LOSING A GOOD MAN

Sundar Steel Limited was a medium-sized steel company manufacturing special steels of
various types and grades. It employed 5,000 workers and 450 executives.

Under the General Manager (Production), there were operation, maintenance, and services
groups, each headed by a chief. The Chief of Maintenance was Shukla and under him
Mukherjee was working as the Maintenance Engineer. The total strength of Maintenance was
500 workers, 25 executives, and 50 supervisors.

Chatterjee was working in Maintenance as a worker for three years. He was efficient. He had
initiative and drive. He performed his duties in a near perfect manner. He was a man of
proven technical ability with utmost drive and dash. He was promoted as Supervisor.
Chatterjee, now a Supervisor, was one day passing through the Maintenance Shop on his
routine inspection. He found a certain worker sitting idle. He pulled him up for this. The
worker retaliated by abusing him with filthy words. With a grim face and utter frustration,
Chatterjee reported the matter to Mukherjee. The worker who insulted Chatterjee was a
"notorious character", and no supervisor dared to confront him. Mukherjee took a serious
view of the incident and served a strong warning letter to the worker.

Nothing very particular about Chatterjee or from him came to the knowledge of Mukherjee.
Things were moving smoothly. Chatterjee was getting along well with others.
But after about three years, another serious incident took place. A worker came drunk to duty,
began playing cards, and using very filthy language. When Chatterjee strongly objected to
this, the worker got up and slapped Chatterjee. Later, the worker went to his union and
reported that Chatterjee had assaulted him while he was performing his duties.
Chatterjee had no idea that the situation would take such a turn. He, therefore, never bothered
to report the matter to his boss or collect evidence in support of his case.

The union took the case to Shukla and prevailed over him to take stern action against
Chatterjee. Shukla instructed Mukherjee to demote Chatterjee to the rank of a worker.
Mukherjee expressed his apprehension that in such a case Chatterjee will be of no use to the
department, and the demotion would affect adversely the morale of all sincere and efficient
supervisors. But Chatterjee was demoted.

Chatterjee continued working in the organisation with all his efficiency, competence, and
ability for two months. Then he resigned stating that he had secured better employment else
where. Mukherjee was perturbed at this turn of events. While placing Chatterjee's resignation
letter before Shukla, he expressed deep concern at this development.

Shukla called Chief of Personnel for advice on this delicate issue. The Chief of Personnel
said, "I think the incident should help us to appreciate the essential qualification required for
a successful supervisor. An honest and hardworking man need not necessarily prove to be an
effective supervisor. Something more is required for this as he has to get things done rather
than do himself."

Mukherjee said," I have a high opinion of Chatterjee. He proved his technical competence
and was sincere at his work. Given some guidance on how to deal with the type of persons he
had to work with, the sad situation could have been avoided."
 Shukla said, "I am really sorry to lose Chatterjee. He was very \honest and pain-staking in
his work. But I do not know how I could have helped him. I wonder how he always managed
to get into trouble with workers. We know they are illiterates and some of them are tough.
But a supervisor must have the ability and presence of mind to deal with such men. I have
numerous supervisors, but I never had to teach anybody how to supervise his men."

Questions
1. What is the main problem in the case?
2. Do you think the decision taken by Shukla is in keeping with the faith, trust and creating
developmental climate in the organisation, critically evaluate?
3. What would you have done, if you were in place of Shukla?
4. Do you agree with what Chief of Personnel has said? What is he pointing towards saying
that something more is required to be an effective supervisor, explain?
5. Mukherjee is pointing towards "guidance" Is he indicating' towards enhancing
competencies of the employees to perform their job more effectively. Do you agree?
6. Do you think counselling/mentoring may help improving rough and I tough employees?
7. Is the present situation likely to affect the work motivation? HRD systems have great
relevance to employee motivation. As G.M. what developmental interventions would you
recommend to improve work motivation and dyadic relationship?
 A DEFIANT WORKER

Mr. X aged 25, who had been working in a large scale textile unit in Madurai was referred to
the Social Worker by the Labour Relations Department for a social investigation of the
defiant behaviour exhibited by him in the work place. He had absented from work many a
time due to certain disturbing habits.

Mr. X had committed serious acts of misconduct, riotous and disorderly behaviour during
working hours on 10-1-1982 as (1) he came to the Mill in a drunken state and quarrelled with
his co-workers and
(2) Abused the supervisor using foul language.

On a cursory perusal of the past records of the deviant worker, the social worker came to
know that Mr. X had absented himself continually for 176½ days during 1981. In addition, he
had availed himself of 21 days' medical leave and 22 days' casual leave. As a result of his
indisciplined behaviour, the company had taken the following disciplinary action against him:

(1) He was suspended three times for 30 days by the Labour Relations Department for
absenting himself from work for more than six consecutive days on two occasions and once
for committing a serious act of misconduct.
(2) He was suspended as many as 5 times for being absent from the workspot.
(3) Once he was fined half of his salary maximum for carelessly allowing the cotton to wrap
on the cylinder roll.
(4) He was given a final warning on 27-8-1982 regarding his habitual absence.

During the preliminary interview the Social Worker had with Mr. X, he came to know that
Mr. X was married and had studied upto 6 th standard. He had been drawing a salary of Rs.
800 and had put in six years of service as a 'Worker' in the Blow Section. As to the family
background, Mr. X is the youngest son of his parents. He lost his father and mother when he
was 7 years old. Since then his eldest brother had been looking after him. In order to know
more about the socio-cultural background of Mr. X, the factors which had driven him to
indulge in alcoholism and the causes for his indisciplined behaviour in the work place, the
Social Worker paid visits to his house many a time and conferred with his family members.
In the course of an interview he had with the eldest brother of Mr. X, the Social Worker
gathered information about Mr. X's life history right from the schooling. This revealed that
Mr. X, was never interested in schooling and frequently absented from the class. He was
associated with a gang of friends who used to take him to films regularly 'when Mr. X was in
the fifth standard.

During his youth, Mr. X seemed to take active interest in politics and ultimately fell under the
influence of gangsters, through whom he had developed certain vices such as consuming
alcohol, ganja and gambling.

Seeing the deteriorating moral and social life of Mr. X his brother procured a job for him 'in
the local textile unit so that Mr. X could settle down and assume certain responsibilities in
life. As years rolled by, Mr. X got married but in course of time he started developing a
feeling of hatred towards his wife in as much as he did not like her physical appearance. His
marital life lasted only for three months after which the nuptial bondage had broken, once and
for all. Dissatisfied with the kind of life he was leading, Mr. X began to consume alcohol
regularly only to become an addict. He started playing ducks and drakes with all his savings
and the income derived from his land too. His brother began to reject him for he was beyond
redemption and finally drove him out of the house.

Mr. X's supervisor, while interviewed by the Social Worker, stated that Mr. X's relationship
with him and co-workers had been unsatisfactory. He was not efficient in his work. Often
times, he quarrelled with the Supervisor and other workers when he came to the workspot
under the influence of alcohol. The Supervisor was of the view that though Mr. X has been
counselled and punished on many occasions, he has not repented for the acts of misconduct
he had committed.

Understandably, the factors contributing to the deviant behaviour that Mr. X might be the
lack of parental care during his childhood, his association with gangsters, marital
disagreement due to dissatisfaction in his sexual relations, failure on the part of the
management to discover the problem at an early stage and control the same, etc., and this
might lead us to assume that Mr. X had developed disturbing habits such as alcoholic
addiction and chronic absenteeism owing to very factors indicated above. When the Social
Worker pleaded with the Labour Officer to grant pardon to Mr. X for the repeated deviant
acts exhibited by him, the Officer explained that though Mr. X was given the absolute final
warning, the latter had absented himself for about 45 days even after receiving the same and
therefore, he asserted, that he had no other option but to dismiss Mr. X from service.

Questions
1. Is it not the moral and ethical responsibility of the employer to be concerned about the
quality of life of the deviant worker?
2. How could the misbehaviour of the worker be constructively corrected without penalty?
3. Suppose the deviant worker had been counselled by the Supervisor/ Manager rather than
progressively penalized, would he have been dismissed from service?
4. Is the procedure adopted by the organisation for disciplining the errant behaviour of the
worker justifiable?
5. Could the termination of the defiant worker's services have been avoided?
6. What rehabilitative measures could be adopted for preventing and correcting the deviant
behaviour of workers whu had exhibited habit disturbances in the work place?