My manager's Attitude Towards Dispatch Work

       Within months of my taking over the dispatch work, the manager's attitude towards the dispatch work, and me in particular, baffled me.

       Here I must say something about the manager and his concept of management of a branch office.  His sole work consists of keeping the cost of running the branch office to the barest minimum.  I have heard this attitude about him, but I thought at that time that it had nothing to do with me or with my work, but one incident happened in regard to increase in the wages of dispatch workers through which I realized that he will try to achieve that goal in any manner whatsoever, which shocked me. 

       At the time of my accepting the offer of the work, he informed me about my position in the company and that I could not expect some of the benefits that the company employees were enjoying such as the evening meal and coffee every two hours offered to the press staff when they come for night duty for printing work.

       I accepted his terms and I was not at all bothered about these simple benefits, but at that time, I again reiterated to the manager that for doing the dispatch work I expect a newspaper agency at the earliest from him. He accepted my request and assured me that I will be offered a news agency when the opportunity comes.  However, when as branch manger, he was reluctant or even unwilling to arrange some facilities that are needed to run the dispatch work efficiently, I was taken aback and wondered about his motive in offering the dispatch work to me.

       Once I asked the branch manager for an increase in wages for the dispatch workers.  He requested me to wait for some more time and told me that it was not the right time for asking an increase, and that he knew the right time for asking such an increase, and he would inform me at that time for writing a letter to the head office for the increase.  I had no other way than wait for some time, as even if I wrote for the increase against his wishes, he might have advised the head office against it or he was such a person that he would have forwarded my letter for increase in wages without comment and orally advise the office against it.

       Therefore, I informed the dispatch workers about it, and they agreed to wait for some time. After two to three months, some dispatch workers directly asked the branch manager for an increase when he came to the dispatch section. He told them that I have not asked for an increase in wages and he asked them how he could ask the head office himself when the dispatch contractor has not asked first.

       When the workers told me about the incident, I was shocked.  But fortunately for me, the workers knew the manager very well and they were aware that he was the kind of person who was an expert in playing the game of getting people against one another, and they just informed me about the incident.

       When I informed them about what transpired between me and the manager about the increase in wages earlier, they understood me and left the matter at that since they knew me very well and believed me and nothing untoward happened further in the matter.

       By behaving in this manner, the manger wanted to earn good name from the company management for keeping the cost of running the branch office very low by postponing the increase in wages for the workers, and also earn good name from the workers that he could not do anything about increasing wages for workers when the contractor himself was not serious enough in writing a letter asking for increase in wages to the company.

       The next day, I went to the branch manager, and without asking him about anything about his meeting with the workers, I handed over a letter to the head office asking for an increase in wages for the workers, and he reluctantly forwarded the letter to the head office, and it was sanctioned.

       This incident relates to increasing wages for workers and thereby increase in the cost for the company, and he may have an excuse  - though no justification - for behaving in this manner as he wanted to keep the cost of running the branch office as low as possible.

       But in another incident, he was not at all willing even to make any effort to get some arrangements needed for running the dispatch work without any recurrent cost increase to the company branch office, like some shelter that I asked him to make to keep the dispatch parcels safe during winter and rainy time.  I will write about it in my next posting.