<div>Rassal Baig was surprised to see an e-mail from the CEO marked to All. He had been away for just a week and Harish Vittal, the CEO, had announced a critical change in reporting relationships at Artemis Retail Holdings, where Rassal was head of HR.</div><div> </div><div>Just as he was studying the new organisation structure, Atul Vaidya, head of supply chain, knocked on his open door and entered. Rassal had not a chance to assimilate the organisation chart but had spotted Atul’s name crossed out and shifted; and, here was Atul already. “Hey, Atul, do come. I have just returned from Chennai and there is a mountain of e-mails I see.”</div><div> </div><div><strong>Atul:</strong> I want to talk to you about why I have been fired.</div><div><strong>Rassal (extremely taken aback):</strong> Fired? How can that be... I don’t understand! </div><div> </div><div>Rassal reported to the President, Madhur Bhaskar. In fact, he and Madhur had been at IIM a year apart and it was he who had hired Rassal, nay, poached him from Teffer India, where he was a senior HR manager. They made a great team when Artemis, a vast retail chain, was launched eight years ago. Today, Artemis had 1,620 people on its rolls and 27 outlets in north and west India. </div><div> </div><div>Until then, Rassal had been merely a friendly advisor who came by in the evenings after work to hang out and suggest ways forward. In short, there was no HR until Rassal joined them.</div><div> </div><div>One of the architects of the early days had been Atul. He had been a strong force, a crucial resource in the formative months. In the entry-strategy think tank, he may not have counted for much, but he had verily been the power engine that had bound all ideas and thoughts together and ensured they were met, working relentlessly till Artemis lifted off. <br /> </div><div>Atul had been a senior sales executive with a large beverage company. His boss had been an extremely vindictive human being, and because she, his boss, had swung some huge wins for the company, the HR was shifty footed about pulling her up, let alone calling for an arbitration. Unable to deal with a foul-mouthed boss who was also vengeful, Atul had resigned. Luckily for him, he had run into Harish in the lobby of his building during his notice period and Harish had even rebuked him sharply. “How can you quit without another job on hand!” And Atul had replied the working had to be joyful; if not, he did not care about working. “I will be fine. I have a good reputation in the market. I will pick up another job...”</div><div> </div><div>Soon after, Harish called him and told him about Artemis and Atul joined Artemis as Head of Supply Chain. It was an important position.</div><div> </div><div>Such a relationship forged eight years ago went awry. Last week, when Rassal was away for a SAP workshop in Puducherry, an unusual event took place. Ashwin Goel, who had joined a month ago as VP, Operations, was made Atul’s boss. Harish had created a layer between himself and Atul so that supply chain would now report to the Operations head.</div><div> </div><div>Atul, who had always reported to the CEO, felt humiliated. When he confronted Harish about this, he had responded that he could not answer every little question: “Organisations have a plan and a structure and a method. I don’t think we can share them all with everyone!”</div><div> </div><div>His tone had surprised Atul. Harish and he were buddies from IIT. Realising that something was amiss, Atul had backed off. But then, that was Atul; he backed off in the face of bad behaviour. It was his nature. <br /> </div><div>Rassal told Atul he would find out the story and get back, saying no more, no less. It was a curious position being an HR head. You fought without fighting....</div><div> </div><div>Rassal walked across the floor to Harish’s office. “So, tell me about Ashwin Goel. I come back to see a mail from you about a change in reporting relationships. He has been here less than a month,” he asked.<br /><br /><a href="http://businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-organisation-levers/1556426/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: A.V.K. Mohan</a><br /><a href="http://businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-the-whimsical-stakes/1556559/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Y.V.Verma</a><br /> </div><div>Harish was only too happy to talk about Ashwin. “Good guy, has gained a lot of width from Gevore Enterprises (his last company). And having been in technology, his depth is good... between you and me, we may be partnering Gevore in a JV to start manufacturing premium specialty store brands...” </div><div><strong>Rassal: </strong>Very nice. Happy to hear all this. But in the light of Ashwin being from Gevore, won’t it become tricky for him when this JV happens?</div><div><strong>Harish: </strong>Ok, granted there is going to be an embarrassing moment, but we expect to overcome that in one meeting and a handshake. These things happen in life; somebody leaves you, joins another, then you do business with that another... kya karein! In a year, we merge operations... so Ashwin is here as a prelude to all that and if all goes well, he takes over as Director Operations. <br /> </div><div>Rassal looked at him, a trifle surprised. So much had been strategised and planned without his knowledge. “So, is that why you have suggested to Atul that he should leave?”</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> Is that what he told you? I did not ‘suggest’, no; I asked him to go.</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> Harish, these things need to go through HR. You cannot ask him to go just like that. There are methods, processes. This is a formal organisation...</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> Arre yaar! Ok, so I have told you now. You take care of it. </div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> Harish, please understand, the hiring and removal of people cannot be based on whim.</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> Whim?! He is not good for the job!</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> And this man Ashwin, he is good for the role of Director Operations? Who decided on that job function first of all? You have gone and created a whole new level that was not there in the organisation chart!</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> As CEO, I get to take decisions that are good for the business!</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> And you must, please. Point is, Artemis has an organisation structure, a formal document, approved by the Board. If you are creating a new function, a new role, we have to examine where and how it fits. Because we cannot create a designation or a title that overlaps with other functionaries. It will cause chaos. And I am not even talking about demoralisation yet. A new level means it is a new job class, has to fit in with the compensation structure.</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> But we have hired him with your blessings, my dear friend!</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> We hired him as VP Operations, to perform as VP Operations, to take over a certain set of functions and to report to you. Supply Chain was clearly a separate function. Now, you have a plan to make him Director Ops — which is different... actually very different, and having Atul report to him was also not envisaged, for Atul’s role comes directly under you. </div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> What is wrong with that? These are organisational exigencies. </div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> When Atul is made to report to Ashwin instead of you, then he is being distanced from you by one whole level. This needs a lot of dialogue with Atul, else it can be construed as a demotion and there would be chances of Atul quitting. </div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> But in the light of the fact that I have already asked him to go, all this is academic, isn’t it? Ok, I do not have the mental space now to go on with this. I have a meeting at 10:00 and need to prepare. Let’s do this some other time. </div><div> </div><div>Rassal nodded and left, but he knew Harish was not likely to brook any debate on a decision he had already made.<br /> </div><div>That afternoon, Rassal had a presentation for the company president, Madhur Bhaskar. He was the first to arrive. Seizing the moment, he asked him if he knew about the changes in the CEO’s department and Bhaskar said he had seen an e-mail that announced all the changes. But Bhaskar was disturbed that Rassal had not known about the changes. So, he called Harish and asked him to join them immediately, “before the others come in,” added Bhaskar. As Harish arrived, Bhaskar said, “Atul is senior management, what made you make this change?”</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> Some things have come to my notice. I am not too pleased with what I am seeing.</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> What? This is new. I would have liked to see a note from you detailing what these things are! It is a question of the whole organisation! </div><div><strong>Madhur:</strong> Harish, it is always best to keep HR involved in hirings and firings. There are serious legal angles to avoid, my friend. If you feel unhappy with what has come to your notice, hand over the case to HR and allow them to investigate. That will be a fair thing to do.</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> I have not done anything that is lacking in morals. Nor have I victimised anyone or done anything for personal gain. Kindly respect my decision and that I know what is good for the business. I am running the everyday management of Artemis. Surely I know...<br /> </div><div>Harish was angry now; Rassal had not wanted things to come to this pass. </div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> I am sorry you feel devalued because I question your move. Atul could be feeling devalued too and I am concerned for him, as he has been a) demoted and b) now also sacked.</div><div><strong>Harish:</strong> No! I have not sacked him. I have asked him to find another job .</div><div><strong>Madhur:</strong> You are playing with semantics, my dear chap. You have told him you don’t need him and he may want to know why, as much as I want to know too.</div><div> <br /><a href="http://businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-organisation-levers/1556426/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: A.V.K. Mohan</a><br /><a href="http://businessworld.in/news/case-studies/analysis-the-whimsical-stakes/1556559/page-1.html" target="_blank">Read Analysis By: Y.V.Verma</a><br /> </div><div>Then again, if you don’t involve HR, then, how are you going to manage the implications of this change? Everything requires change management. Especially when you make changes to structure. A lot of communication needs to be done, to both Atul and Ashwin as well as to the entire organisation. </div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> A lot goes on behind the organisation chart, Harish. Jobs need description, reporting relationships have to be optimised, jobs cannot overlap, there also cannot be two masters for a given function. Jobs cannot be duplicated... And I will add, taking a unilateral decision without involving HR — a neutral party — has the risk of a bias. How does one know that Ashwin is better than Atul or the logic for making this change? Is it capability, is it to accomplish any strategy, is it to message to Atul to leave the organisation? HR has no axe to grind other than fair play. How will HR explain all this to a manager?<br /> </div><div>Harish, I know how hard you work at the business and I never doubt your integrity, although my questioning you may seem like that. Think about this — you hired me so that the business acquires structure, shape, systems... if process is not followed by the CEO, then everyone will start making changes without a glance at propriety! Then, how do we ensure governance? Changes to structure should ideally be done by HR. Of course, you can recommend and we will check it for propriety...”</div><div> </div><div>Harish was not happy with this turn of events, but he agreed to go by the President’s judgement.</div><div>When Harish left the room, Madhur looked at Rassal and said, “Don’t push too hard. Your response is a trifle aggressive. I do not suggest that approach. It has to be influencing, empowering. Don’t establish position or power. Rassal, CEOs get to have ego and one has to manage that tactfully, if the end objective is to establish fairness in the organisation. It is not about ‘who’, it is about ‘’what’’.</div><div> </div><div>The next day Harish’s secretary sent a note detailing the reasons for asking Atul to leave.</div><ul><li>He has not been dialoguing with team, tends to be unilateral in deciding. Has been alienating team members. </li><li>His book keeping is sketchy; he has never shown any desire to set it right. </li><li>His discussions with vendors and franchisees has been abrasive, authoritarian. Elfa Enterprises, for example, have felt very humiliated because Atul rejected their packaging, calling it tacky. Elfa has been in the market for 75 years!</li></ul><div>Rassal felt these were vague reasons and did not warrant sacking the head of supply chain. He then decided it was only fair to ask Atul to explain each of these. </div><div> </div><div>Atul presented his defence on each with concrete evidence on each — from mail threads, documentation, etc., to prove that Harish’s allegations were baseless, that Elfa’s quality was demeaning.</div><div> </div><div>Then Harish changed his tune. He said for a long time Atul had been appointing transporters and other vendors who were not evaluated but were personally known to him, many of whom were of suspicious backgrounds.</div><div> </div><div>This was a very serious allegation. “Harish, in that case we must document the allegations to show a) That such invitation to vendors was made with an ulterior motive and cunning; b) Was made at the instance of Atul; That he had sought to gain from such appointments; d) That, in fact, no evaluation of competitive quotes, etc., was done.<br /> </div><div>This was when Harish lost his temper. “What is with you? You are suspecting my motives, are you not? Do you realise I am No. 2 in the organisation. You suspect me?”</div><div><strong>Rassal:</strong> No, I don’t suspect you nor am I casting any aspersions on your intentions. Harish, please understand; sometimes we perceive a criminal intention but, in fact, it may not be so. Whatever it be, we need proof to drive against the employee. If we do not have proof, we cannot do a thing. All I want is proof so that I have a decent script to speak to Atul.</div><div> </div><div>Rassal sent a mail to Madhur since he was away in London, to say that the case did not carry weight, that he did not see serious threats and hence not grounds for sacking a senior manager. </div><div> </div><div>The following day, Madhur called him. “Ok, there seems to be more than meets the eye. Harish has shared with me that the real reason is that Atul was involved in some financial misdemeanor, which cost us several crores. This is serious. Look, if it is morals, ethics, others can handle it. No problem. But if it is money, I don’t brook any nonsense. The choice is clear. Atul goes.” </div><div> </div><div>To be continued...</div><div><br />Meera Seth</div><div>(This story was published in BW | Businessworld Issue Dated 20-10-2014)</div>
