Raghu an assistant manager based with a IT firm, stuck on for five years in his company, hoping his loyalty would earn him rich rewards in terms of salary and leadership. It didn’t take long for his carefully cultivated dream to crash. His company replaced him with someone who was earlier in the same company, and at the same level as Raghu. Raghu’s replacement had returned to home turf after stints with two other companies in the meantime, securing hefty salary raises at each change.
In the five years that he was there, Raghu had moved up just one level, and his pay is barely one-and-a-half times his starting salary. Not only is his replacement three levels higher, but he also earns four times his starting salary. For Raghu, this is more than a stroke of misfortune. The corporate world is waking up to a trend where the longer the employee works with the same company, the slower his chances of his growth. So, do you think in corporate world Honesty is the best policy??
People we all are putting in the hours for the salary we are getting and employers are not doing any favour by doing that. And there is a famous saying I guess which goes like " Love your job and not the company". It makes sense if you are growing along with the company, and if nothing is happening, staying honest and loyal to your company makes no sense and they will just use us and then will replace us like in the above example which I have mentioned, Being a HR myself I am discussing this with you all...at the end of the day I am also an employee and I know where to draw the line. So, in corporate world I don't think Honesty is the best policy..
It goes beyond doubt that honesty is the best policy. On the other hand, it'll defenitely test your patience. Honesty may not pay the dividents and benifits in short term. You will be healthier, happier and more satisfied if you are honest.
I do believe that Honesty is the best policy, but honesty with WHOM? I believe that silence as an tool to exercise honesty; and if one remains silent he is honest too. In my experience i have seen that your superiors start exploiting your honesty against you only, and when ever i see such a moment in my life I pause and think twice whether still I should remain Honest, But to my surprise I remain honest. So honesty is not an policy its in attitude and you cant change your attitude overnight, so go with your instinct. By
Amit Misra, Software Engineer -4 , Juniper Networks
| 09 28 2010 10:11:33 +0000
Honesty is the best policy if you are talking about honesty to your work....But glorifying ur work is also necessary besides 'honesty to work'...Sooo here comes the contradiction... By
Anish Malik, Software Developer, FastBooking Pvt. Ltd.
| 09 27 2010 11:30:27 +0000
Honesty is the best policy if you are talking about honesty to your work....honesty to the organization is debatable... By
G.Jayakumar , Group Operations Manager
| 09 26 2010 22:38:33 +0000
The definition of honesty in the present context is vague. Sticking to one organisation can not be considered as honesty. I cannot see loyalty even. When u have no confidence in you, you may stick to one organisation. It matters how u perform. Loyalty and honesty has nothing to do in the cut throat competitive world.
"It is nice to be honest but your honesty must be well known and recognised and it should not merely appear that you are pretending to be honest. All your actions,communications, dealings should direct towards sincere honesty.One should not expect for being honest. Rewards may or may not come by you should carry the brand of honesty which is still the best policy always and these days" By
ASHOK KUMAR GOYAL, confidential
| 08 12 2010 16:39:53 +0000
yes....At first being honest in the corporate world will cause many problems but atleast u l hav ur satisfaction... By
madhusudanan , B.Tech/B.E. student, RGCET
| 08 11 2010 14:33:08 +0000
Honesty will always pay not only in job but in general also. Its not that easy to say it in practice it is much more difficult. Though we may not reap the benefits straight away but in the long run it will definitely yeild us good returns. By
Sri Sai Ganesh Kumar, Cluster Coordinator, Dr.Reddy's Foundation
| 07 20 2010 12:33:13 +0000
I think honesty is always work as a best policy but in Corporate world it play a sensible role. we know that every coin has a two head. So, same for the corporate.. By
Ashutosh Rawat, Ye Zindagi
| 07 19 2010 08:18:32 +0000
Honesty with diplomacy is the right policy.. It's important to be honest because that will build your credibility and trustworthiness, but this should be done with polite words and tact. By
Priyanka Agrawal, Assistant Manager- HR, INMANTEC Institutions
| 07 19 2010 05:45:51 +0000
It is true. Honesty is something which do not have any substitute. Honest person or a company has its prestige and it remains throughout their lifetime. By
Suresh Prasad Gupta, Freelancer, Pharmaceuticals
| 07 19 2010 05:14:51 +0000
There is nothing about honesty or dishonesty in Corporate world, one has to slog like a machine. Emotionless, non-deluding types, impersonal and humane.
I think the story is only half, full story will read like the other element might have been more productive and efficient being hired by other companies and or hero Raghu took the safer route of staying with lesser risky prospect of stayino on the job doing monontonous growth. The other guy went around, took more challenges of learnign markets and learned to compete from different propositions. So that is an advantage the parent company can rely on. May be there is more to it than meet the eye. Emotions don't work, "one need to make economic decisions not emotional ones in business".
also...being honest is different from being loyal to the co. one cant keep his value of honesty with a co. being involved in a fraud...while being loyal to it..raghu can be honest throughout life and can switch jobs (indeed should stay in a job for a time that co. can recover direct expences on him)to make money. Leaving a co. doesnt mean u are not loyal..if u stick there and u are nt satisfied there...den ur performance will drop...and dats nt being loyal..move on for betterment of both-u and the co.
while switching jobs in one's carrier and keeping honesty will lead him/her to a company of his/her type and its evident that value based businesses have stood high even in downturns
As a fresher I would like to add that being honest at corporate world is not bad but it will defiantly slowdown your success and ultimately your juniors will rule you. By
hiral jethwa, HR officer, Spear Logistics
| 07 15 2010 05:10:52 +0000
There is no substitute for honesty anywhere. Many a time, it may look tedious and discouraging. Yet, with determination, honesty ultimately survives and WINS. By
Dr.G.S.Rama Rao, Freelancer
| 07 15 2010 03:52:55 +0000
Nice story yet you are at best looking at just one aspect and a short term.
Loyalty and Honesty for Raghu may be a natural trait which is not there scouting for a reward it is part of him. It is the company through its functionaries that are unfortunate to loose him. The timing of appearance of the effect of sacking Raghu may take longer to appear yet they certainly would.
Yes organizational loyalty is good and it does pay. However it does not pay that rich as in the story outlined by you. Five years is too small a period for concepts like org.loyalty to pay rich dividends. These are long term or even life time concepts.
That said, i should also point out that of all topics to examine org. loyalty under, salary is the worst one. When one changes a company, one can definitely make a quantum leap in pay check. So it is not the correct framework for comparison.
It should also be understood that people who have had long stints in organization work out better under crisis because of their extensive knowledge of the inards of the organization.
So, the question is not one of loyalty. It simply this:
DO YOU WANT TO BELONG? OR DO YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY FAST?
Yes Honesty is the best policy BUT to avoid people taking you for a ride or using you to your disadvantage one must learn the ART OF CONCEALING AND REVEALING. Concealing and revealing things at right time smoothens your way in corporate world and avoids confrontations.
Honesty is the best policy everywhere, not only the corporate world.... It is directly linked to Integrity which is a strict no compromise. By
Amulya , Manager - Training & Development, AEGIS Ltd.
| 07 08 2010 08:27:32 +0000
Working for 3 to 4 years is a must for not only showing loyalty but also learning the job fully before shifting to other co.. But even after 3 years growth is not taking place, shifting to a right co will be a wise decision.
WHY SO SERIOUS ...! CORPORATE LIFE IS NOT THE ALPHA AND OMEGA OF LIFE !! well not being honest does not mean that we are being dishonest , it is just that we are practical and our career Span is based on the work we do and the results we produce. Moreover why do you think this generation of corporate folks wants an early retirement by 45 or 50, it is exactly because most of us are getting saturated of all things nice, due to work pressure and so dryness sets in our lives , then we want to do all things we could not do during our hectic days. Therefore post retirement some of us go to seek the lighter side of life others try to convert their hobby into a second fulfilling career and some others do things which we can only see in discovery or NATGEO channel...Moreover as we mellow down with age, spirituality also sets in ....therefore in the end, i for sure will not be talking about my promotions or money but how many friends I made out of my career and how many more can i make ....! till I die...!
In this changing world corporate pressure is very much. One have to fulfill their targets in a stipulated time given by the company. So if a person want to tell the truth he have to tell a lie to fulfill his targets in a certain extent. According to the situation he have to tell a lie to do his work. So Honesty is not the best policy in this competitive world. By
Ankush Nandy, Business Executive, JMD Organization
| 08 12 2010 18:22:27 +0000
Well today we need to work with brain not heart, in today's work of cut throat competition i think we have to sacrifice our honesty somewhere sometime so i can support this............... By
Gurpreet Singh, Team Associate, BA Continuum Solutions
| 08 12 2010 17:13:32 +0000
No i DONT THINK SO HONESTY IS BEST POLICY IN CORPORATE WORLD ACCORDING TO ME WHATEVER WE ARE GETTING ITS ON OUR SKILLS NOT ON OUR HONESTY AT THE END OF OUR JOB WE WILL NOT BE COUNTED FOR OUR HONESTY .IF UR HONEST THAN U SHOULD NOT IN CORPORATE WORLD IF U R HONEST U HAVE TO PAY IN FUTURE
Just Feel bad to be on this side , but the realities are its right !!!!!
In corporate world , everyone needs to be in a position comprise whatever his ethics may be he always say that his company is right . The Figures are totally different for different People , the real figures always lies Hidden .
Its a race for big money , everyone wants to number one , then honesty needs to be kept aside .May be my personal ethics may be hit bad , but its corporate world so comprise , just have to close your eye as everyone does a businessmen, central government or state government .
One will get more promotions , more incentives when he mixes his Hard work with a bit of lie .
When I consider me as an individual , i am totally on the part of honesty & feel everything the corporate world is thinking on is MONEY , the BIG MONEY .
No..corporate world is for business...you may be honest but not in all respect. even if you want to be honest, situation will not permit you to be strict in that.'everything is fair in love, war and business'. So be honest but not sacrificing your profit in business.. By
BIBHASH ROY, Assistant Professor(CSE), TIT Narsingarh
| 07 20 2010 07:29:25 +0000
I dont think that in Corporate world the Saying "HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY" is suited.earlier when i was in my college lyf i usd to think lyk tht but after getting sm expeiences i found tht NO u should not be honest for every 1, if u r in corporate then do the Wok according to CustomiZation approach. what i think that now adays the employer itself indulge in various activities that tends illegal like Saving Taxes from govt.
take 1 example of COKE/PEPSI , the employer knw very well tht it is injurious to health but you can see the AD-Compaign. IS THAT HONESTY????
if it is honesty then till now why the KERALA Govt. not allowed them to market their product in Their state???
So, My dear friend the Sayng Honesty is the Best policy is gud bt it is not as good for Corporate. if u r showing it to other then most of the people took this as your weakness. Therefore I think tht IN this "CUT THROAT COMPETITIVE WORLD " you should not be Honest For Every one.
The persons who are saying & supporting this view "honesty is the best policy "they all are diplomat. There is no honesty as because many company do business in illegal base , not paying tax properly , not supporting their stuff , showing statement consisting fake information. By
Shiladitya Bhattacharya, MBA/PGDM student, International Business School
| 07 08 2010 09:31:18 +0000
Why have you not seen the movie corporate or page-3 in corporate world there is no existence of words like honesty.Every one is ready to do any thing to achieve success in their particular proffesion. There doesnot remains existence ofethical issues. The situation is like ready to do anything.
Why have you not seen the movie corporate or page-3 in corporate world there is no existence of words like honesty.Every one is ready to do any thing to achieve success in their particular proffesion. There doesnot remains existence ofethical issues. The situation is like ready to do anything.
oops sorry Manoj.....I just missed that.....and I came to know after I posted, hence did not refer it to anybody.........thanks for keeping an eagle eye :P
People can say anything on their own wall (facebook). they can tweet whatever they want and they can comment whatever they like. They call it freedom of expression. Do you believe in such freedom of expression. Do you think posting wrong things...
When emotions get involved the decision can become partial. Though it depends on what kind of decision is to be taken. We can never say that involving emotion would be good or bad. It will all depend on the outcome.
