About this blog - 11

I seem to have a wider audience – welcome!  It may be a good time to restate the objectives of this blog.

Primarily, I wanted to inform people why I suddenly disappeared from my role in the Emirates Group.  Not only did my boss, Patrick Naef, lie in order to have me sacked, I was told that he continued to fuel misinformation about me after I was barred from company premises and denied contact with colleagues.  So I needed to put the record straight.

Naturally I wanted to protect my name and this was my prime concern.  I have no problem with anyone criticising me, nor relaying things that I have done or said, but such things must be true.  I also wanted everyone to know my story, so they would know what to expect from the people who are in charge of IT and HR in the Emirates Group.  Then current employees could make their own choices about the level of trust they put in the organisation and prospective candidates could decide if they should to pursue their interest in the company.

I am certainly not seeking revenge on the company or any individuals.  When I was fired, a friend gave me good advice – “be angry, but don’t be bitter”.  I bear no grudge against any of those who threw me out, but I am angry about the way they conducted the exercise.  And I am also angry that the Emirates Group broke its contract with me.

My blog has veered ‘off topic’ at times in response to reader requests and I have done this in the hope that someone will actually do something to improve things for everyone.  I have no interest in how the Emirates Group fares, well or badly, but I do care about my colleagues.  I also care very much about waste and there is far too much of this – money, time and careers – in EG-IT and, it appears, across the group.  So, reflecting recent events and comments, I will stray again for a while.  But my intention remains and that is to complete my own story, then finish.  I had considered that, once complete, I might then make the blog easier for others to find, but I think that has already happened!

My recent comments concerning Mercator Asia were originally written with the EG-IT audience in mind; other readers may not be clear where this debacle fitted in with Mercator itself and, of course EG-IT.  So I will probably provide some further information about this area in a subsequent update.  In ‘No winner, plenty of losers’ I wanted to give a flavour of the wider impact of such a failed initiative.  Because senior managers deal with big numbers on a regular basis, many fall into the trap of underestimating the wider impact when things go wrong.  Of course, I could be described as being somewhat churlish in highlighting a failure, as companies have to take risks in order to grow their businesses and some initiatives are more successful than others.  But I want people to understand that the Mercator Asia debacle was not an isolated incident in terms of waste in EG-IT.  And it was not a simple case of a venture that did not generate the expected benefits, this was an avoidable tragedy.  The project was ill conceived and totally mismanaged.  Those in EG-IT who had the skills and experience to assess the proposal and also those who would be subsequently responsible for making the venture a success, were all excluded from the evaluation.   And the impact has not been limited to a significant financial loss, many individuals’ careers have been negatively impacted too.

Also, given the problems the Emirates Group has at the moment with staff morale, I will offer my thoughts on the options ahead.  On one hand, there is an urgent need for a thorough and well considered response to both the staff survey and the outpouring of discontent but, on the other hand, the company will shortly have a perfect opportunity to do something positive.  Many organisations experience staff morale because business is bad and find themselves constrained in terms of solutions (as money is often required).  But Emirates is not only built on a very sound financial footing, it is currently enjoying a windfall in terms of low oil prices.  This could be the most profitable year that the group has ever seen and the announcement of the resulting profit share will be a perfect opportunity for Emirates to make a tangible statement to staff.  I will publish my thoughts on this matter on 1 April 2015.

Comments on this blog are moderated and I will only publish material if I am certain about the identity of the author and s/he is willing to be identified.  I will not publish any negative comments from readers about anyone, other than about me.  All my statements about people and events come with my assurance that I am both able and willing to defend those comments, if necessary in a court of law.  Anyone mentioned by name in this blog has always had, and continues to have, my guarantee of their right to respond.  No-one mentioned has exercised that right, which is confirmation that everything that I have stated they said, did and didn’t do is true.

If you leave contact details in a comment, I will reply.  If you prefer to email me, I can be reached at tomb80 at hotmail dot co dot uk.