 "What they don't teach you")
Till a month back, Riya was on excellent terms with everyone at office. She works for a major global advertising agency and has been in the profession for six years. A hard worker, she knows her stuff and works well in teams. But when has ticking all the human resources (HR) jargon boxes sufficed?
Riya and the rest of the team report to Anshu, who is creative director at the agency. Anshu has her own cabin while Riya and the rest of the gang sit in cubicles (even though Riya is senior to the others who are just a year or two out of college). The issue at Riya's workplace is not of seniority though. It's a problem of getting work done. As Riya sees it, too much stress on flatness kills the work ethic. The diffuseness of hierarchy in today's private organisations can do more harm than good.
Riya has been with this agency for the last four years. She started out by doing the dirty work. Her first year was spent designing posters and editing copies. It is a measure of her talent that she quickly moved to the (designation-less) role of chief ideator for a variety of campaigns. Her client list boasts the who's who of corporate India. One of her ideas ended up as an ad starring a Bollywood superstar selling undergarments. She is also a 2010 Cannes Lioness. In other words, she has arrived.
But the office dynamics would have you believe otherwise. Riya's colleagues are her pals, even though they are years junior to her. She isn't bossy and often invites them home for drinks. She is especially good friends with Harsh and Dubs, who share her wacky sense of humour. The world, according to Riya, ought to be a simple place where mutual respect and harmony decide office relations. Sadly, we don't live inside a fairytale.
The other day someone from client servicing, the department that responds to client queries, came over to Riya to ask for an update on a campaign. Riya sent the lady to Harsh, who a) is a junior, and b) had nothing to do. When the woman from client servicing went up to Harsh, he told her: "Ask Riya na to do it. She has nothing to do."
Now, Riya conceptualises, strategises and looks at the big picture. What she does not do and will not do, any more, is tell client servicing the measurements of posters and right colour combinations for the ad copy. She did it for three interminable years and has justifiably earned her spurs. It's time for the youngsters to pitch in. If she expects Harsh to do something, he had better get his sleeves rolling. She conveyed this to Harsh in as many words.
It didn't work. Harsh ganged up with the others and complained about the incident to Anshu. In so doing, he broke the cardinal rule of resolving problems with the boss one-on-one. Anshu - the otherwise brilliant creative director with a knack for over-the-top ideas - is a complete lame duck at resorting intra-team issues and, this is the strange bit, distanced herself from Riya to show solidarity with the juniors.
Narrating this tale of woe, Riya smiled: "I can't believe how puerile people can be. When I was their age, I understood fully well what sort of work I was expected to do. There were days I drafted four client briefs. They don't want to do even one. Worse, they want to pile the work on me. And then to see Anshu behave this way. It's hilarious!"
Maybe it's the madcap world of advertising, I thought. But a quick survey among my MBA (Master of Business Administration) friends showed a rather high incidence of this brand of managerial tosh. Riya would want nothing better than to brainstorm with her creative team. But over half her time is spent managing people issues.
Ditto for my corporate friends. Whether public sector or private, FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) or banking, all of them find little use for the skills they spent a bomb learning in business schools. (Most companies anyway have intensive training programmes to help new recruits adopt the company's systems and style.) What my friends direly wish they had been taught is dealing with errant bosses, recalcitrant colleagues and dicey juniors. People skills, in short.
At any rate, I admire Riya's resilience. She can completely shut out the personal from the professional. Harsh and Dubs are not allowed to her house anymore. Riya still "likes" their Facebook updates but would not be caught dead drinking with them on a Friday night. Those days are over and Riya has happily, if belatedly, made her peace.
The author has switched too many jobs in the past and hopes he can hold down this one