This document is authorized for personal use only in Critical Thinking Academy's Executive Education; Critical Thinking course

by A.S.Prasad, from Jun 8, 2021 to Sep 30, 2021.

Indian Institute of Management

Ahmedabad IIMA/P&IR197

Ready, On Your Marks: Should I Fire

this Sports Master?
The whole school is upbeat. For the first time, the school cricket team won the inter-
divisional sports tournament. In a cricket crazy town lacking in sports facilities, the news
made it to Page 1 of all news papers. The cricket team was expected back from Nagpur
where the tournament was held, by late afternoon today and preparations were on to give a
red carpet welcome to the team members and the young sports instructor. Since his joining
the school, things have changed on the sports front. The school has been participating in
state and national competitions both in Track and Field events, and winning some.

The school’s teams and individuals qualifying at various levels, in different spots, were
talked about in the town and even the State. Definitely the credit for this went to the sports
master, who was trained at the National Sports Institute. Though his specialization was
Track and Field, he was an all-rounder. I came to know recently that while in senior
secondary school, he played cricket for the State, apart from excelling in Track and Field.
With his school level accomplishments he could have got admission in any medical or
engineering college to pursue his studies under the sports quota, but instead he choose
sports education out of interest.

You might wonder why I am interested in this. I am the Vice Principal of this sixty year old
school, known for its academic excellence, traditions and discipline. The 2100 student-strong
school is run by an independent trust. The trust has people of social stature on its board.
Trust members keep tab on the performance of the school and are particularly concerned
about the image. The current school principal is a veteran teacher and the recipient of the
President’s Award. He is actively involved in social service. For the past three years, though
I am the Vice Principal, I have all the freedom to run the show. The Principal is my personal
guiding light, with whom I share a warm relationship.

Our motto is to develop young men and women who are all-rounders, not just bookworms.
We believe that we have been successful. The school has three sections, junior school, middle
school and senior school. Each section has an independent Headmistress, separate buildings
and playgrounds. Once in a month, all heads meet with the Principal and Vice Principal to
exchange notes and discuss progress. The school employs 104 full time teachers and a few
part timers, mainly for foreign languages and other specialized tasks. Being a non-metro
city, finding good teachers is a problem, but we are definitely the first choice in the town for
employment. Teacher turnover is high, but our teachers are always ready to stretch a bit to
meet shortfall.

The sports master has worked for the school for about 2 years. His family owned some
property in a village around 100 kms from here. He left his job in a school in Mumbai and
Prepared by Professor Biju Varkkey of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Case is developed based on lead shared in a professional network. Names and locations have been
disguised to protect identity.
Case material of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, is prepared as a basis for class
discussion. Cases are not designed to present illustrations of either correct or incorrect handling of
administrative problems.
© 2006 by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
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2 of 3 IIMA/P&IR0197

shifted here to be closer to the village. At the time of interview, he mentioned that students
in Mumbai were more interested in certificates and parents often influenced them more than
desired. We had excellent references about his abilities from the previous employers. They
did mention that he was strict with wards and did not like interference in his work. We had
to pay more than what we would have otherwise done, to get him here.

In our school, we had given him full charge of the sports department and he supervised four
assistant sports teachers and two helpers. When he took charge there was one assistant
teacher (sports) for the entire school, and respective class teachers were responsible for
sports activities. Few part timers came to coach the higher classes, which was more like the
flavour of the season. Some enthusiastic parents sent their children for private coaching to
clubs, etc. But now he concentrates mainly on sports for senior and middle schools.

Within a year of joining, he was able to give a new life to the sports activities, particularly in
the middle and senior schools. But in the past two years some parents and children had
complained about him being too strict and intimidating. Some had even used the word
"abusive". My observations and that of the Headmistresses of both sections was that he was
definitely strict, really followed through with wards regarding their performance and could
be abrasive at times. Twice in the last two months I had called him into my office to discuss
concerns from parents. He had been very accepting of my suggestions and I could see some
change in behaviour but not a real willingness to reach out to build any great personal
relationships with parents or students.

The latest call about his behaviour came last week from a parent and I called him in to my
office again. He did agree to be careful in future, but complained that students would lose
motivation if they were not closely monitored. He also said that many of the students were
pampered children, and looked for the easy way out.

The matter came to the attention of school’s Trust members, who did not want a bad
reputation for the school. The most recent complaint was from a leading doctor couple, who
doted on their only son. According to the sports master, the parents want their son to be an
all-rounder, always the captain of the team, but treated with kid gloves.

Sports are a compulsory activity in our school. The school trustees were also against making
sports an optional activity, since it meant going against the school’s tradition of over 60
years. That was why we went out of the way to hire a sports instructor. We had the image of
being strict disciplinarians, with stories of strict, cane-wielding school teachers shaping
destinies of students. Many old students remembered the strictness and later thanked us for
taking them through the grind.. One of them recently said that whenever he saw the popular
suiting advertisement of a retiring teacher examining his cane for the last time and students
holding posters “don’t leave us”, he was reminded of the school, his teachers and the
tradition. I understand that the present situation is different; the Principal also believes that
we need to be strict, but does not want complaints of abuse.

In the last meeting with the sports master, I had indicated that there were four more months
of school left this academic year and I did not wish to see a change in teachers. I also
expressed my desire for him to make enough of a change to continue through the end of the
year. I said that, in absence of a visible change in behaviour, I did not see us continuing his
employment after the end of the school year (March 31). He indicated that he loved his
work, the school and the place, and had plans to get married the next year to a colleague
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who taught in the middle school and settle down in the city. He was also planning to lease
out his family property for farming.

I see real potential in this person but a pattern of 6+ complaints over two years, concerns me
about liability and risk for the reputation of the school and trust. As a side note, I know that
two of the complaints came from parents of children who blatantly lied about his behaviour.
The rest were genuine cases. From other colleagues I understand that a few staff members
were jealous of his popularity, ever since the school’s name had been in papers for sports
achievements and his interview appeared in a local TV channel. I have since advised him
not to get in contact with media or give interviews without permission. But no one can
prevent a press photographer from clicking a victory lap.

My dilemma is, personally I like this young man but I must do what is best for the school
and its stakeholders. I understand that yesterday, the Principal received a telephone about
another instance of abrasive behaviour with a parent, while he was on location with the
students. The parent had gone to watch his kid at play, and probably was one of those nosy
kinds. I know getting a replacement of his stature is difficult in a city like ours. The
consequence of acting on the student/parent’s complaint on a performing teacher and firing
him may not be healthy for the school.

Should I fire this person? The appointment order says that both sides can break the contract
of service with one month’s notice or salary in lieu. In the next ten minutes, I will be at the
school gate to receive the winning team and my duty binds me to thank the sports master in
public and congratulate him and the team. Any change in my tone, may be interpreted as
jealousy over his achievements. The school team needs to prepare for the State level
competition, where if things go well we will be one of the top three. There is also a
probability of two students being members of the under-14 State squad:—future Tendulkars
and Rahul Dravid’s in the making.