When Hard Work Isn't Enough: Why Did Mukta Lose Her Job Despite Her Success?

Dear All,

I am sharing one incident that happened in my own organization, which is an IT MNC. This incident occurred last month, and I'm still in search of an answer to my question: Why did this incident happen to Mukta?

Mukta is an HR Executive who was recruited by her HR Manager as the only assistant to her department two years ago. At the end of the first year, the company was growing, and the recruitment pressure was too high. As a result, one more person was added to support Mukta in recruitment, and for another specific activity, a person from the front office was also added to the team with a promotion. Everything was working perfectly, and Mukta received an interim salary hike due to her dedication and good performance.

The HR MANAGER left the company, and a new replacement recruited by Mukta joined. Mukta was on leave during the knowledge transfer period. At that time, the company was facing financial pressure, and management was considering retrenchment. All department heads were asked by their managers to identify the weakest team member to be let go.

For the new HR manager, it was an easy decision when management decided to reduce internal hiring processes. Mukta, who had received two salary hikes within one year, was asked to leave the company with notice. She questioned the management's decision, but they only provided excuses, stating that her performance was never a concern for them.

Mukta is still searching for answers as to why she became the victim. She is so shocked that she cannot show her confidence to others despite being an experienced HR professional. I urge you all to reflect on the situation, suggest where things went wrong, and consider how we can all improve ourselves to avoid facing such situations in today's ethics-based companies.

Regards,

Shivani

Hi Shivani,

I have some queries for you. Please respond to the email.

1) How many days did Mukta go on leave for?
2) When Mukta was working, was the management facing a financial crisis?
3) How many years more experienced is the new HR Manager compared to Mukta?
4) Why did Mukta hire two assistants?
5) What was the company's strength when Mukta joined? What is the current strength?
6) In what ways was Mukta performing well?
7) Is the new HR manager very close to the company's higher officers?

Please provide answers to the above points. We may come to some conclusions.

Regards,
Sidheshwar

Hi Shivani,

I am really happy to see a response to my mail. Here are the answers:

1. Mukta was on vocational leave for seven days.

2. Yes, the financial crisis came to light four months before this incident.

3. The new HR Manager is 3 years older (in terms of experience) than Mukta.

4. Mukta has inducted one new hire for her department as she did not have experience in generalist HR activities. The other lady from the Front office was in a different area dedicated to ERM activity for client site employees. The company's HR was primarily focused on recruitment, and both new members were trained by Mukta on policies and procedures for internal hiring.

5. The company is a software and staff augmentation firm with a high attrition ratio. When Mukta joined, the company had a strength of only 65 internally, and now it is over 90, with 70 recruited by Mukta.

6. Mukta was able to provide timely replacements for all positions, and the new hires were stable and good performers. She worked within the budget, completed tasks on time, often staying late in the office. She brought new ideas to the HR department and was consistently appreciated for it.

7. This might be a difficult question, but there is no significant closeness as such. Mukta worked with the higher officer, whom she was a part of hiring, for about two years. She was continuously appraised as a reliable performer in the HR department. The new HR Manager, who joined a month ago, has yet to prove herself to the management, so it's uncertain how close she is to the management/higher officials.

Looking forward to a response from you.

Regards,
Sidheshwar

Hi, Shivani

Good morning,

It's really difficult to understand the reasons because, as per your statement, Mukta was doing well. Something is clicking in my mind.

Probably:

1) When Mukta was working, I think there was no alternative to replace her. Management may have given her an increment to retain her until a replacement was found. In the eyes of management, Mukta's performance may not have been good. Performance is usually evaluated by others. Self-appraisal is also a part of it, but it depends on individual capability. Sometimes, we may think we are performing well, but the evaluator may have a different opinion.

2) Perhaps Mukta's salary was high, and the new manager was instructed to find a candidate who would accept a lower salary to control costs.

3) The new manager may have been concerned about Mukta's performance and did not want to take the risk of being replaced by Mukta in the future. Therefore, he may have misled management to retrench her as a cost-saving measure. It's worth noting that top management often focuses on cost control.

4) It's possible that the staff recruited by Mukta during her tenure were receiving higher salaries than the previous staff. This increased the company's costs, leading to Mukta's retrenchment. Generally, there is a salary bracket (minimum and maximum), and Mukta may have offered the maximum salary to retain employees, thinking she was doing a good job by keeping staff. This could have led to her retrenchment.

5) There may have been conflicts with senior and effective individuals who could have misrepresented the situation to top management.

6) Mukta's behavior might have contributed to this possibility.

I will consider this further and reply in due course.

Looking forward to more comments from other members.

Regards,

Sidheshwar

Hi Shivani,

It's sad to know that a performer throughout has been asked to leave without any reason. Through your description, I feel the most probable reason for the management to ask Mukta to quit was her salary. As stated earlier, maybe the Manager felt that she could get an assistant HR for a lower salary, and since they were already going through a financial crisis, cost-cutting will be the first thing that will come to their mind.

The second reason could also be the feeling of insecurity/inferiority, which may have arisen in the mind of the HR Manager since Mukta's performance was very good. But the chances of this are less since if Mukta was Management's favorite and appreciated employee, they would not have taken such a decision only on the feedback of the Manager who has recently joined the company.

I think the reason is cost-cutting in terms of high-paid salaries.

Regards,
Pooja

Hi all,

Thank you so much for sending your valuable response and helping Mukta to avoid such a situation again in the future. I still expect some more responses from all members who have already encountered such situations in their organization or with their near ones.

Regards,
Shivani