I am leaving Boss! Conversation between a 25 year old and 40 Head Retail

A 25-year-old buying & merchandising (B&M) professional called to invite me for a bash. She had received an Offer from AXS Retail, a soon to be launched international retail chain. Inspite of a salary hike of 100% she sounded a wee bit worried when we spoke!  After a two-hour conversation with Retail Head (RH) yesterday she was confused, should she leave?

RH – Pia why do you want to leave. Are you unhappy with?
• Your induction program.
• Your job does not allow you to leverage your NIFT degree and prior experience.
• That you did not get a computer for six days after you joined.
• Your boss is neither supportive nor is adding Value to you.
• I.T. dept did not give you an email id for weeks.
• Your Salary.

Honestly Pia, everyone speaks highly of you and believes that you have a bright future.

Pia – Yes I did not like my induction, there was chaos the day I walked into office.  Neither had HR prepared a formal induction program nor had they taken time from the B & M Head whom I was to meet. I was depressed at the end of day 1. Not having a laptop added to the misery. Having said that RH, I believe PZZ is a good place to work. Yet I am having some problems.

My boss does not support my work either intellectually or publicly. Sometimes I feel that he sees me to be in competition with him. He does not have time for me too. There is also this issue of my cell phone bills. As per current policy we have to pay for personal calls. Do you expect me to spend time checking the 800 odd calls that I make and allocate cost? I would rather do some creative work. Cannot a fixed sum be paid every month?

In department meetings I am not allowed to express myself, fine might not be always right but should be heard atleast. Since our products are targeted at 25-30 age group would I not have a better perspective as their peer? Just because have only four years work experience am not given challenging assignments. In the last job my education, experience and intuition helped double sales in two years for twenty retail outlets of the western region. I believe am not realizing potential. Lastly it is the money boss! 45k to 87k is a steep jump.

RH – Thanks for being so frank Pia. Truly appreciate your feedback. Let me respond one by one. Cell phone policy is being changed from January 1. You get a fixed reimbursement of 1,500/ per month or actual bill amount whichever is lower. You are bang on problems w.r.t. induction etc. We are introducing sound HR processes and are complimenting that with competent professionals.

I am concerned with other points made by you but tell me, have you not asked for a one to one dialogue with your boss. After all it is as important for the employee to take initiative as much it the employer’s responsibility to encourage having a one to one dialogue. Have you told your Boss how you see yourself in the current state, what you would like to be and got his feedback on the same. Once he understands your aspirations am sure he would give you appropriate challenging assignments that leverage your strengths and help you earn a performance bonus.

Did you know that in the next two years we propose to open 125 stores in India and the Middle East? Ours is a performance driven organization, work speaks for oneself.

Honestly we cannot give you a 100% jump but what we can do is to give you a meatier job profile and a performance bonus. Personally I would recommend that you spend a few years with us, make the learning curve steeper, earn your stripes and thereby laying the foundations for a bright future. After that you are free to join AXS Retail or another at a much higher level/salary. You have to decide Pia - do you want to be a long-term player – lambe race ka ghoda? Or a rolling stone.

Published in the NHRD Newsletter