Sunday, March 25, 2007
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere. . .
. . . So what happens when you don't?
To those of my friends who work in the public sector or in non-profits (which is almost everyone) working in the private sector is, shall we say, much more heartless. So to the extent that I am able to distance myself from it, I have. That was, of course, until last week.
My boss hired a statistician to work with me and my team. Over the last month or so he’s fumbled getting anything of substance done, despite living in the office.
I’m not speaking metaphorically here. He was hired March to work in New York and came to the office on the first day and asked me if he could live with me. I refused. Generously, we put him up in a hotel for three weeks after which he managed the Herculean task of not viewing a single place to live. He then went to India (where he is from) for a paid vacation and returned to the office with his suitcases.
The odor from the cubes was stifling, he was clearly living there – had been wearing the same clothes every day. I confronted my boss about the situation, who spoke to him. He continued living in the office. Then I found out that he asked Pete to work out of India office because his visa expired in May and he would have to live there until October, when we would then have to sponsor him to work in the US.
This is where I put my foot down and actively lobbied to get him fired. I brokered meetings with my boss and team members to get him put on probation. During the probation I spoke to my boss about how absurd it is for us, to not only sponsor him, but to basically allow him to work in another continent, and he is not even good at what he does.
The final meeting, on Thursday, was as follows:
My Boss: “Well, if he’s even mildly productive perhaps we should keep him on and have him work from India. Has he been improving?”
My Colleague: “He’s been improving somewhat as I have been getting more output from him, but this is all relative.”
My Boss: “If he’s a liability, that's different. But if he’s producing something, then we should keep him on in the short-term.”
Me: “This guy comes in every day and needs someone to tell him exactly what to do. I spend more time helping him figure out his own job then doing my own. If he gets anything done it’s because someone else has done it for him.”
My Boss: “Okay, then he’s a liability.”
Me: “Yes.”
My boss: “Are you sure he isn’t just new and needs to learn a little?”
Me: “Look. I can tell when someone is on the learning cure or not. He is not on the learning curve and with him being in India for the next 5 months, he’s not going to get there even if he were. This is ridiculous that we think he can contribute.”
My boss: “So you’re telling me he should be fired?”
Me: “Yes, in this environment, with the ambiguity we have to deal with and with the need to have someone in New York, I can say without a doubt he’s got to go.”
My boss: “Okay, then.”
Later that day and after my boss tested my resolve: “Unless you change you mind about this, it’s going to be done. You can have a change of heart, you know.” To which I responded with an obdurate “No. I’m sure. He’s gotta go.”
So the decision was made. And the next day we had to break the news to him. But before he came in he was (finally) out looking for apartments when I get an e-mail from him.. . . “I looked on Craig’s List and found a place that told me they would find me a place to live for a $150 fee. I went there and they took my money and gave me two phone numbers that were bad. I’ve never been so harassed in my life.”
So there is one born every minute. Dear God, he doesn't even know that he's going to be fired, in addition. So at the end of the day my boss and he came into my office when we broke the news. He completely broke down. . . sobbing.
“What is it that I have done? I’m so sorry I have not been productive. I’m trying. I will work anywhere! What am I going to do?! I have a wife and child in India who relies on me for money and I’ve been struggling just to do that. It’s not me I’m thinking of it’s my family, it’s my daughter! Oh, I cannot tell my wife this! She will throw me out on the street and say I’m worthless. Oh my! I don’t want to live!”
This lasted for two hours as I waited for the travel department to book his ticket back to India.
“I cannot go back to Calcutta! I cannot go back to my family! They will kick me out on the streets! Send me to Delhi, where I will try to find work there before I tell my wife. Matt, I look to you as an older brother: What do I do!”
The tickets weren’t able to be printed. It was too late in the day on a Friday. So I printed out the reservation number for the Tuesday flight, the address of a hostel, gave him $20 for cab fare and escorted him out of the building, which I have to say wan't a trivial matter because he'd been living there.
“Bless me, or I shall perish! I don’t want to live!”
And I blessed him.
That's New York for ya, chew you up and spit you out. And I'm part of the process now.
To those of my friends who work in the public sector or in non-profits (which is almost everyone) working in the private sector is, shall we say, much more heartless. So to the extent that I am able to distance myself from it, I have. That was, of course, until last week.
My boss hired a statistician to work with me and my team. Over the last month or so he’s fumbled getting anything of substance done, despite living in the office.
I’m not speaking metaphorically here. He was hired March to work in New York and came to the office on the first day and asked me if he could live with me. I refused. Generously, we put him up in a hotel for three weeks after which he managed the Herculean task of not viewing a single place to live. He then went to India (where he is from) for a paid vacation and returned to the office with his suitcases.
The odor from the cubes was stifling, he was clearly living there – had been wearing the same clothes every day. I confronted my boss about the situation, who spoke to him. He continued living in the office. Then I found out that he asked Pete to work out of India office because his visa expired in May and he would have to live there until October, when we would then have to sponsor him to work in the US.
This is where I put my foot down and actively lobbied to get him fired. I brokered meetings with my boss and team members to get him put on probation. During the probation I spoke to my boss about how absurd it is for us, to not only sponsor him, but to basically allow him to work in another continent, and he is not even good at what he does.
The final meeting, on Thursday, was as follows:
My Boss: “Well, if he’s even mildly productive perhaps we should keep him on and have him work from India. Has he been improving?”
My Colleague: “He’s been improving somewhat as I have been getting more output from him, but this is all relative.”
My Boss: “If he’s a liability, that's different. But if he’s producing something, then we should keep him on in the short-term.”
Me: “This guy comes in every day and needs someone to tell him exactly what to do. I spend more time helping him figure out his own job then doing my own. If he gets anything done it’s because someone else has done it for him.”
My Boss: “Okay, then he’s a liability.”
Me: “Yes.”
My boss: “Are you sure he isn’t just new and needs to learn a little?”
Me: “Look. I can tell when someone is on the learning cure or not. He is not on the learning curve and with him being in India for the next 5 months, he’s not going to get there even if he were. This is ridiculous that we think he can contribute.”
My boss: “So you’re telling me he should be fired?”
Me: “Yes, in this environment, with the ambiguity we have to deal with and with the need to have someone in New York, I can say without a doubt he’s got to go.”
My boss: “Okay, then.”
Later that day and after my boss tested my resolve: “Unless you change you mind about this, it’s going to be done. You can have a change of heart, you know.” To which I responded with an obdurate “No. I’m sure. He’s gotta go.”
So the decision was made. And the next day we had to break the news to him. But before he came in he was (finally) out looking for apartments when I get an e-mail from him.. . . “I looked on Craig’s List and found a place that told me they would find me a place to live for a $150 fee. I went there and they took my money and gave me two phone numbers that were bad. I’ve never been so harassed in my life.”
So there is one born every minute. Dear God, he doesn't even know that he's going to be fired, in addition. So at the end of the day my boss and he came into my office when we broke the news. He completely broke down. . . sobbing.
“What is it that I have done? I’m so sorry I have not been productive. I’m trying. I will work anywhere! What am I going to do?! I have a wife and child in India who relies on me for money and I’ve been struggling just to do that. It’s not me I’m thinking of it’s my family, it’s my daughter! Oh, I cannot tell my wife this! She will throw me out on the street and say I’m worthless. Oh my! I don’t want to live!”
This lasted for two hours as I waited for the travel department to book his ticket back to India.
“I cannot go back to Calcutta! I cannot go back to my family! They will kick me out on the streets! Send me to Delhi, where I will try to find work there before I tell my wife. Matt, I look to you as an older brother: What do I do!”
The tickets weren’t able to be printed. It was too late in the day on a Friday. So I printed out the reservation number for the Tuesday flight, the address of a hostel, gave him $20 for cab fare and escorted him out of the building, which I have to say wan't a trivial matter because he'd been living there.
“Bless me, or I shall perish! I don’t want to live!”
And I blessed him.
That's New York for ya, chew you up and spit you out. And I'm part of the process now.
# posted by otas : 7:15 PM
