32. A LESSON IN BOSS MANAGEMENT (YEAR 1976)

STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN

The Highs and Lows of A Woman’s Journey in the Corporate World

CARE: This is Chapter 32 of my book Stress, Success and Everything In-Between. These are individual anecdotes but to understand the professional journey in totality, I would recommend reading the book right from Chapter 01 onwards.

In 1976, heading an ultra-sensitive branch in a government building in central Delhi and being the only officer, I invariably had an incessantly busy daily schedule and a complete lack of mobility.

On one such busy afternoon, the phone rang. “Hello! I am calling from the Protocol Section of the Government. A two-day International Conference of Commonwealth country heads will be held in your building this Monday and Tuesday. Approximately 100 international delegates are expected to participate in the event. They may visit your Bank to encash Foreign Travellers Cheques or to exchange currency. Bank staff should be ready for all transactions with new currency notes of all denominations and exchange rates. We want speed, accuracy, and efficiency. Please also note that they will be busy during the day and may approach you only during lunch between 1.30pm and 2.00pm in groups. They should not be made to wait at the counter. You may open additional counters by getting extra staff from your Head Office. It is a question of the prestige of our country. We cannot afford to have any complaints whatsoever. Am I clear, Madam? No complaints whatsoever!”

Foreign Exchange transactions? New notes? Extra staff? Extra counters? Prompt service? No wait? My head reeled: it seemed impossible. My team consisted of an officiating Cash Officer, a Clerk, and a Cashier apart from myself. I talked to them, but all of them threw their hands up. No one in my team knew how to handle a foreign exchange transaction, its formalities, the forms required and the reporting mechanism. Incidentally, the Banking system in those days was one hundred per cent manual. We did not have any calculator or even a manual Facit adding machine. We did not have the necessary forms, books and registers. Above all, even the basic knowledge for handling such transactions was absent. 

While I could arrange forms and registers, the question remained: how to manage extra staff and the necessary skills? The conference was to start on Monday, and it was already Thursday afternoon. Only Friday and Saturday were available to put all the arrangements in place. The urgency for action was palpable.

My immediate reaction was to visit the controller and seek his help to get at least one experienced hand for two days from some branch. I quickly drove to Head Office, but the Regional Manager had no time for me. He was sitting with a few of his cronies and gossiping over tea. Loud laughter and jokes were audible even outside the door. Getting impatient, I tried to barge in, but he stopped me by raising his hand with irritation writ-large on his wrinkled face. 

After a long wait of over an hour, when his friends left, he called me in and yelled, “Why are you gallivanting here? Why are you not in your office?”

My attempt to convey the high expectations of the government from us during the conference and my constraints were met with another rebuke, "It is your job, and you have to handle it. What is the big deal in paying Traveller cheques and exchanging currency? Go back and, if needed, get one of your staff members trained in Main Branch for a day. If you cannot handle it, be ready to get transferred to Rajasthan. Do not ever bring these  petty problems to me!"

I came out of his room with a long face and went straight to a nearby big branch dealing with foreign exchange to seek their help to train my staff. Not a single soul was available there. At 5 pm, it was a deserted place. The security guard was locking up the floors. I returned to my branch, thinking how to go about it.

The next day morning, I took out extra cash for the cash counter and told the girls to make payments without my authorisation. I also assured them that I would pass all the vouchers on my return. 

I again went to the big branch dealing with foreign exchange and met officers at various levels. Their reply was even worse. “No. Not possible. We are already short of staff. Many of our people are on leave. We are barely managing our work. Sorry, we cannot even train your people. We have no time,” said the Chief Manager (Forex). 

I tried to meet the head of the branch, a senior person of the same seniority as my Regional Manager. After making me wait outside his room for over an hour, his response was even worse, ”Your Region has many branches dealing in forex. Why does your boss not depute someone from there? Go and ask him. Do not expect any help from us.” He was curt and rude.

Sick with anxiety, I again went to my boss, but his office wore a deserted look.  He had left to visit a branch with his next in command and the Area Superintendent. No other official was in a position to render any help or advice.

An intense feeling of utter helplessness started gripping me. Tense to the extent of being distraught, I drove back to my branch. Being the joint custodian of cash and the only officer, I could not be away for long. I had to pass the cheques already paid in good faith by my staff and close the cash.

 At the office, a team of Conference protocol personnel was already waiting in my room, “Please brief us on the arrangements you have made for dealing with the delegates? How many additional counters are you going to open? What is their level of expertise? Where are they going to sit?”

“Er.. I am trying, er.. but today also I could not succeed. I will again go tomorrow and try,” my voice trembled as I gave this false assurance. They looked at each other and left.

The Saturday morning before the commencement of business, as I was planning to go to the Head Office again, a team of three, comprising two clerks and an officer, landed at my branch. They were armed with a big electronic calculator, a rarity those days, currency rate lists, multiple sets of forms, books, and registers. I was shocked. Were they sent by God? They had come from the branch where the Chief had refused to train my staff the previous day and had rudely asked me to leave.

I was startled when one of them introduced the team politely, “Madam, we are from the Forex Section of Main branch and have come here to handle the forex transactions of the delegates. We have brought everything with us. Where should we sit, Madam?”

Suddenly, I understood everything. It was the magic of the Protocol Team of the GOI.  I breathed a sigh of relief, but a gnawing awareness of my inability to handle the issue filled me with frustration.

“The Conference is to start on Monday, and there still is some time in between. Can you please train my staff today?” I was not shaky or nervous anymore.

I learnt later that the Protocol Committee had perceived my helplessness and had instantly made a phone call to the Chairman of the Bank, who assured them that the Bank would arrange everything for the Conference to go smoothly.

Thanks to that team of experienced staff from the Main Branch and their one-day training to my staff, we handled the massive workload very efficiently.

The Conference concluded and made big headlines in all the newspapers. Upon reading the media reports, my boss called me, “The other day, you mentioned a conference was to take place in your building. When is it scheduled?”

“It got over yesterday,” was my wry answer.

“Did you arrange everything as required by them? I hope the delegates did not face any difficulty.” 

“No. No one had any problem. All were happy and satisfied,” I said in a bitter tone.

“You see! This is how a threat for transfer to Rajasthan works. You came to me seeking help. From where could I arrange extra staff for you? Eh? And you managed yourself quite well. You have to remember that you have to handle every challenge yourself. Do you understand?” He sermonised, and  I listened with anger raging within me.

I could not tell him that it was not my resourcefulness but the magic of a single phone call from the people who wielded power! I still wonder whether he actually did not know how the challenge was met. Anyway, I had learnt my first lesson in  Boss Management. 

(To be continued....)

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