Indian manager considers employee an ‘attrition risk’ for leaving office on time

A toxic work culture can significantly impact employee morale, productivity, and overall job satisfaction. Often, managers play a crucial role in shaping this environment. One such incident was recently highlighted in a LinkedIn post, and it has ignited a conversation. This story documents two different gestures of two managers towards their employees.
Sumit Agrawal, whose LinkedIn profile says he is a job search coach, shared the story. “When an employee started leaving work at 6.30pm, my manager asked me to flag him as an attrition risk. I thought this surely must be some crazy predictive analysis stuff and asked him about it. ‘Well, he seems to be disengaged. Earlier he used to leave late but since last few weeks he hasn’t been responsive after work hours’,” he wrote.
He then added how he approached the employee and asked what was going on without creating any panic or letting him know what Agrawal’s boss had asked him to do.
“Many managers don’t realise that people have a life outside of work as well. The unrealistic expectation of being always available has sadly been ingrained in work cultures,” he wrote as a part of his share.
Sumit Agrawal’s post created chatter among LinkedIn users, with some suggesting what more can be done to change a toxic workplace.
“Managers should be regularly evaluated on their ability to plan work, manage resource allocation, and handle behavioural aspects within their teams. This evaluation process should be driven from the top levels of the organisation. It’s crucial to monitor workplace toxicity, and every HR department should implement a toxicity index for each manager and team. This index would help assess team performance in relation to the manager’s capacity to foster a healthy work environment,” suggested a LinkedIn user.
“So what happened next? Was he fired?” asked another. “Why would he be fired? The manager felt he was an ‘attrition’ risk, means he might leave because he seems disengaged. Nothing to do with firing,” Agrawal replied.
A third wrote, “It all depends on the CULTURE at work place. How many managers give higher ratings to those who deliver SAME (if not better) results, compared to those who work long hours and available, after work hours?”
What are your thoughts on this career coach’s post?