Dear all,
"We will be having our quarterly review meeting this Friday at 10 a.m. sharp. Come prepared with your presentation for your respective job roles."
The email pops up on my computer screen as I was editing an article in the morning. I had no idea about such review meetings as it was going to be my first review meets. It was hardly a few days that I have joined this company and what is this demon review all about?
"Have you checked the boss's email" I called up Vivan through an intercom.
"Ya just saw" he sighed.
"What should I do? I don't know a damn thing about it" I expressed my worries.
"You enjoy the show" Vivan replied to me.
"You don't worry as you are just a newcomer. You won't have to prepare and give any presentation."
"Oh, ok" I sighed as my pressure released.
"This time it's going to be tough for me." Vivan expresses his worry.
"Why what happened?" I asked Vivan.
"The revenue for the last quarter was not up to the mark. We had lost a few clients as well. And more importantly, the boss is behind me."
"Behind you? What do you mean by that?" I asked Vivan.
"It's a long story will tell you some other day," he said to me.
It was Monday and we had five days to prepare for the review meeting held on Friday. The atmosphere in the office suddenly seemed to darken.
Everyone looks worried for the review meeting. It was like the weather department had declared that there will be a tsunami coming on this Friday.
I wasn't sure what to do. But as Vivan told me that I need not worry much as I was a new joiner. Still looking at the faces of the colleagues, I also felt the tremors.
"What should I prepare for a review meeting?" I asked Payal to seek her help.
"Nothing, you don't need to prepare anything separately. I am going to present our part, you just chill." Payal told me. That was a big relief for me.
"But still give me some work so that I can be of any help to you." I offer my help to Payal.
"You do one thing; prepare a list of the articles we had covered in the last quarter. Take the data from Akash."
"So how's your preparation for the review?" I asked Vivan during the lunch break.
"Well I certainly going to present my performance for the last quarter, but I am sure the boss will not like it." He replied.
"Why you think so? If you had done hard work, then why will he not like it?" I asked again as I want an elaborate answer.
"You will learn it gradually" he smiled and answer to me. "Listen, I was thinking of talking to the boss about that anonymous note I got on my desk."
"Don't even think of doing that." He furiously replied to me.
"You don't know him. He is such an idiot that he will not help you, on the contrary, add up to the problem. You better stay away from him. As such his behaviour with the girls is not good. He has been well known for having an affair with different girls."
Everyone was busy in the office preparing for the review meeting. The routine work was almost stopped or delayed and everyone has got a reason to justify the delay was review meeting. It was around eight o'clock in the evening but still half of the staff was in the office preparing a presentation for the review meeting.
Though I was helping Payal making her presentation, I was looked like the odd one out as I didn't have to prepare a presentation so I was not having much of a work.
I was helping both Payal and Vivan in their preparations for the review. I could see their faces covered by fear and stress.
"Why are you so stressed?" I asked Payal.
"You don't know the boss's nature; it's so rude and harsh that no one can stand against him. Sometimes he becomes so arrogant as if he is the owner of the company" she said to me.
"Exactly! He is just a boss and not the owner of the company. He cannot scold anybody beyond a point. After all, we all are coming here for doing our work only. Aren't we?" I asked Payal.
"Ya that are true, but in a corporate company, nobody dares to go against the boss. If he/she goes then better, they find a new job sooner or later. This is the reality of the corporate world. Better you know this fact and are prepared mentally." She replied with a great amount of agony.
"What is the point of working in such company where one couldn't raise the voice even if they are right and employees are not treated as a human," I told to Payal.
She just smiled and went away. Her silence was the answer but I couldn't get it that day. Maybe I was too young in the company and might not be aware of the corporate culture she talked about.
But one thing I realized is that one day this could happen to me as well. I will have to face such a situation in the future where I might have no answer or explanation on the performance and be screwed by the boss. Scary! I talked to myself.
The D day had come. Everyone had reached the office before the usual time. They were doing last-minute changes in their presentation. The entire office environment was filled with nervousness.
I recalled my college exam days where I used to reach the examination hall at least half an hour before and doing my last minute revision.
"What the hell you are doing since last three days, why the report is still not ready?" The boss entered the office while scolding someone over a phone. He didn't look at anyone and went straight into his cabin.
"Khaddus is not in a good mood, he will not leave us today," Arjun said it in Vivan's ears.
It was nine fifty and nobody had entered the conference room. I looked at Vivan signed him to go to the conference room. He nodded his head and took his laptop and diary.
I also took my diary in my hand. I asked him to go in first as I was scared of entering the conference room first. He and I went inside the room. It was large enough to accommodate at least twenty people at once.
The temperature was around. 18 to 20 degrees as the air conditioner was already kept on by the peon. The conference table was round in shape and at one side there was a one big chair. Without any guess, I could make it out that the chair is for the boss.
People had started coming in and took their seats one by one. The chairs opposite the boss's chair had started filling up fast as nobody wants to seat near to the boss. Suddenly he entered the conference room.
There was a pin drop silence as soon as he entered the room. Nobody dared to utter a word in front of him.
"Good morning everyone, let's get started" He greeted us and inaugurated the slaughterhouse where he will soon be going to chop off all of us into pieces.
"So who is going to start first?" He gave us an offer to decide who among us wants to save their asses. All team members were pointing to each other one by one and avoiding being first. Mr. Khaddus was watching this drama for a moment and immediately he used his veto power and asked Mohit to open the session.
Mohit had started his presentation and we all were looking at the conversation between him and Mr. Khaddus.
"Sir the last quarter was fantastic in terms of ad revenue. We also had added four new clients during the last quarter." Mohit was explaining his last quarter performance.
"Very good Mohit, I am proud of you. You have proved your calibre in the new field as well." The territory handled by Mohit was earlier handled by Vivan. But for some reason, the boss had changed Mohit's territory and gave him Vivan's pie.
Mr. Khaddus applauds for Mohit. I felt good about Mohit and thought that Mr. Khaddus is not that bad. He sometimes scolds but also knows how to appreciate his team members.
The next was Payal, and of course me too. Payal went through the presentation of her performance and concluded in a very short span. Mr. Khaddus was happy with her performance as well.
"You need to learn a lot from Payal," he said to me.
"Yes, sir sure," I replied to Mr. Khaddus.
Next is Vivan's turn. He started his presentation and explained what had gone right and what wrong.
"What the hell, why the revenues are negative this quarter?" Mr. Khaddus expresses his anger as Vivan was moving ahead in his presentation.
He didn't like Vivan's performance at all.
"Sir our product price is very high as compared to the competition. The revenues are down due to high product prices.
Clients are moving to the competition as they offer them a reasonable price." Vivan was explaining the situation.
"Don't teach me how to decide the product price; I know the market better than you." Mr. Khaddus said it in a superlative voice.
"Your performance has been deteriorated day by day Vivan. I am afraid that I have to take certain actions against you if the performance will not improve in the next quarter." He was threatening Vivan for his performance.
Vivan could not answer any further to the boss. He looked at me with his worried eyes. He was so stressed after hearing such harsh words from the boss.
It was kind of an ultimatum given to him. The boss was not in a mood to hear any justification or logic behind the negative growth in revenues.
First, he changes his territory, and secondly he had raised the product price illogically. The negative growth was the result of this change.
Everybody knows it but the boss didn't want to take responsibility for his action and blamed Vivan for the outcome.
It was like he is behind Vivan and wants him to quit the job. So he is putting such tremendous pressure on Vivan and putting him in such a situation where the failure was inevitable.
Vivan looked helpless in the room. Boss was scolding him for no reason. It was like he is taking some revenge on Vivan. The body language of the boss looked like he wanted to fight with Vivan to death.
"Product price couldn't be the reason for negative growth." I heard a voice from my right side. I turned my head to check who the person was. It was Mohit who was enjoying the fruits sew by Vivan.
"Yes, correct. I completely agreed with what Mohit is saying." Mr. Khaddus also affirmed what Mohit was telling.
"You don't say a word, just keep quiet your moron," Vivan said to Mohit in front of everybody.
"You shut up; you don't know a thing about sells." Mohit also shouted at Vivan as he stood up.
Vivan also stood up from his chair as he rolled up his sleeves of the shirt. It looked like both of them were in a mood of wrestling.
They could give punch to each other if we were not present in the conference room.
"Stop it!" The boss shouted. He looked like a referee of the wrestling match.
"Both of you get out of the room immediately." He said it at the top of his voice.
"I will see you later," Mohit told it to Vivan as he gave the warning.
"Get lost" Vivan also replied to him in a wave of anger.
The review meeting was adjourned due to that issue and the fight between Mohit and Vivan.
I went behind Vivan to make him cool down. He set on his desk and looked restless as he exhales carbon dioxide.
"Vivan calms down, everything will be ok soon." I hold his hand as I was speaking to him.
"Come On; let's have a cup of coffee." I dragged his hand so he has to stand up and come with me to the pantry.
"Two coffee please" I gave the order to the pantry guy as we set down on the table.
"What happened Vivan? Why have you lost self-control? I have never seen you so angry on anyone" I asked Vivan.
"I told you that the boss is behind me for many months. He is always trying to find my fault in anything." He replied.
"But why do you think that he is behind you, what could be the reason? Why only you?" I throw a bunch of questions to him.
"It's a long story and I can't tell it to you at this place." He replied.
"So let's go outside right now," I asked him.
"No, not now. We will go in the evening." He fixed up the schedule to explain to me what is wrong between him and the boss.
Payal also came in as we were drinking our coffee.
"Are you Ok Vivan?" She was checking whether Vivan is fine or not.
"Ya, I am better" he replied to Payal as he sipped up his coffee to finish. Three of us were set down in the pantry for a few minutes and then went back to our desks.
I checked where Mohit is, but couldn't find him in the office.
"Where is Mohit?" I asked Arjun about Mohit.
"I don't know but he might be downstairs for a smoke." Mohit was a chain smoker and we could easily find him downstairs if he was not available on his desk.
After a few minutes, Vivan went to the boss's cabin as he had called him inside.
"You being a senior person, this was not expected from you. How could you do that in front of me?" The boss asked.
"Sorry sir, my intentions were not that but it happened due to the heat of the moment. I will surely take care next time." Vivan replied.
"Next time, huh! Next time you better behave yourself or else I will throw you out of this company."
"You need to concentrate on your work and improve your performance." Boss gave warning to Vivan.
"Sure sir, will take care" Vivan replied and came out of the cabin. Mohit was standing outside of the cabin waiting to go inside.
Vivan looked at him but didn't say a word. But he was watching him furiously and might have killed him in his thoughts. He pushed him aside and made his way to his desk.
"I will kill you if you dare to talk to me like this." Mohit angrily said to Vivan.