. It is not intended to scare you away, but merely to capture your attention.

Yes, these are tough economic times, and things look uncertain, if not downright bleak for the future. Job security is dipping, and many folks don't really know if their jobs will survive the recession. Various companies across the world have been forced to 'right-size' which is nothing but a euphemism for downsizing or laying off employees.

Understandably, people who've been laid off tend to harbour bitterness for their former employers. However, do companies really like to chop off their human capital? I was rather incensed to read a set of articles on a popular website. In this 'shocking chronicle of work experiences' - as the site calls it, laid-off workers have expressed their opinions, and largely their angst against their respective employers.

I agree that it is a shocking chronicle - not because it is sad to see this happen but because it seems people were working in tandem with nasty bosses, 'inhuman' working conditions, low salaries et al, without complaining earlier. But, the moment they lost their jobs, their employers became cold and heartless creeps.

As someone who has worked in the training industry for long enough, and is now pursuing an MBA in HR, I can assure you that laying off employees is not as plain as number-juggling for companies. The decision to let go of productive workers is never easy, and almost never illogical. A lot of thought is given to each such move.

A normal BPO company spends nearly Rs. 200,000 for each employee (including salary, travel, training costs, medical insurance, and other benefits) for two months of training. And then, takes another 6 months to break-even on that employee. So, for the first 8 months, the company actually spends money on you, and then begins to earn. And if after that, it fires you, it has to spend the same amount of time/money in getting another person to do your job.

Also, unfortunately enough, layoffs are not always performance-based. A person does not have to be a poor employee to lose his/her job. Sometimes, companies decide to stop focusing on certain strategic initiatives or on some dimensions of work, because they no longer add value. In a boom scenario, the displaced employees are absorbed by other departments. In a recession, they may be asked to go.

As an example, let's say that you have a housemaid who takes care of cleaning you house and another one who takes care of washing your clothes. Now, you feel that you can probably save the recurring cost of the one who washes clothes and the time spent in washing/drying, by investing in an automatic washing machine. So, you let go of her services despite the fact that she was brilliant at her job . However, the one who cleans the house is still employed, even though she absents herself regularly, and does not quite have great performance.

That's a rather crude example, but then that's pretty much how layoffs happen. However, even though it could be tough, my advice to people who have lost their jobs is to not lose confidence, but to try and find something that fits your skill sets.

And to websites that post grim and morose tales like this, my suggestion is to post articles on alternate employment options, or how to cope with such a situation. I really fail to understand how reading someone's sordid tale will help, if I've been laid off.

Perhaps, an extra dimension that employers could add - arrange for counselling sessions for laid-off employees. Yes, it is a cost, but maybe you could look at it as something like your corporate responsibility to make sure that you are releasing a healthy individual - who will not consider alcohol/drugs/suicide/crime as alternatives at all.

Readers, these are just my views, and I'd really love to hear your thoughts on this too.