tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post2017934754142614450..comments2024-03-26T09:38:39.888+00:00Comments on Borthlas: Weeding out the incompetentJohn Dixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07447224248021209852noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-38628037869729032952011-10-07T10:41:14.341+01:002011-10-07T10:41:14.341+01:00Did a contract for a firm a few years ago and the ...Did a contract for a firm a few years ago and the job was to assist a Geo-tech company, involved in oil exploration, to deal with some compliance issues identified by auditors. <br /><br />It was a strange contract in that a middle manager had already just appointed an accountant internally to perform a similar job. A few weeks into the contract I discovered the accountant they had recently appointed had already done a perfect job. He had forensically identified that a foreign sales rep was in being paid inordinately large amounts of cash for non-existent sales. Further investigation found the foreign sales chap didn't actually exist but it was just a vehicle for bribing Russian oil concerns. The report to the directorship, from me as the contractor, was the same story told previously by their new junior accountant. The FD paid my bill, including considerable expenses abroad, all the fees, and implemented a compliance regime. Contract successful. <br /><br />I then discovered the middle manager soon sacked the accountant as he was on probation. This was closely followed by the directorship sacking the middle manager. <br /><br />When changes in the business environment occur, companies are forced to act, but often they can't deal with it internally. It also shows that some people are sacked in the probationary period because they are just too good at their job, refuse to compromise their professional standards, and their skills can expose failing in the person making the appointment. I also learnt there was no oil reserves in Switzerland (strangely their geologists kept telling me this) and am always amazed when companies hire contractors to tell them something they already know. In this instance the over performing accountant, who was sacked in the probationary period, had the perfect answer to 'why did you leave your last job', and was promptly appointed to a large firm of auditors. It was they who had flagged up the issue in the first place. A case of weeding out both the incompetent and the over-competent, when both are not desired or required. <br /><br />Should have charged more for that one?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-62405069491090846452011-10-05T21:32:21.136+01:002011-10-05T21:32:21.136+01:00As it happens I have direct experience of this. Ma...As it happens I have direct experience of this. Many years ago I worked for a firm and i was their golden boy selling stuff like it was going out of fashion. <br /><br />Then as we got towards 10 months the leads dried and my performance went through the floor. <br /><br />So anyway comes the end of the year and out I went on my ear. <br /><br />Went to tribunal and won. Had the legal advice I could affoard from a solicitor who is now the conservative leader of a local authority. Settled for a couple of hundred quid. <br /><br />My mate who got sacked at the same time had a union appointed solicitor Got a years salary. <br /><br />Moral in there somewhere..You mean there's more???https://www.blogger.com/profile/12736627336832800972noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4411161795798360588.post-60304136302324608592011-10-05T12:57:47.525+01:002011-10-05T12:57:47.525+01:00Pwyntiau da iawn, John. Mae 2 flynedd yn ymddangos...Pwyntiau da iawn, John. Mae 2 flynedd yn ymddangos yn ofnadwy o annheg. <br /><br />Mi fedr dyn gwnued gwaith da i gyflogwr am ddiwrnod cyn y dwy flynedd, a chael ei sacio yn ddi-reswm, heb dderbyn swllt o dâl diswyddo.<br /><br />Hollol boncyrs!Emlyn Uwch Cychhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03384157218244458970noreply@blogger.com