By SYCORAX TIYESA NDHLOVU –
The article ‘Are your juniors a threat to your position?’ which appeared in the Times of Zambia on September 20, 2014 on page 8 attracted good feedback from our esteemed readers.
Because of the nature of the topic and that most of the readers who provided such feedback work in specific organisations in different parts of the country, for fear of victimisation, they spoke out on anonymity.
One of the readers in Mufulira, who claims to have worked for many years in many organisations, said the stated article covered almost all the things that happen in most organisations in every industry nowadays.
‘Mr Ndhlovu, the situation is bad;’ a Mufulira ‘Let’s Talk Careers’ reader noted.
The reader said most bosses frustrate workers who are seen to be hard working, have higher qualifications or are studying for higher qualification and who seem to be ambitious to rise to greater heights in an organisation.
The Mufulira reader said such bosses make sure that they frustrate such workers to such an extent that hard working, well qualified and ambitious workers resign or are fired on flimsy grounds from that organisation.
The reader said such bosses facilitate employment or elevation of workers who have low relevant qualifications, of low performance and with no ambitions to rise to top positions to be close to such bosses’ positions.
And a Lusaka resident, who works in a certain international organisation, said most bosses don’t want to see juniors who are hard working, have better qualifications and are ambitious to rise in an organisation.
She said when such bosses spot a worker who seems to have outstanding performance and work culture with relatively better qualifications and a zeal to rise in the same organisation, most bosses frustrate such a worker and ensure that he or she goes before it is too late for such a boss.
Surprisingly, in separate telephone calls, both a Mufulira and a Lusaka reader concluded that it appears we have wrong people as bosses in most organisations.
Most readers in separate telephone calls revealed that most such experiences are faced with supervisors and or chief executive officers (CEOs) who are static with old academic and old professional qualifications and who have worked in one organisation almost in the same position for too long.
It was observed that such supervisors and CEOs are afraid of young, highly qualified and ambitious subordinates who they feel can easily take over their positions with fresh dynamic strategic management ideas.
It was noted that most supervisors and most CEOs always boast of their old qualifications and experiences whenever they feel that some young and newly qualified workers are a threat to their positions.
Some readers wonders why some bosses feel being ambitious is bad when career development is about rising from one position to the next in an organisation. “What is wrong with being ambitious especially if one has relatively higher academic and professional achievements?”, one reader in Kafue asked.
“If being ambitious is bad; why did such supervisors and such CEOs rise to those senior positions?”, another reader asked.
The readers described the stated article as one of the most practical to what is happening in most organisation now. They advised this writer to continue writing such articles as they are a big eye-opener not only to workers but also to supervisors and CEOs themselves.
Learning about such developments in various organisations, one can reflect on how some of our supervisors facilitated career development to most of us who have a certain age and experience now.
This writer remembers from 1983 to 1986 when he was working as a Quality Control Viewer in Luangwa Industries Limited in Eastern province in Chipata district. At that time, the late Raphael R Zimba (MHSRIP) and the late James Nkhoma (MHSRIP) were quality control foreman and supervisor to this writer respectively.
The late Mr Zimba and the late Mr Nkhoma were guiding their juniors nicely and effectively to do their duties well. Those of us who were under such people learnt how to perform our duties effectively through their parental and professional guidance in official duties.
Similarly, when this writer joined Rural Information Services (Now National Agricultural Information Services) in Lusaka province in 1988, he was supervised by the Provincial Rural Information Officer (now Provincial Agricultural Information Officer), Adrian Sakala Chatumba.
Mr Chatumba treated his juniors as his own sons and daughters. He guided us how to conduct ourselves as citizens of Zambia and as civil servants.
He advised us always to demonstrate good personality, hard work and improve on our academic and professional achievements.
Before he retired, Mr Chatumba used to tell us that we should work hard and upgrade our qualifications to take over from the then bosses when they retire.
The former provincial agricultural information officer facilitated those who wanted to further their academic and professional qualifications to do so.
It was such parental guidance from supervisors and other top management officials that one sees many highly qualified people in various positions as bosses because such people were properly and professionally guided to work hard, achieve better qualifications and take over senior positions in various government ministries or parastatal companies.
Supportive supervisors and good CEOs create good future leaders from their respective subordinates.
This is why some supervisors and some CEOs nowadays also objectively and fairly guide their juniors the way Mr Chatumba and others did in those days. One sees some juniors in various organisations progressing in their career development processes as a result of some supervisors and some CEOs helping such subordinates to rise to greater heights in their career development processes.
If most of today’s bosses were bad supervisors and cruel CEOs, most people in higher positions now were not going to be in those jobs. Help others to achieve what you achieved or help them to achieve more than achieved yourself.
Subordinates should try hard to please their supervisors and their CEOs through hard work, high productivity and through good work culture.
Could some workers’ personality, work culture and stubbornness while on duty be forcing some supervisors and some CEOs to frustrate and not renew contracts of such workers? Or is it the personality of some supervisors or some CEOs that aggravate such situations?
What is the situation in your organisation? Is it that you have wrong people as bosses in your organisation or that most subordinates have wrong personalities with poor work culture that make some supervisors and some CEO conduct themselves negatively against such subordinates?
While it is not common to have all supervisors and all CEOs in an organisation who are supportive to all juniors’ career development needs, some supervisors and some CEOs are objectively and fairly very helpful to subordinates’ career development needs.
Subordinates and bosses should work as a team to engineer an organisation to greater heights.
The author is a trainer and career coach. Contact: Cell: 0976/0977 450151. E-mail: sycoraxtndhlovu@yahoo.co.uk