Last week, Tata Steel announced plans to ditch 1,600 jobs from plants in the north of England. Bad news, I'm sure you'll agree. What's interesting about this news, however, is that Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata Group, attributed these job cuts to the work ethic of British managers.
According to Mr Tata, "nobody is willing to go the extra mile", claiming that, even if he had flown in especially from Bombay for a meeting, UK managers were completely unwilling to stay beyond 5pm. He contrasted this with his management team in India, who are happy to work to midnight during a crisis. Note that he didn't offer any criticism of plant staff themselves; all of his ire was reserved for management.
Now, nobody would condone swathing job cuts like this, but Ratan Tata's comments on the mentality of managers in Britain raise some very interesting questions. Are UK managers really as negative, lazy and inflexible as Mr Tata implies?
Most of us have suffered the well-known 'boss from hell' at some point in our career, and one of the biggest professional challenges we face is dealing with this person effectively. While there are plenty of different types of bad boss, most of them leave us with similar sentiments: anger, outrage and an complete inability to understand how they haven't been caught out yet. Whether their main trait is laziness, general incompetence or a complete lack of interest in your wellbeing and career development, the end result is you feeling demoralised and trapped.
Often, the only route available to you in the long run is an escape tunnel to a new job, where you take your chances on landing a better boss. From my own experiences, a fresh start in these instances is often a great option. But what methods do you use to keep on top of a bad boss?
And if you're reading this, cogitating on your bad luck to be stuck with a godawful boss, spend five minutes reading some of the memos of legendary Texan oil tycoon Edward Mike Davis. I guarantee that you'll feel a lot better about your lot in life pretty quickly.
Oh, and it goes without saying that my manager woes were all in the past, and that my current boss is a lovely human being in all respects. He really is.
It would be good to hear the UK Tata managers' version of events.
Did Mr Tata arrive unannounced?
Did he have earlier meetings which signicantly over-ran?
Did he call a meeting off the cuff, or ask for additional attendees who were not expecting to be required?
In India I would expect a steel plant manager to have a wife who didn't work, domestic staff at home and probably parents living nearby.
The UK manager probably has a spouse who works to help pay the mortgage, quite possibly in an equally demanding job, extended family at the other end of the country and a childminder who expects the children to be picked up at the pre-arranged time or she will give that childcare place to the next child on the waiting list.
I have worked in places where the office is still busy at 7pm or later, but not with the people having to juggle other aspects of their lives.
It would be good to hear the UK Tata managers' version of events.
Did Mr Tata arrive unannounced?
Did he have earlier meetings which signicantly over-ran?
Did he call a meeting off the cuff, or ask for additional attendees who were not expecting to be required?
In India I would expect a steel plant manager to have a wife who didn't work, domestic staff at home and probably parents living nearby.
The UK manager probably has a spouse who works to help pay the mortgage, quite possibly in an equally demanding job, extended family at the other end of the country and a childminder who expects the children to be picked up at the pre-arranged time or she will give that childcare place to the next child on the waiting list.
I have worked in places where the office is still busy at 7pm or later, but not with the people having to juggle other aspects of their lives.
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