Monday, May 28, 2012

Letter from a First Line Manager to his Boss


Dear Sir,
I am writing this mail to you to share with you my honest thoughts on the roll out of the Corporate   SFE program. The chances are that after I pen down my thoughts , I may not have the courage to send you this mail. But any way let me cross the bridge when I come to it.
Sir , I want to ask you 3  questions.
My first question : Why is it that not a single Corporate SFE Team Member is a field sales manager. Sir , I do not appreciate people coming and telling me what to do when they have no idea about  the realities we face in the field. The group yesterday comprised a senior HO manager who has last worked the field 15 years back. Does he know that in the last 15 years , there has been a sea change in the kind of talent attracted by the Industry. The industry is not a preferred employer today and today I have to recruit whoever I find.  Do you expect miracles to come from this kind of talent? Even if I try to mould and develop , the new MSR takes it as harassment and he resigns before he is confirmed.  Does anyone of the Corporate Team members has any idea about the kind of talent  we are dealing with? I do not think so.
You might tell me to focus the roll out on my experienced team members. Let us take, Vikas. He has been  in my team for the last 3 years. A good performer , but egoistic. You know he delivers results but he has his ways. My second question , If you were in my place , how would you roll out this program to Vikas? The moment I start questioning his doctor list , he will get offended and may even go to the extent of pulling his performance down to show his displeasure. At the end of the month , I am caught between the devil and the deep sea. Do I focus on SFE or do I meet my end of the month commitment. Will you as my boss accept reasons like this for not delivering my numbers?  I know you will not. I cannot take this kind of risk with my performance.
My third question , Sir, Are you convinced that this SFE Roll out will help our territory performance. During the entire meeting I could see you were saying the right things in front of HO. Things they like to hear. But I know your body language lacked conviction. I have been working with you for the last 5 years and know when you are convinced and when you are not. You do not know that also overheard you speaking to your colleague in the washroom during the tea break. You said that this initiative is needless and leading to unrealistic expectations from the corporate. If you as my leader is not convinced how do you expect me to be convinced?.
Sir , I am feeling better , writing this down but I have decided I will not mail this to you. My job is important and I do not want to jeopardise my career by speaking out my concerns. Rather , I too will make all the right noises which HO wants to hear while I continue to guide my team the way I have been doing so as to maintain the current levels of performance.
Please forgive me.
Warm Regards,
Vikram

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