This week in Business ethics, we talked about responsivities of the company towards employees. This was basically talking about what is expected of the employer as regards their employees. Things like proper way to communicate with your employees, how to correct them when they make mistakes and respecting the employment contract. We reviewed a case that was titled Kate Osa and Mr Kilo which gave a great insight of what the topic is about.
A company called Project management Ltd which was into project and facility management had a founder called Mr. Hassan who was the manager at the time. He had been the manager of the company for over six years. He was loved my all of this staff because of his style of management. Though he was a disciplined man, he always knew how to relate with his employees and when they had shortcomings, he always knew an ideal way to handle the situation without shaming or causing emotion damage to his workers. He once mentioned it was not necessary the workers performed their tasks according to given guidelines/procedures but so far they maintain they followed it to a good extent. He also mentioned it was normal for humans to make mistakes.
After some time, he had to retire but at this time, the company was experiencing a downturn In their revenue. they needed a good replacement for my Mr. Hassan who would turn this downward trend in their sales. Of all the eligible candidates, Mr. Kilo was the best. He had a great vast of experience from his previous jobs. He was a great goal getter and had proven himself in numerous situations. This made him the perfect candidate for the job.
Upon getting to Project management Ltd, within six months he solved the problem the company was facing and there was a massive increase in revenue. He definitely was the right person for the job. However, Mr. Kilo was one knownn to be very strict with his subordinates. His idea was, you are getting paid for your job and so I own you for the duration of time that you are in the office. He believed that when he gives instructions, they must be executed the exact way he directed it to be. This was not the common work ethic in project management ltd as their former boss did not care how the job was done.
This made the new manager and the employees have numerous conflicts. Mr. kilo would not tolerate any act of disobedience to his instructions for whatever reason. He also stated he had set targets to meet up with at whatever cost and the employees would not be a hindrance.
Kate was a junior manager to Mr. Kilo. so, she worked closely with him. He always found faults in all her actions and verbally abused her a lot. This made Kate hate her job. She was a great manager before he came and was loved by all her colleagues but the current situation at work brought her discomfort.
Once after Kate submitted a report to her boss, he told her she was dumb for preparing the report the way she did and she should quit if she is tired of her job. Kate went back to her desk crying as nobody should be verbally abused at their job this way. She started considering quitting her job but remembered her husband was out of job too and she was the current breadwinner at home. Also, it was not easily getting a new job. She does not know what to do and is sad.
#MBA’21
