75. SHATTERED DREAMS, UNBROKEN SPIRIT (2000)

 STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN 

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

CARE: This is Chapter 75 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, link given below:
https://ranjanabharij.blogspot.com/2023/06/stress-success-and-everything-in.html

https://ranjanabharij.blogspot.com/2023/06/stress-success-and-everything-in.html

A year had passed, but the sting of my previous rejection still throbbed. The words of the Chairman of the Interview Board, a cruel indictment of my gender, continued to echo in my mind. It was a wound that had refused to heal.

But hope, a fragile bloom, dared to rise its head again as the Bank summoned me for another interview. Favourable recommendations had paved the way, and anticipation stirred within me. I delved into my studies, though a sense of cynicism clouded my efforts this time.

A chance encounter with a fellow batchmate shattered my optimism. His derisive laughter and cynical advice, steeped in the bitterness of nepotism, cut deep. "Prostrate yourself before the top man. There is no other way to get your promotion," he sneered, his words a stark reflection of the system.

I rejected his proposal, determined to earn my promotion through merit, not by sycophancy. I returned home, my heart heavy with despair. But fueled by a mix of hope and positivity, I once again immersed myself in my studies to update my knowledge of banking.

The interview, a battleground of knowledge, intellect and poise, concluded, and I emerged cautiously optimistic. The day of the result arrived, and a friend's jubilant call from the Corporate Centre filled me with anticipation. "Keep the champagne ready!" He said and I believed him: he was in a position where he would know the result. But fate had other plans. My name was once again missing from the list of promoted candidates. 

Years later, working within the corridors of power, I discovered the harsh reality. At the last moment, my name was removed from the list of successful candidates to accommodate a well-connected candidate. 

The realization was a bitter pill to swallow, a stark reminder of the systemic bias that continues to hinder people like us, the people without a Godfather!

(To be continued...)

*****

74. HOW I WISH I DIDN'T KNOW IT! (1999)

 STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN 

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

CARE: This is Chapter 74 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, link given below:

https://ranjanabharij.blogspot.com/2023/06/stress-success-and-everything-in.html

Exactly nine months after I joined the Okhla Industrial Estate branch, the inspection team arrived and checked thoroughly every aspect of banking. I was ecstatic when the rating jumped two steps up. It was an unprecedented feat, especially given the high level of NPAs (Non-Performing Accounts). My superiors praised me endlessly, and I felt a sense of accomplishment.

Soon thereafter, I was due for promotion and was short-listed for an interview. The interview date arrived quickly, and I was sitting outside the room waiting for my turn. It was my first chance for promotion to the top executive grade. Waiting for my turn for the interview, I felt a bit nervous and tense. I had excelled in my assignments, garnered glowing appraisals, and meticulously prepared for the theoretical aspects of banking. Yet, the spectre of performance anxiety was raising its ugly head off and on. 

There was still some time for my turn to come. There was only one candidate between me and the interview board. Vinay Varma (not his real name), who was also one of the candidates but listed at the end, commented from the far end of the room, “Ranjana, do not worry. You will surely make it.”

Sensing his tongue-in-cheek tone, I asked, “And how you are so sure, Vinay?”

“It is because you are a woman. For women candidates, the Interview Board does not see performance. What matters is how you smile at them. You have a charming smile, so you are through. Simple, my dear Dr Watson!”

Vinay burst into laughter, suggesting that my charm, rather than my performance, would ensure my promotion.

His snide comment resonated well with others in the room. It was a stark reminder of the pervasive chauvinism in the workplace. While I was accustomed to such petty remarks, his words stung. Swallowing the affront, I gave the dialogue a light-hearted twist, “Oh really? Had you told me this secret earlier, I would not have worked that hard.”

My turn for the interview had come, and I walked in. The interview went smoothly. I felt confident in my answers and was happy with my performance. The earlier dialogue with other candidates did not affect me: I knew I had cracked it.

A month later, I was surprised to receive an apologetic phone call from a colleague, "I am very sorry. It is so unfortunate."

"Why? What happened?" I asked curiously.

"Oh! You did not know about it? In that case, I should not have called you up," the colleague sounded repentant.

"But what has happened?" I insisted.

"The result has been announced, and I am very sorry you could not make it. Now the rest of your career has gone for a toss," he continued lamenting.

"Never mind, sir. I have two more chances. I am sure I will make it the next time," I tried to put on a brave front.

"No, Madam. A soldier who once falls on the battlefield never gets up. Your career has now reached a dead end," he continued to mourn the death of my career.

Not expecting this failure, I was a little upset. However, I rationalized it by telling myself that the interview was a process of elimination. Those who were promoted must be better than me, but deep in my heart, I knew the capabilities of those who had been promoted. Never mind, I will try next time, I comforted myself. I did not run up to my seniors, seeking their sympathy and the reasons for my rejection. I had faith in the system.

A fortnight later, I had to attend a meeting in the Head Office. It was sheer chance that I came face to face with the Chairman of the Interview Board. Seeing me, he stopped, "I am very sorry, Mrs Bharij. You could not make it. You see, I was quite helpless. We could not promote both the ladies from this area. There were only two of you. I am sure you will understand this limitation."

I was shocked but did not say anything. I had learned well that spontaneous reactions are better avoided in this strongly hierarchical setup, but my blood was boiling. It was straight from the Chairman of the Interview Board. Is there a quota for women? Why could they not promote both women if both were good? What had I not done? I had taken the unions head-on. I had improved customer service manifold. I brought about improvement in every parameter of the functioning of the branch. The Inspection rating of the branch had skyrocketed. Some of the people the Bank had selected for promotion had not performed half as well, but there was no quota for their gender. I had read somewhere that a woman has to work doubly hard to prove half as good as a man. Was it not true? When it was the question of reward as promotion, an unwritten quota had limited my upward movement. I had just hit the glass ceiling and had hit it hard. It was painful.

Until then, I had not felt upset about my non-promotion. But after knowing the real reason for my rejection, my faith in the system was shaken. 

How I wished I was not privy to this inside information! 

(To be continued)

*****

73. RECLAIMING AUTHORITY AND CONTROL (1999)

STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN 

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

CARE: This is Chapter 73 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, on the link given below

https://ranjanabharij.blogspot.com/2023/06/stress-success-and-everything-in.html

When I joined the Okhla Industrial Estate Branch, it was plagued by a culture of defiance, low employee morale, a non-cooperative employee union and a dismal inspection rating. The strong employee union aggravated the situation, with even the lowest-level staff openly disregarding authority. It was evident that decisive action was necessary to restore order and improve performance. But any reckless action would have aggravated the situation further. I had to take careful baby steps.

Scene 01: I needed to send some papers to another desk and pressed the call bell button. Nobody came. Pressed it again and waited. Nobody turned up. I again pressed it twice in quick succession, but still no response. But this time, my PS came in and took the papers from me. My Secret Agent #001 informed me that the previous branch head was very active, and he never used to call the messenger. He did all the running around, handing over the vouchers and registers at various desks himself. I asked him to look for the Head Messenger and send him to me. The Head Messenger, accustomed to a lax work environment, walked in after fifteen minutes. When asked why he did not come in when I pressed the bell, he stated carelessly, “I did not hear the bell.”

“And what were you doing that you did not hear the call bell I pressed three times?” I demanded.

“I was on the second floor having tea with Secretary Sahab,” he responded casually.

“No more going to the canteen for your chai! Place your stool outside my door and sit there. You have to be in my room forthwith when I call you. Otherwise, watch out about saving your pension.” I warned him curtly.

Stunned at my stern response, he left the room meekly only to comply with my instructions in future.

Scene 02: A valuable customer was visiting me, and I decided to call for tea. A lot of time passed, but Thapa, the canteen boy, did not turn up despite repeated reminders. The visitor understood my helplessness and left, politely seeking a rain cheque for the tea. The fellow brought tea after half an hour and faced my wrath. When I asked why he took so long to get two cups of tea, he said nonchalantly, ”I was busy making bread pakodas and tea for Secretary Saab.”

I lost my cool and fumed, “Listen carefully, Thapa. When I order something, it has to be complied with as a top priority, ignoring the demands of all others".

He thought I did not understand and repeated emphatically, “But it was Secretary Saab whose chai-nashta I was preparing.” He sounded like Secretary Sahab was the highest authority in the branch!

This infuriated me further, and I lost my temper. “Thaapa!!! Listen carefully. I am the boss, and I allow you to work here. If you delay my order the next time, I will close your canteen and throw all your stuff out. Aur tumhe doosri manzil se utha ke neeche phenk doongi. Samajh gaye na? (I will physically throw you down from the second floor.) Now get lost!!!”  

“And Thapa, listen carefully. I have got new bone-china cups and saucers. You dare not serve tea to any staff member in these, not even the Secretary. These are only for the visitors in my room and no one else!” Forgetting all the lessons of politeness, empathy and staff handling with kid gloves learnt in HR programmes, I was as rude as possible. Thapa, the canteen boy, understood this language well, and the tea/coffee demanded by me after this was invariably served without any delay.

Scene 03: Reaching late for work was the habit of most staff members. They would not come to work before 10.30am. All this while, I had to face the complaining customers and pacify them with lame excuses. Had I marked a cross against their names, the Attendance Register would have been full of red crosses, and I could not afford to send half the staff back. To address the issue of late arrivals, I adopted an off-beat approach.

I went and sat down on the stairs at the entrance of the branch. Seeing me sitting there, some of the latecomers moved swiftly, apologized and gave some lame excuse before rushing off to their desks. Somebody said his scooter was punctured, while another blamed the unusual traffic on the road for his late arrival. Somebody said his child missed the school bus, and he had to go to drop him off. A few quietly said sorry and rushed in. The latecomers were thus forced to confront their lack of discipline without my uttering a single word.

This continued for a few days, and sure enough, the Union Secretary came in and demanded to know why I sat at the branch entrance every morning.

“I am the head of the branch and can be present in any part of the premises at any time,” I was unperturbed.

“It is not safe for you to stand there alone. A customer may come in a drunken state. Being a woman, it may not be good for your safety.” He tried to be patriarchal.

"Listen, I am the AGM of this branch and the AGM does not have a gender. If you are concerned about my safety, tell your members to be on time. I have no choice but to step out of my room because the customers in the banking hall are getting agitated as the counters are not manned. They come and shout at me. I go and sit outside to avoid them.”

“But the staff feels embarrassed with this action of yours.”

“Then ask them to come on time. They can surely come half an hour earlier.”

After a few days of this drama, most people became punctual, and I smiled at myself. This unconventional way of tackling late arrivals initially met with resistance from the union. But ultimately, it instilled a sense of responsibility in the staff.

But little did I know what was cooking behind my back.

Scene 04: One evening, when I reached home at 9pm after attending a gruelling Performance Review meeting at the Head Office, I received a call from a lady officer from the staff. She informed me that there was no water supply at the branch. The storage tank was empty, and the desert coolers were dry. In the hot summer of June, the staff was highly agitated, and the Union Secretary had given a call for a walk-out if the water supply was not restored. So she decided to forewarn me of the impending trouble. I thought for a minute, located the phone number of a water supply tanker and asked them to supply a tank of water to the underground tank of the bank early in the morning. I also instructed the Guard to get the water filled from the tanker and pump it to the overhead tank.

The next day, I reached the branch to find all the desert coolers functioning effectively. Incidentally, our Secretary Sahab decided to be on leave that day. He must have been informed that the water problem was resolved.

I walked around the branch to locate the cause of the disruption in the water supply and managed to find it. The Delhi Jal Board supply pipeline had been broken deliberately. This was an ugly attempt to escalate tensions and disrupt branch operations, which was foiled due to timely information shared by my Secret Agent # 002.

Scene 05: The President of the Staff Union had committed some irregularity many years ago. This misconduct had gone unpunished due to his influence at the Head Office level, and no action was being taken against him. I reopened the case and started sending reminders to the Head Office. I also wrote his name and case boldly on the file. I would often call him on some pretext after placing this file on the top of the other papers. While I talked to him, I could see he was eyeing the file from the corner of his eyes. Later, he would ask my PS, “Why has she got my file on her table? Has something come from Head Office?” Seeing the file on my table intermittently kept him under continuous stress, and his tone and tenor mellowed dramatically. By subtly reminding him of his vulnerabilities and keeping his file visible, I eroded his confidence, and he was forced to adopt a less offensive attitude.

Scene 06: The Union Secretary sought time to discuss staff-related issues with me. I told him to come after business hours at 3pm. He walked in with half a dozen cronies.

“Why so many people? Only the President and Secretary should sit down. Others may leave,” I directed assertively.

All were stunned to hear this. The Secretary tried to argue, “They are all my people. They can also sit through the discussion.”

“Are the two of you not competent enough to discuss the issues? So many people are not required. Two of you sit down. Others may please leave the room.” My instructions were a matter of fact. The cronies complied and went out but settled in the anteroom with the PS, where the conversation was audible. I had won the first round of the trial of strength.

The main issue was marking crosses against the latecomers on the attendance register. As the discussion took off, he started raising his voice. He wanted his cronies, waiting outside, to hear he could plead their case powerfully.

“I am not hard of hearing. You need not raise your voice.” I said gently but would he listen?

I again told him softly not to raise his voice, but he was getting increasingly agitated and started shouting. In that emotional outburst when he had lost his cool, his language turned abusive, “Hum hi saxxx chxxxxx hain jo aapse co-operate karte hain?” (Are we xxxxxx that we continue to co-operate with you?)

I grabbed the opportunity and screamed, “How dare you use such a word in front of a senior officer? Do you know you are talking to the AGM of the Bank? You are using unparliamentary language in front of a lady officer.” I was unstoppable and kept on repeating the same thing in different words like a TV reporter.

The Union Secretary and the President were taken aback. They had never experienced a Branch Manager shouting at them in this manner. They always used to cajole and flatter them, using only persuasive and gentle tones. My loud and threatening voice immediately brought their tempers down, and they quickly lowered their tone. They said sorry in an almost inaudible tone and left the room, requesting that I be more cooperative with the staff in the future.

Thereafter, I did not have to face any industrial relations issues in the branch and could focus on improving the inspection rating. By implementing these strategies, I successfully transformed the branch culture. The staff became more disciplined, punctual, and respectful. The inspection took place, and the inspection rating improved by two notches to become “Well Run". The branch had regained its reputation as a well-run institution and I was on top of the world.

(To be continued...)

*****

 

72. ANOTHER POSTING, NEW CHALLENGE (1999)

 STRESS, SUCCESS AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN 

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

CARE: This is Chapter 72 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 on the link given below
https://ranjanabharij.blogspot.com/2023/06/stress-success-and-everything-in.html

I had barely completed two years at Dehra Dun when I was abruptly transferred to head the Okhla Industrial Estate Branch in Delhi. A well-meaning friend warned, "Do not go there. It is a disaster. You will ruin your career. Whatever Brahmastra you have, use it now to get your posting changed."

I confronted the HR Head, "I am not a credit-oriented person. The Bank always denied me credit-related positions. Now, I am expected to head an industrial estate branch? Is this fair?"

"I know that and said the same thing to the circle management, but the big boss insisted upon your posting there. The branch is in bad shape, and he believes you can turn things around. He also said that we need a leader there. Credit can be handled by her juniors." HR Head sounded helpless.

Aha! They had finally recognised my leadership skills, I thought and thus, arrived at Okhla Industrial Estate in April 1999.

The branch was a mess, with the NPA to Advances ratio being 62%. The atmosphere of the branch was bleak, employee morale was low, and the staff seemed resigned to failure. Customer service was at its lowest ebb. The otherwise impressive building was splattered with red paan stains in every corner. The entire top floor was full of discarded items which had never been disposed of. The employees' union was strong and defiant and unwilling to cooperate. My next-in-command felt threatened working with a female boss and acted defiant. He even flexed his muscle to threaten me during his speech in my predecessor's farewell party. The Accountant, on the verge of retirement, did only essential work and deflected all his duties towards me. My immediate boss wanted me to focus on an improved rating in the ensuing inspection and audit, which was only nine months away. Overall, everything appeared to be dismal. It was a huge challenge to bring the branch back on the rails. Or so I thought?

I began by implementing a series of reforms, but were the employees willing to cooperate? I soon realised this team could not be handled by adopting a benevolent management style. I had to be tough.

I used a two-pronged strategy, one to create a fear of authority amongst the delinquent employees (will share it in the next episode) and the other to keep the house ready for the ensuing inspection and audit. The factor that was pulling the branch inspection rating down in a big way was high NPAs, which could not be addressed as all these cases were with the BIFR (Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring) under Govt of India and were to take years to settle down. The only thing I could do was to ensure that even the minutest procedural details of branch functioning were taken care of. The inspection manual immediately became my favourite book, and I set out to put the systems and procedures in order. Simultaneously, I focused on improving the image of the branch and building relationships with customers.  

Taming delinquent employees was another area to be addressed to establish my authority in the branch. I had understood that being polite would not work here. I started using overt and covert means to threaten the delinquent employees.

In this mayhem, two people out of the team of 62 became my secret agents of change and helped me silently without their colleagues getting wind of it. I shall forever be grateful to them for the covert support they provided to me in turning the branch around from a third-rate branch to a top-performing entity. 

 (To be continued...) 

 

*****