After reports of abrasive style of management at Ola, netizens have criticised co-founder Bhavish Aggarwal. Experts such as the former Director of Product Management at NASSCOM Saurabh Saha and visiting professor of strategy at IIM-Sambhalpur Dr Nilesh Khare have slammed Aggarwal for perpetuating a problematic style of management.
A recent news report claimed Aggarwal’s “relentless pace and management style” has upset both employees and board members alike. The Bloomberg report said that Aggarwal had called teams at Ola useless and hurled Punjabi epithets at the staff. He also reportedly cut meetings short due to trivial issues like a missing page number, quality of the printing paper, crooked paper clip or a redundant sentence in a memo.
In another incident, Aggarwal allegedly told an employee to run three laps around the Ola Futurefactory due to a shuttered entryway which was left open.
Ex-NASSCOM official Saha wrote in a LinkedIn post, “If this is true then Ola might be one of the most toxic places to work. Somehow, it’ll take a decade or two before Indian startups get what culture means. Till then the employees would be at the receiving end of such brutalities. I don’t think we as Indians understand the importance of respect in workplace. It’s become a breeding ground for disrespectful behaviour lately…”
Dr Nilesh Khare commented that he has known quite a few toxic leaders who have managed to maintain an acceptable level of performance for a long time. He further went on to say, “Leaders always have a choice — to rethink their own behaviour, beliefs and course correct or continue to feel the stress of running a low trust toxic environment.”
A Twitter user said that if these reports are to be believed, then the work culture at Ola is up for question. The user wrote, “If this is true what kind of work culture this Ola CEO is creating…. Some leaders like him behave as if they know all and their subordinates don’t know anything…. this is what happens when people with lack of empathy and humility become corporate leaders.”
Another Twitter user wondered how start-ups like Ola set an example for small startups when it comes to work culture. He wrote, “Ola CEO asked a staffer to run 3 laps around the factory for a mistake: Report. Is this how you set examples for small start-ups to create [a] good work culture?”
Another user tagged Bhavish Aggarwal and wrote, “Read you shout and lose temper in meetings. Work atmosphere is also poor at Ola. Then you justified it by saying that the company culture is not for everyone. Please try to be less eccentric. It isn’t a sustainable style. You will only become more vulnerable and fatigued over time (sic).”
A user also went ahead and said that Bhavish could take inspiration from American writer Dale Carnegie and write a bestselling book on how to alienate employees. The user tweeted, “From his abrasive style of management, guess Bhavish Aggawal could take inspiration from Dale Carnegie and write a bestseller “How to create enemies and alienate employees!” ”
Also read: Bhavish Aggarwal called teams ‘useless’, directed Punjabi epithets at Ola staff: Report
