A conversation between a CEO and his staff has gone viral on social media, sparking a discussion over leave policy. Ankit Aggarwal, the founder and CEO of Unstop, tweeted a screenshot of his conversation with the employee on LinkedIn without revealing his identity. “This arrived in my WhatsApp this morning,” he said in the post’s description, revealing that an employee had requested a leave of absence because the party and afterparty were still going on.
“Employee asking for a leave because the party and it’s after party is still on. This openness is critical within a team so that you can trust your team and they are ensured that you will back them,”
Mr Aggarwal remarked while providing a screenshot of the exchange. It showed the employee requesting “late-night party leave,” to which the CEO immediately approved.
“When colleagues feel comfortable being open and honest with each other, it builds a foundation of trust that can lead to better communication, collaboration, and overall success,” the post stated.
Several Social Media Users Praised the CEO’s Approach
“This is what I needed to read today. In my past work experience, there were instances where my team and I were honest and gave our manager the true reasons why we needed leave – it could be a weekend getaway, to attend weddings, or just “we’re mentally exhausted, we need a day off to do nothing”. We weren’t permitted to take a day off until someone from our family was either hospitalized or dead! I must say, all of us lost a lot of our relatives for us to get leaves,”a LinkedIn user commented.
“This is called real team building, team leader, leadership,” said another.
“How refreshing it is to witness such camaraderie between a founder and their work partners. Most organisations lack even basic levels of transparency, honesty, and candidness. They believe the so-called ’employees’ will take them for a ride and stop respecting them. What they really fail to understand is the concept of mutual support and recognition. Perhaps why they have a high attrition rate and zero happiness quotient amongst the people working with/for them,” a third user said.
However, Several Were Dissatisfied With Mr Aggarwal’s Handling of the Problem
“While I understand employees may occasionally need urgent last minute vacation I don’t think this would be a valid reason. The problem here is the employee was not asking, but merely sent a instruction to their employer. This is not a respectful way of working as the employer was not left with a choice as to approve or not,” stated one user.
“Hmmm….does anyone else not think it’s a bit selfish and self-entitled to txt last minute saying you’re not coming in to work??? In many professions, mine included, this is unfathomoble. Perhaps that’s why I don’t understand the point,” said another.
