A number of corporate policies clearly make no sense. Even on paper! However, it may be painful to implement these new rules finally to make the higher ups realize they’ve made a huge, huge mistake. Unfortunately, change only really happens when things start to affect the bottom line.
UK-based Redditor u/daft_boy_dim has shared a tale of horrific revenge and malevolent commitment since working as a project engineer at a power utility six years ago. The netizen revealed how he and his colleagues reacted after the management confiscated their official cars. They have started a travel policy with all its attendant benefits,to the letter.
It took the company 8 weeks to realize how expensive it was to “cut costs”. Read on for the redditor’s full story, which was shared on the very popular (not to mention very entertaining) r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit.
A British electricity company has decided to withdraw its project engineers’ access to their fleet
Video Credits: Obi by @pixel6propix (not actual photo)
One former employee recounted how everyone began following the organization’s travel policy to teach higher-ups.
Video Credits: Redmind Studio (not real photo)
Video Credits: u/daft_boy_dim
As the post’s author noted, the decision to revoke employees’ right to use company cars was made after someone in finance calculated the cost of maintaining the fleet after reviewing one quarter’s data. Anyone worth their salt knows the importance of looking at the bigger picture and considering the possible consequences of your decisions. And what a powerful influence that finance man had!
Considering how much the engineers traveled around the country throughout the year, it didn’t make sense to revoke their right to use the car. However, the company was determined to reduce costs. Spot a well thought out malicious match.
“Because we were project engineers, we had a very specific skill set of knowing how to follow the rules exactly and how to do it in a way that would benefit the company, the project or the individuals. Generally, if it was good for the company, it was good for everyone involved. This was not one of those cases,” u/daft_boy_dim told Reddit.
After revising their business travel policy, engineers started hiring cars and using trains for their trips. Also, instead of working overtime as before, they booked hotels to take advantage of the “£25 food and drink allowance for dinner”. This is an additional work from home policy that takes effect if you traveled the day before.
It took the power company 2 months to realize how much cash they were bleeding. “Our expenses in the first month after returning the cars were higher than in the previous 12 months combined,” OP writes.
The sad reality is that not every colleague you work with will be open to honest communication. Not everyone takes feedback well. And certainly, not everyone who works in the field of management or makes executive decisions is not ruled by problems, stubbornness and even basic incompetence. Situations like the one the redditor found themselves in can quickly tell which higher-ups are (in)capable of handling complex, long-term disputes with employees.
As we discussed Boring Panda against The difference between good and inferior workplace managers lies in their character, as well as in their relationships with subordinates. For example, a strong leader is principled, moral, and chooses to do the right thing instead of taking the easy way out. Compare and contrast this with a weak leader. You can tell who they are by their extreme opinions, their inability to commit to a particular goal or course of action, and how much they base their decisions on possible popularity.
A good leader is one who values empathy, humility and selflessness. They support, motivate and uplift their colleagues. But at the same time, neither manager can read minds (at least not yet!). Employees must also communicate with their superiors in a timely manner. Management needs to know what resources, tools and working conditions are needed to achieve the best results.
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