Page 235 - A Banker Down the Rabbit Hole

66. How a participant of training

programme lent big support

I came to attend my office in the morning. I found that one pedestal

fan was moved into my cabin door way. It was not only obstructing
my entry into the cabin but also of other officers of my department
as well as clients coming to meet me. I called my attendant and
told him to remove the fan from the door way. He told me that due to
some additional space creation in the branch some seats have been
relocated and hence this pedestal fan has been adjusted like this though
this is not desirable. I was shocked to see the kind of shoddy discipline
maintained at the branch.

He suggested to me, "Sir, please speak to the Branch Chief as the staff
who had put the fan there and myself belong to two rival unions. If I go
and remove the fan, there will be big fight over this." I tried to counsel
the staff member concerned but he plainly told that I should speak to
the chief to create proper space for this fan. Looking to his audacity, I
spoke to the Chief of the branch who told me that he would speak to
his union leader. For a week, nothing happened and the fan could not
be moved from there. Not even a single Manager of my department
expressed any inconvenience either. Of course, customers will not
complain for this reason or even bigger reason to maintain good relations
with the staff at any level. Perhaps they were used to observing such
errant behavior in public sector banks. But I could not reconcile to this
undesirable situation.

After a few days, I spotted a staff member in the branch and recognized
him as a participant in one of the training programs at Staff College when
I was a faculty there. I thought of trying a practical application of one

232 | A Banker down the Rabbit Hole