DOES YOUR ORGANISATION HAVE A DOUBLE AGENT

In the late 1970s and 80s, while we were growing up in the Cold War Era , I remember that hostilities between the US and the erstwhile USSR were played on a complex chessboard by waging proxy wars, fueling arms race, proving the supremacy of one’s ideology with the sole purpose of gaining global influence. I recollect that we used to be fascinated to read the accounts of the KGB, CIA and MI6 and their profound impact on the state of affairs during the Cold War Era.

Eventually, as history would chronicle, it was not a Head of State but a double agent who played a pivotal role during the Cold War Era. The pantheon of world-changing spies is small and select, and Oleg Gordievsky will always occupy a prominent place in it : he opened up the inner workings of the KGB at a pivotal juncture in history, revealing not just what Soviet intelligence was doing (and not doing), but what the Kremlin was thinking and planning, and in so doing transformed the way the West thought about the Soviet Union. He risked his life to betray his country. To read more about ?Oleg Gordievsky, you may read the brilliant account of the double Agent ?in the book, “The Spy and the Traitor” by Ben MacIntyre.

THE PREVELANCE OF THE DOUBLE AGENT IN THE COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE OF PRESENT DAY ORGANISATIONS:-

Do organisations use the services of Double Agents?

It is no secret that present day organizations do identify, patronize and leverage the power of Oleg Gordievskys in their rival organisations to gain supremacy over the other. When organisations decide that their survival is possible only by slaying their rival(s), the most effective means to achieve the goal is to identify, buy-out and then leverage the power of a double Agent.

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(1)?? IDENTIFYFING THE DOUBLE AGENT :-

So, who fits the bill for an organization for playing the role of a Oleg Gordievsky ?in their rival organization, whom they can approach to be a double agent for them. It can be one or all of the following:-

• A person who is a key member of the think tank of the rival organization
• A Star performer/ a key innovator of any Department of the rival organization, which creates competitive advantage for the rival organization
• A decision maker in the rival organization.
• An Auditor

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(2)?? CONVERTING THE EMPLOYEE INTO A DOUBLE AGENT:-

That’s an? easy one . A valuable reward is always an easy bait for the identified double agent to win over his loyalty and secure his betrayal with his parent organization.

Often, the double agents are planted into the rival organization with the task of acting as the unsuspecting parasite.

(3)?? LEVERAGING THE BENEFITS OF A DOUBLE AGENT:-

The value of the information provided by the double agent or the destabilization/ retardation in the parent organization engendered by the double agent are monitored ?closely by the rival organization.

An effective double agent will utilize all his craftiness and authority to kill the basis of the competitive advantage of his host organisation

As the impact of the double agent starts increasing, the rival organization, sensing victory, goes for the kill, by increasing its own capital investment/ revamp of marketing strategy etc.to capitalize on its advantage.

In case the double agent fails to create the anticipated impact, s/he is quickly replaced by another double agent but the strategy of engaging a double agent is not discarded.

(4)?? So, what must organizations do to safeguard themselves ?from the potentially pernicious power of the double Agent:-

Managements/Boards ?especially the HR Departments, must be on the lookout for crucial symptoms of sudden change in functional style of a key department or drop in target achievement rates of their key departments or high number of inconclusive High level meetings where decision making is being procrastinated, etc.

Is there a Policy paralysis?

The Top Management/ HR next should objectively identify the person behind such critical failures.

Next , to monitor the activities of the identified person – whom he meets outside of work, monitor his mails- whether he is forwarding crucial company mails to an outside address or to his own personal id, whether he has started taking one too many leaves etc. Is s/he present during odd hours. Even call records may be checked

Further, organisations must do background checks and make themselves doubly sure that the people whom they are planning to recruit don’t have long careers/ affiliations with their closes rivals – Avoid hiring such people at all costs.

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In Conclusion, A double Agent can potentially threaten the very existence of your organization. HR/ Managements/ Boards need to be aware and responsive to such risks

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Do leave your feedback if you have encountered double Agents in your organization.

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