Candor works in the work place. Ask Jack Welch – if you dont believe me.
Few days back a bunch of bright students came to meet us. They were from a reputed national institute and are pursuing their masters in technology. Reason for their arrival ? We were looking to outsource a chunk of our work to meet our aggressive deadlines.
We spent the entire morning explaining the project so that they understand what they would be getting into (if they were selected). They were pretty confident on their capability and said they could meet the deadline. But, we had our doubts.
After having given the macro picture we requested our in-house technical manager to assess their skill-set. He interviewed a couple of them and came back to us with concerns over the incompatibility of their skill set with our requirement. Our General Manager wanted to stop the whole process and see them off so that we don’t end up wasting each other’s time.
To that, I hesitated. I did not want them to feel dejected – it was undoubtedly a great project for any student. I told my GM “Lets complete the interviews and see them off. And, may be in a couple of days inform their professor about this and close the issue”. Our GM is seasoned professional and said he would handle the issue.
We went to them and my GM started explaining them in detail as to how critical this project is to our company and how their skill sets were not in line with that we needed. Surprisingly, none of them showed any signs of frustation. They thanked us for being frank and spending time with them to explain as to where the incompatibility lied.
Compare this with something that one of my friends underwent.
The employer is a world renowned “local bank”. They had carved out a separate unit last year, into which they recruited a bunch of people. The profile was good and the future career prospects were bright.
For a couple of months there has been a talk of the business being “closed” for reasons best known to their senior management. Here is a funny situation. They did not want to reveal this to their employees in advance. Nor did they create positions that are at par with their existing level/grade. They simply wanted to close the issue by shifting them to low-key profiles in another division. And, to add to that, they started packaging the deal as “an opportunity exclusively for them”. There was coaxing and prodding all through and none of the affected wanted to take the ” entrance test” that the low-key job needed.
My friend summed up his feelings ” I would have been lot more happier if I was given a pink slip”. Apparently, the organization cannot risk their reputation. Why give pink slip to the Analysts when they can do data entry jobs – after all its a great opportunity for them to be associated with our esteemed organization?
Do you think they can safeguard their so-called reputation? Do you think the affected would trust the company any more?
And, do you see candor working?