An office set-up, say the HR department; whereby some guests from outside have come for some liaison purpose. The cabin of the HR head is where the guests are seated. Outside the cabin are seated 6 subordinates [ranking executives], 1 computer operator, and 1 project trainee. There are 2 peons allotted to the department; however, both of them aren't available in the vicinity since they have gone for xerox and dispatching mail.
Water bottles aren't kept in the cabins but rather in a closet at the corner of the room, where the peon keeps all the material for serving purposes and prepares tea and all. So the cutlery is also placed there, as well as a jug of water and glasses. Anybody who wants water calls out to the peon who carries glasses in trays.
Now when no peon is around to serve anything, one of the guests gets thirsty. The HR head asks one of the subordinates to get water inside.
The structure and hierarchy of boss-subordinate and peon levels are so strong that a certain type of work is said to be allotted, and somebody else cannot do the job or is considered below dignity!
In this case, what can be done? Let the subordinate executive bring water or ask the computer operator (since he's in the lowest bracket of designations) or wait for the peon to return and let the guest go thirsty till then?
Please provide an explanation for why you chose the option!
Akanksha HR Vigilance
From India, Bangalore
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Water bottles aren't kept in the cabins but rather in a closet at the corner of the room, where the peon keeps all the material for serving purposes and prepares tea and all. So the cutlery is also placed there, as well as a jug of water and glasses. Anybody who wants water calls out to the peon who carries glasses in trays.
Now when no peon is around to serve anything, one of the guests gets thirsty. The HR head asks one of the subordinates to get water inside.
The structure and hierarchy of boss-subordinate and peon levels are so strong that a certain type of work is said to be allotted, and somebody else cannot do the job or is considered below dignity!
In this case, what can be done? Let the subordinate executive bring water or ask the computer operator (since he's in the lowest bracket of designations) or wait for the peon to return and let the guest go thirsty till then?
Please provide an explanation for why you chose the option!
Akanksha HR Vigilance
From India, Bangalore
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Just start keeping a tray with 3-4 glasses of water in the cabin. Much ado about nothing...
From India, Mumbai
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5From India, Mumbai
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Thanks indeed, Shikha. That's pretty much an obvious answer, but some organizations follow their own whims and fancies, so I was just looking around for the kind of answers people come up with.
There's a part 2 to the caselet, something much opposite to what rsk11584/K. Ravi described. Well, the computer operator was asked to take water for the guests. Surprisingly, it created quite a furor and invited wrath from the other executives stating that the Computer Operator shouldn't have gone. Rather, we should have waited for the peon to arrive (that's another matter the peon came after 30 mins)!
So now after describing the whole situation, quite a paradigm shift has happened. How do we analyze the situation about breaking the hierarchy, about talking about equity on one hand, and on the other still holding on to the hierarchical bounds? How do we break of it and make the organization more flat, at least in some jobs/tasks? Something as little as serving water shouldn't become a water cooler moment!
From India, Bangalore
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There's a part 2 to the caselet, something much opposite to what rsk11584/K. Ravi described. Well, the computer operator was asked to take water for the guests. Surprisingly, it created quite a furor and invited wrath from the other executives stating that the Computer Operator shouldn't have gone. Rather, we should have waited for the peon to arrive (that's another matter the peon came after 30 mins)!
So now after describing the whole situation, quite a paradigm shift has happened. How do we analyze the situation about breaking the hierarchy, about talking about equity on one hand, and on the other still holding on to the hierarchical bounds? How do we break of it and make the organization more flat, at least in some jobs/tasks? Something as little as serving water shouldn't become a water cooler moment!
From India, Bangalore
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Dear Akanksha,
This is the problem of hierarchical demarcation. I, for one (having worked abroad for over 40 years), would not have bothered if my boss had requested me to serve the 'guests'; that's what the visitors are. Soon people change their attitude for the better. What would we do if the house-help was not there and the guests had to be served a drink? Would we not serve it ourselves? If I were the boss and felt that there was a hierarchy, I would have got up, gone, and fetched the water myself to set an example for others.
Have a nice day.
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK
"It is never too late to learn or improve oneself."
From United Kingdom
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This is the problem of hierarchical demarcation. I, for one (having worked abroad for over 40 years), would not have bothered if my boss had requested me to serve the 'guests'; that's what the visitors are. Soon people change their attitude for the better. What would we do if the house-help was not there and the guests had to be served a drink? Would we not serve it ourselves? If I were the boss and felt that there was a hierarchy, I would have got up, gone, and fetched the water myself to set an example for others.
Have a nice day.
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK
"It is never too late to learn or improve oneself."
From United Kingdom
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Self-service and vending machines would be the best options in this case. Serving guests is not a matter of dignity; it is a matter of courtesy. People must view this from a humanitarian angle instead of a formal approach. Not serving guests is bad manners, and individuals who are stubborn with hierarchy are not fit to become employees if they do not exhibit good manners, regardless of the position they hold in the company.
Regards,
Partho
From Saudi Arabia
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Regards,
Partho
From Saudi Arabia
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Little bit agree with Parthasarthi...
The culture should be:
1. The peon should serve water to all middle-level and top-level employees if the firm is of medium size.
2. If the firm is big, then the peon should only serve the top management.
3. Self-service and vending machines should be available.
4. If any guest arrives, the peon should be called to serve water.
5. There should be one water bottle in the top management cabin, along with a glass of water or a tray of glasses filled with water.
6. If it gets empty, it will be the peon's responsibility to check the availability of water in the cabins.
7. If any guest comes for an enquiry or a candidate for an interview, we can gently ask them to follow the self-service policy.
From India, Delhi
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The culture should be:
1. The peon should serve water to all middle-level and top-level employees if the firm is of medium size.
2. If the firm is big, then the peon should only serve the top management.
3. Self-service and vending machines should be available.
4. If any guest arrives, the peon should be called to serve water.
5. There should be one water bottle in the top management cabin, along with a glass of water or a tray of glasses filled with water.
6. If it gets empty, it will be the peon's responsibility to check the availability of water in the cabins.
7. If any guest comes for an enquiry or a candidate for an interview, we can gently ask them to follow the self-service policy.
From India, Delhi
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I tried being in the scene and as a person who is asked to serve water. What I would do is - (a part of what Shika says): Pull the tray, place a few drinking glasses on it, keep the jug separate, and arrange all this on a tray. Ask the guests to feel free to help themselves. On the whole, I would just pull a table in front of them with all the things on top of it.
If you are asking how to make the organization more flat with certain tasks, it must flow from the top! I may feel bad serving water to the guests, but if I one day happen to see my boss doing it with no hesitation - then I might as well learn that from him.
From India, Madras
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If you are asking how to make the organization more flat with certain tasks, it must flow from the top! I may feel bad serving water to the guests, but if I one day happen to see my boss doing it with no hesitation - then I might as well learn that from him.
From India, Madras
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Acting like human being could solve this case. But it has to be in company’s culture
From India, Coimbatore
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From India, Coimbatore
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In my post above, I had said, "If I were the boss and felt that there was a hierarchy, I would have gotten up and gone to fetch the water myself to set an example for others." This was inspired by what my boss did at Philips Electrical once.
A visitor from the Group HQ was expected in the department for inspection. Instead of asking a technician or an engineer to tidy the place and clean, my boss said aloud, "Please give me a duster; I will tidy the place before XXX arrives at 11 am." Immediately, the technicians and engineers said, "Neil, you do not need to do that. We will tidy the place." What a lesson I learned that day about the dignity of labor. Of course, that was in the UK and not India, where we expect the peon to do things for us.
Have a nice day,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK
"It is never too late to learn or improve oneself."
From United Kingdom
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A visitor from the Group HQ was expected in the department for inspection. Instead of asking a technician or an engineer to tidy the place and clean, my boss said aloud, "Please give me a duster; I will tidy the place before XXX arrives at 11 am." Immediately, the technicians and engineers said, "Neil, you do not need to do that. We will tidy the place." What a lesson I learned that day about the dignity of labor. Of course, that was in the UK and not India, where we expect the peon to do things for us.
Have a nice day,
Simhan
A retired academic in the UK
"It is never too late to learn or improve oneself."
From United Kingdom
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Hi,
I suggest you keep water bottles for each and every one. This will help in avoiding future disputes. Secondly, if your boss is really a gentleman, he should not mind getting up to take a glass of water for himself and for guests. There is nothing wrong with serving a glass of water or a cup of coffee to your colleagues or visitors. The key is for the people working there to be mature enough to understand this. Instead of considering it low-level work, you should be confident enough to say that you have done something nice.
In most MNC companies nowadays, there are no office boys as employees do their work themselves. It depends on how you, or someone else, perceives things. If you think negatively, you might feel that you have done a low-class job.
Regards,
Preeti
From India, Mumbai
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I suggest you keep water bottles for each and every one. This will help in avoiding future disputes. Secondly, if your boss is really a gentleman, he should not mind getting up to take a glass of water for himself and for guests. There is nothing wrong with serving a glass of water or a cup of coffee to your colleagues or visitors. The key is for the people working there to be mature enough to understand this. Instead of considering it low-level work, you should be confident enough to say that you have done something nice.
In most MNC companies nowadays, there are no office boys as employees do their work themselves. It depends on how you, or someone else, perceives things. If you think negatively, you might feel that you have done a low-class job.
Regards,
Preeti
From India, Mumbai
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