Corporate Affairs! #wattys2016

Appraisals for the Employees!

Ankit looked at the Minutes of the Meeting notes. He was quite surprised. He didn't understand this at all. Why wouldn't his father take action against this? The Head of Departments had made it quite clear that if this continued then the attrition rate would increase alarmingly and this company would not function at all. He must have a word with Mr. Siddique. He had called in on Mr Siddique and he was expecting him at any time now. As expected there was a rap on the door and it opened giving way to Mr. Siddique.

"Good Afternoon sir. I hear that you had an excellent meeting with the Head of Departments." He said as he tried to remove an imaginary speck of dust from his navy blue suit.

"Yes, yes I had. It was an introductory meeting. And it was very enlightening. And the H.O.D's have voiced their opinions. They gravely fear that if we don't take a step now, we might lose our credibility in the market. I must say I am quite surprised that our shares have not yet plunged." Ankit said, with a serious tone.

Mr.Siddique rubbed his bushy eyebrows and smiled. "Sir, we are falling. Though not yet on the steep slope, but on a gradual one. And for that it is yours truly who must take the credit."

"Really? What have you done? How have you curbed the fall?" Ankit asked looking surprised.

"Sir, its all about sentiments. The clients must feel secure. They must feel that they have taken the right decision in hiring us for the job and the job would be accomplished without any hiccups and on right time. I am currently in discussion with all our clients, reassuring them that our company is merely going through a minor change. Otherwise engineering status quo is being maintained. No delay in our work will be experienced. We always have and will maintain our quality in our engineering works." Ankit could see Mr.Siddique's long nose go high in the air while he was saying all this.

"Why don't you look at the MOM Siddique." Ankit said. "And kindly lower your nose Siddique. God it's an awful view from down here."

Mr.Siddique looked quite discomforted by this. It was as if some one had woke him up from a very pleasant dream. He looked positively cross. With a glare that could melt stones he took it from Ankit's hand. One look through the document made him smile.

"It's the usual things sir. I am not at all surprised by this. They always have a common agenda and the points of the meetings are discussed in the usual manner."

"Really? Did you see the point where it is mentioned that the salary of the engineers have not increased for the last three years."

"Of course sir. It was decided in the annual meeting, two years back, that salary of the engineers would not be increased." Mr. Siddique said pleasantly.

"Why not? I saw the brief financial reports, the managers got a good raise every year. But why did the engineers not deserve it?" Ankit's voice was now louder.

"Of course sir, because they deserve to get the raise." Mr.Siddique said with a smile on his face, as if to indicate it was a very simple matter.

"And the engineers don't?" Ankit was flabbergasted.

"Sir, as I said to you earlier, it is the managers who run the show. Not the engineers. The engineers just follow in the direction which they are shown."

"The H.O.D's also said that the Engineers are over burdened. Every engineer is over worked. Over Stretched. Every engineer has three to four projects in their hands. They stay late in the night every day. Come to the office early, just to maintain the tight schedule under which the project has to be completed. If their salaries are not raised then these engineers will not stay in our company for long. Also if you could see point 5, it says the attrition rate for our company is at an all time high. 6% per month. That's quite a lot. And if you could glance into the detail, you will find almost all of them are engineers in the age group of 25 to 40. I want to know why Siddique."

Mr.Siddique smiled. "Sir, you have a very perceptive mind and a very observant eye. You flair for business and logical interrogation is unmatched. I must say initially we have had our doubts but now.....now I....we can see that you are perfect, like your father, for the job. We are no wonder very lucky to have you. It is an absolute pleasure to work with you sir. And your knowledge along with your keen eye and wise opinion we could guide our ship through the storm and take to safety."

Ankit felt the warmth return to his face. He smiled involuntarily. "Thank you Siddique. I appreciate your kind words. But what about this problem?" His voice was much more smooth and gentle.

"Sir, if I may please recommend you to check with other companies. I already have the papers and the comparison here with me." Mr. Siddique handed a file to Ankit.

"You brought a file!" Ankit looked surprised.

"Sir..." Mr.Siddique said bending his neck to one side and smiled, "I am always prepared."

"But how did you know what I called you for? It could have been anything." Ankit said, still in slight shock.

"Sir, it is my duty to know what goes on in this company and to expect what could happen in the near future."

"In these papers you would find that we have the lowest attrition rate among all engineering companies in this city. Also about the overwork of engineers sir, I have already addressed the issue in these papers. However I would like to inform you that, we never recruit engineers based on the present work load sir. We always envisage the future requirement and then we decide on it."

"I don't understand. What does that mean?" Ankit asked.

"Sir it is quite simple. Consider a very simple example. If we have a predicted inflow of projects for next year, we would analyze whether our existing engineers would be free enough and capable enough to handle it on their own by the time the project actually starts. Also, the number of engineers required at the starting of project is quite less. We envisage this on a chart called the manning chart and we schedule their work load accordingly. Based on this, we decide whether we require more engineers or not. By the time the envisaged project starts and is in full throttle, we redirect more engineers to this new project. And we only recruit more engineers if we don't have any more engineers to spare. But I assure you sir that is quite rare."

"I understand." But it was very clear from Ankit's face that he had not understood a single word which came out of Siddique's mouth. Mr. Siddique smiled.

"But what about the engineers? They are being over worked?" Ankit asked.

"Sir, engineers love being overworked. They thrive on pressure. They enjoy it."

"Are you sure? I don't know anyone who likes excessive pressure?" Ankit asked.

"Sir, I am sure. Trust me on this."

"Yes yes...maybe." Ankit looked doubtful. "And what about the attrition rate?"

"Sir as I said earlier, it is the lowest among all the industries in this city. Also, if you could turn to page 25 of the file, I have submitted a graph on the gradual decreasing attrition rate. You will find that the attrition rate is the lowest in this quarter." Mr.Siddique said confidently.

"Really. I am surprised." Ankit said.

"Sir, I assure you, the company is in the pink of health and we are doing fine. And when we are doing fine, maintaining status quo would be the best option for the present time." Mr. Siddique said. "Sir all the questions you have raised have been addressed in the file. You could browse through them and find all the answers to your questions."

With that Mr. Siddique walked out. Ankit stared at the file. It had approximately 300 pages to it. Suddenly Ankit looked tired. He really didn't want to go through this entire document. It had been a tiring day so far.

'Maybe Siddique is right. And anyway, that man is competent enough to know what's going on in this company and he has more experience too' Ankit thought. He closed the file and decided that he had enough for the day.

Please check the Next chapter!!!! :)