The background is that I am a manager of team in India. I have run into some challenges and now trying to figure out are these caused by the individuals in the team, indian working culture or something else. We have a process of giving each a merit salary increase every year. There is a specified element related to the inflation that is same for every one and then on top of that an individual share. The individual share is based on your past performance and also how your salary is compared with the rest of the team/job market in general. I was totally wtf when my team members started to tell me that their colleague got x percent and they got only y percent. In my working culture it is completely unheard that you would discuss your salary or salary increase with your colleagues. I of course refused to discuss the topic. There is some kind of local policy to reward high achievers every year. I nominated one of my team members to that and she got the award (something symbolic like a coffee mug or similar). At once all the rest of my team was pestering me with questions that why she did get it. I felt like I am managing a group of toddlers. I am kind of used to the culture where you accept your managers decisions, if you have something substantial to say (something related to the content of the work or similar you can of course speak up). But totally confused with this whining and crying if your colleague get more salary or some silly award with something. So my questions is. Is it common that you compare your salary and other stuff with your colleagues? And that you start to whine to your boss if you do not get the award/salary increase/whatsoever?
Your staff have all the right to ask these questions to you. It is upto you as a Manager to handle these situations. This is a given in any environment. Would you as a employee blindly or blithely accept your Manager's decision when you feel that you have missed out.
Of course it is my task to handle those questions. My query was that is this normal that people raise these kind of stuff? Never run into these kind of situations before where team members discussing openly their colleagues salary raises or crying like small babies if their colleague get a reward for something.
A couple of answers: Link-1 Link-2 This is more about fairness than about 'Indian work culture'. However, if you wish that push that perspective, it might help you to remember that the Indian go-go economy is barely 25 years old. This is the first generation of professionals having to deal with significant pay differentials and volatility. In the older, more 'controlled' economy, grades, promotions and salaries were more or less 'fixed' based on seniority. Now, India is intensely, insanely competitive. Yes, people do compare. It is not as taboo as it is in the US to discuss salaries, although self-interest is changing that. As for the award, if it's unimportant, then it should be eliminated. Why go through with it if even you think of it contemptuously as some pseudo-motivational sop? If performance awards are to be meaningful motivators, then a proper citation is in order. This reminds of corporate shenanigans in the underrated sitcom "Better Off Ted". This sort of sibling rivalry is universal. Keeping up with the Jones' is a constant, although the nature of the comparisons may vary. As a manager, it is important for you to ensure not only that judgements are fair, but seen to be fair. By the way, it may be useful for you to avoid this falling back on a 'cultural' explanation for every little thing you don't understand in your Indian interactions. Indians live on the same planet, after all. We are not so alien. A focus on 'difference' comes across as an unreflective approach, attracting criticism here on IL and I might guess elsewhere. This is not a criticism of you. I have relatives who attribute everything they like about me to my Indian-ness and every thing that's a wee bit perplexing to my American half. I can find this amusing since I know that I am loved. Coming from someone else it would be very irksome indeed. This knee-jerk tendency to view people as 'us' & 'them' is both natural and dangerous. We must make an effort to guard against it.
I did not straightly put this to cultural differences, I am trying to understand the root cause of the difference. I have been a manager both in my home county and in US and this was the first time when I run into this kind of situation. We have a setup where we have the local rules (HR policies, rewards, salary policies) and then our global rules. This additional award was a scheme set up by the local mgmt. and it was communicated to me like a kind of minor thing to acknowledge people who outside their normal duties do something extra. If I would have known the commotion it will cause I would of course skipped the whole thing. If my colleague would get some silly award I would be happy for him/her. I would not sit the next team meeting sulking with my underlip shaking because I did not get the award. We have a clear (to some extent) system how peoples performance is recognized and awarded. But there are also factors that cannot be exposed, like your team members salary. One thing that now come to my mind is that there is in the whole department some kind of unhealthy spirit, people are for a reason or another jealously looking at each other without thinking of the big picture.
Well what can I say ..u havent been a manager long enough. Decisions about awards /promotions whether its a coffee mug or a trip to Hawaii are never taken lightly in any organization across the world. It almost always has a significant organizational impact because of exactly what u have written..perceived unfairness. Reactions to it however might vary and let me assure u that has nothing to do with culture. If this is taken so lightly at corporate level and not communicated through to front line managers I am not in the least bit surprised u have so many issues with ur team (history of ur threads) .I would suggest that ur management team take a hard look at their policies instead of trying to understand cultural differences by starting threads in IL.
I have been working for about 20 years in various organizations and this was the first time when I run into this kind of reaction to this kind of award. We do not on the other hand have really similar kind of awards, it is kind of given in a different way (in the US there was on the other hand a similar approach). Of course after this experience I am wiser and will not nominate anyone for any awards or stuff. There is a communication gap between us managers and the local mgmt. and that needs to be addressed. My first reactions (and did not show it to anyone) was mainly that I felt deep embarrassment on the behalf of my team members. How can they be so childish and jealous? The performance is measured in other means (yearly targets and performance reviews) and the salary increase and promotions are based on that. Not on this yearly reward that is given.
When I read your posts, I sometimes wonder whether your contempt for your employees shows in your dealings with them. Even when you are doing your best to hide it, they can probably sense it, making life more difficult all around. By the way, I have had to deal with tears and crying - we are talking straight up wailing - from a team member in the US, among other examples of 'idiotic' behavior. I did learn a thing or two there re: reality and perception. I find my research struggles with the universe far easier than managing people, nationality notwithstanding. People are difficult. Establishing transparent criteria for responsibility and reward without corporate bs is equally difficult. Managing perceptions is very difficult indeed.
Of course in that situation I felt contempt. We were supposed to have an ordinary team meeting and had a bunch of issues to deal with. First I could not understand why I do not get any replies to my questions, any suggestion how to solve a critical situation etc. Then I asked if something has happened as I noticed that they (in the meeting only part of the team due to sick leaves and vacations) were sitting sulking/almost crying. Already thought that something bad has happened (a colleague seriously sick or something). And then it came, why did xx get this award and not us. I have been facing crying team members and all kind of emotions. But this that you are sulking because of some silly award??!!! And then they started to discuss their salary increases and compare them! Of course that is strictly confidential and I cannot discuss that topic (comparing their salaries) with them.
Its usually the manager that is responsible for the team development. If the team fails, the manager is a failure. A good manager would raise such issues in PMO or with other group of managers or confide personally with individual team members and ask the reason for their dissatisfaction of their merit/appraisal over thinking why they are jealous and discussing one's own team behavior in public.
