The title here refers to the last days of the relationship between an employer and an employee. Horrible examples of bad behavior from both sides have been impinging on my ear and I felt like penning down some of my thoughts today. Sadly, the example of an employee behaving unprofessionally in the last few days was something I had to witness first hand. While employers behaving badly is not something I have yet experienced, I think it is an equally horrible experience that deserves to be criticized with full vigour.
It is very rare to find someone sticking to the same job forever. This may be common in some sectors but job switching is a major part of today's corporate life. And I think it is also an excellent testing ground. How ethical and professional someone is, I believe, gets truly tested during these days, marked by the day the employee puts down the papers to the last day of service.
Let's take an employee's side of things first. Let me begin with my own personal example. I worked in the HSBC's (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) EDPI (Electronic Data Processing India) for a brief period between my Bachelor's and Master's when I was taking a break from my studies. I realized that I should spend my 20s in more knowledge absorption than earning money and put down my resignation just a few months before the start of the next academic year. As my memory serves me, the last month I spent in HSBC was one of my most productive months. On the last day of service, a small gathering took place and I was gifted a book set and words of praise were showered about what I did in the relatively little time I spent there. This took me by surprise because I felt I had not spent sufficient time here to warrant a proper send-off. I guess this is a perfect example of excellent professional behavior on part of the employer!
So on the last day, I continued my work as usual after the brief send off session. When the clock announced the end of my last shift in HSBC, I logged on to the software module where we filed our time sheets and filled it out. I punched in 30 minutes for Company Approved Non Production Time (a way of saying that you did not work because the company asked you to be part of aomething else - in this case, my farewell!), and punched in the rest of the time as per what I had done that day. I then logged off, said goodbye to everyone on the floor and headed out of the office.
The next day, I got a call from my colleague who sounded all amazed and shocked. He says, "You filled out the time sheet? You processed 48 items last night?" And I am completely confused. What was he trying to drive at? My colleague then says, "It was your last day, right? You could have chosen to be unproductive. You could have chosen to enjoy your time. You could have skipped the timesheet - those numbers wouldn't have mattered anyway." And I am still confused! And my colleague continues, "Anyone would have chosen to do this, you know?" My colleague may have intended to appreciate me but I only felt sad. I felt this was the normal thing to do! I was getting paid for that day of work. How did it matter if it was the last? I was still getting paid for it. Why is there being so much appreciation thrown around for this?
And that my dear friends is the simple advice for anyone spending their last days with a current employer. The notice period is simply a formal way of saying - "this guy is leaving soon, if anyone needs him to transfer either knowledge or responsibilities, please do so." Other than that, it means nothing else! Your work hours should be the same, perhaps a little more but definitely not less. Your attitude should be the same. The rules remain the same.
As I learned on my last day at HSBC and I witnessed first hand recently, this simple common sense is lacking in many people. My first hand account is irksome. The gentelman in question started coming late, started throwing an air of "what will you do without me?", questioned decisions of his seniors, stopped working at optimal productivity, became irritated when work was delegated to him etc. This behavior caused all of his otherwise hard work to be undone. He left a bad taste in the mouth of everyone.
The world is a small place. The only reason this behavior will not backfire on him or anyone in his place is plain luck. And nothing else. There are very well known examples of how an employee abused his manager, took a nice break in the Bahamas or whatever and joined a new organization to find the manager he abused moved there as his new manager! If the very ideal of working because you are getting paid even for your so-called "notice period days" is not appealing, at least be tactful and acknowledge that there can be unforeseen consequences of any and all behavior.
Employees like these have the potential to deeply corrupt the overall work culture. The potential is amplified by the fact that we humans have a natural tendency to adopt all the bad habits very easily. There is a strong chance that such people will inspire people with ethics to abandon them too. Even worse, there is a strong chance that these people will inspire the employers to take some drastic steps which will unfairly affect employees with common sense thereby forcing them to compromise on their values during their last days too!
Ah, employers! I have not forgotten about you. The whole post seems like I'm focusing on the employees and not the employers. The rule of exercising professionalism, common sense and good ethics is as applicable to employers as it is to the employees. If an employer has a tradition of a send-off, they must stick to it! If the employer owes money to the employee for outstanding work, they must ensure the employee gets it (assuming all terms and conditions in written form hold good of course). If the employee has outstanding leaves, they must be able to avail them.
But again, the world of gossip is full of descriptions of how employers treated their employees unfairly in the last couple of months. For example, I know one incident where the employee was obliged to serve a two month notice period but was "blackmailed" (for lack of better words) into spending three months. In another incident, the employee never received the last month's salary! In another incident, a friendly manager became an exceptionally hard and cruel person. And on and on the list goes!
Such behavior on part of the employers also corrupts the overall work culture and ethics in and around the organization. Employees who worked hard till the last minute may think twice before deciding to work sincerely in their last days for the current employer. "Will it be worth it?", they will ask themselves! People in the current organization will think twice as well! Again, if the ideal of professional behavior does not appeal to you, dear employers, hopefully the practical thought of the importance of your image and credibility as an organization should inspire you to behave well.
Some articles I have written have taken quite a long time to transfer from my mind to the keyboard. Not because the thoughts were hard to frame but because I felt that they described such a commonsensical concept that it was like stating the obvious. But the sad reality is that it is not obvious! Let's hope we can arrest the decline in our work culture resulting from the tendency to deviate from unprofessional behavior, in the last days.