AN OFFER I COULDN’T REFUSE

Mazher remembered the day when one of his friends had walked into his office along with a demure looking young man and introduced him as Paddy, as everyone fondly called him. His friend’s words were clear in Mazher’s mind like it was yesterday. He had said, “Do what it takes to put some sense into this young brat and make him capable of standing on his own feet. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in his life.”

?Mazher felt like he was looking at a six feet tall rock and being asked to chisel it into a statue. The thought made him grin and when his friend asked for the reason, Mazher simply shook his head and said “Nothing”, but his mind was calculating what would be Paddy’s number in the list of his creations.

Novice Paddy got a place in the team. He was perhaps certain in his mind that it was a short sentence that he would serve and soon be back to his happy-go-lucky bunch of friends. But as days passed by Paddy started liking the people in the office, the work each one was doing, more importantly, that each one was enjoying what he or she was doing. It was a reputed travel management company and Paddy was not the first one to be enamoured by its glamour. Day by day, he started learning his ropes and got smart with the tricks of the trade.

Mazher could tell a gem when he saw one and he left no opportunity to polish Paddy’s skills at work. It wasn’t very long before Paddy won the heart of every client he handled to become the blue-eyed boy of Mazher and become popular in the entire industry at the same time.

Success is a lousy teacher.

It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.

~ Bill Gates

Mazher knew that Paddy was under the industry’s spotlight which evoked mixed emotions in him. While he was proud of his prodigy and enjoyed seeing him grow, he could not ignore the underlying threat that Paddy would be poached upon sooner or later by the competition. At the same time, Mazher was also convincing himself that Paddy knew what he was when he had first stepped into his office and where he stood today, a fact which he wouldn’t ignore under any circumstances.

?A few years later, one Monday morning, while Mazher was going through his emails, he was surprised to see a mail from Paddy. The subject line shocked Mazher as if he had suddenly heard a Breaking News of some catastrophe afflicting him personally; it read “Resignation from the service”.

Mazher read the mail once again. It was very simple and short. The reason for leaving was nothing but the age-old cliché “For Better Prospects”.?As he tried accepting what he had just read, Mazher started feeling angry. He wanted to barge out of his cabin to Paddy’s desk and shout at him, “Are you out of your mind?” or “You are surely kidding, right?” So many things were coming to his mind that he just wanted to blurt out at Paddy, in front of everybody. He then took a deep breath, composed himself and went about attending to the other important matters on his plate. Just before the lunch break, he walked up to Paddy and said, “Can we catch up after lunch? I’d like to talk to you.” Paddy nodded his head and said, “Sure”.

Mazher didn’t feel like eating lunch. He sat in his cabin and started thinking, in fact, questioning himself:

His first question to himself was: “How could he do this to me?”

He, then, answered it himself: “Why not, after all, Paddy hadn’t pledged his entire life to this Company”.

So what if he had trained Paddy and mentored him? That didn’t make him own Paddy as a bonded slave. After all, Paddy too had worked hard to live up to the expectations that his job role demanded, and then some, to be honest.

Mazher asked himself the next question: “Why didn’t I see this coming? How was I so blindsided as far as Paddy was concerned?”

He admitted to himself that he’d grown overconfident that Paddy would never choose to work with someone else, while he’d always been wary of the vulnerability of other members in his team. But he still wanted to learn from Paddy the 'why' of this situation, and he decided to wait for Paddy to return from his lunch.

While waiting he picked his own brain:

Why doesn’t he find out what is the offer that Paddy received and make him a counter-offer? How would that go down with the others? He never believed in retaining anyone by buying them out and sending a wrong signal to the others. And, he didn’t want to set precedence by doing that now with Paddy.

Mazher was a tea fanatic and he related all life situations to his habit of drinking tea. In his opinion, when tea that has gone cold is warmed up, and a relationship that has been revived after getting destroyed, don’t retain their original flavour anymore. So the option of making a counter-offer immediately was ruled out. He has however always kept his doors open for good people to return after they have checked out how green the grass was in reality on the other side of the fence.

Once Paddy returned from lunch and both settled down with their respective cups of coffee and tea in Mazher’s cabin, Paddy looked up and said, “I’m sorry for doing this. I know you must be feeling terribly hurt.”

Mazher: “If you know that, then why are you doing this Paddy?”

Paddy: “I was not even thinking of changing jobs, but then, I got an Offer that I had never imagined in my wildest dreams, an Offer that I could not refuse”.

“Making a big life change is pretty scary. But know what’s even scarier? Regret.”

— Zig Ziglar

When Paddy spoke the details of the offer he’d got, Mazher realized that it indeed was an offer he couldn’t refuse. Mazher then mentally corrected himself, “No, it was indeed an offer he shouldn’t refuse”. That reconciliation with himself put Mazher’s mind at ease. He extended his hand towards Paddy and said, “I am happy for you Paddy and I wish you all the very best in your way forward. Let’s announce your good news to the team and start planning your succession. I would like you to do the knowledge transfer in its totality, including your personal learnings during your time here. When both men stood up, Mazher put his hand on Paddy’s shoulder and said, “Paddy, I’d love to work with you again in the future, and I would like you to remember that.”

Paddy was a little overwhelmed to say anything and he just nodded his head. Both men walked onto the shop floor of the office and Mazher hailed for everybody’s attention.?He said, “Guys, Paddy has some good news that he has shared with me and I’d like to share it with you all. Paddy is moving ahead in his journey towards fulfilling his dreams and I feel that he deserves to do that. Having said that, I’d like to let you all know that this void is temporary as it always is when someone leaves. While the Company will start the ball rolling with the protocol in this matter, I’ll be happy to hear your suggestions on how we can make the process of “handover-takeover” smooth and effective.

It will undoubtedly add a little extra load on your plates for a short while but I know you guys are cut for more than that.

While the team was initially in a state of shock, Mazher’s candour to them actually transformed their shock into jubilation and renewed their trust that the Company respects their personal decisions in life, that there was no need to feel like bonded labour. Everyone’s “sense of belonging” in the Company went up a notch when Mazher asked their opinion on tackling the interim void.

Mazher always believed in internal growth and therefore he ensured that the vacancy falling out of Paddy’s exit was first posted internally. He did not hesitate in asking Paddy if he had anybody from the team in his mind who’d fit into his shoes immediately or be groomed to fit into them a little later.

With the help of the team’s suggestions and assistance from the HR department, long before Paddy’s completion of the notice period, someone was internally selected to replace him. Mazher ensured there was a small celebration in the office on Paddy’s last day as was the practice he had set long ago. Everyone chipped in and bought a farewell gift for Paddy. It was a touching event but more than anything, the emotions of camaraderie seen on the floor had to be experienced to be believed.

That evening after shutting off the lights in his cabin and closing the door behind him, Mazher smiled to himself. He imagined seeing a sculpture being transported from his office and he almost gave a shout, “Hey, handle it with care!”

~ Mazher H. Syed

March 09, 2022