Whistles and Blowers!

This morning, while on the tread mill I struck up a rather interesting conversation with a friend who lives in my apartment complex. The guy has worked with a couple of large IT firms in Bengaluru, one Indian and the other an MNC.
The chat was about the efficacy of policies and procedures in an organization and the level of implementation.( look at my level of commitment, talking shop even at the gym,hahaha) A case in point is the –Whistle Blowers Policy. Most large organization worth their salt has such a policy in place. However post the Satyam scandal; there has not been a single incident, in India, where the whistle has been blown on corrupt workplace practice. Can you believe that in a system as corrupt as ours, there would not be workplace practices worth looking at closely and reporting? Or is it the repercussions of reporting, wrongdoing? The fear?
With sweat trickling down our sides, we moved on to the Performance Appraisal system, in these organizations. On paper the process looks watertight. Three sixty degree feedback, an allowance to challenge your boss, if you do not like what he/she has said about you. However, how often do you find somebody challenging their boss? The answer is –zilch! Does this mean that all appraisals are correct and above board? You’ve got to be kidding to believe that!
I strongly believe that if you have got policies in place and the outcome appears to be too good to be true, then it is exactly that- cooked up results. This is where the top management ought to step in, support the system and closely look at the efficacy of policies that they have formulated and put in place.
The PA system in wrong hands can play havoc, with careers and can be used to elicit all sorts of favors, from people afraid for their jobs. The possibilities are frightening. It is also possibly the reason, why workplace relationships have become transactional and devoid of trust.
Many years ago, when a very senior IT professional, from Infosys, was under a cloud for sexual harassment, the then CEO , NRN, did not bat an eyelid in jettisoning the man, though grapevine said that the accused man was Narayanmurthy’s protege! Zero tolerance- there you have it. It is little wonder, why Infosys, is where it is.
After huffing, puffing and talking for about forty minutes, my friend and I parted ways, he to navigate the mind boggling terrain on the Kanakapura Road, which now resembles a lunar landscape and me to set course for Anekal. On the way home, I bumped into Raju, the security guy, from Nepal. A sprightly young fellow, I like him. Raju was testing out a shiny new whistle and looked satisfied with the ear splitting sound it emitted. In a grey world I’m glad somebody blows a whistle once in a way, somewhere, sometime and feels happy!