Loan policies should be spelt out

Today's Manager, Dec-Jan, 2008 by Lim Christina, Andy Hon, Pamela Soh, Aerith Yan, Tee Wan Ching, Geordie Wilks

Electrode Inc was wrong to dismiss Christopher immediately. They may have moral grounds for termination. The HR department should have been more proactive by counseling Christopher before the situation exploded.

The counseling process should include verbal and written warnings and making the borrower repay the loans. Termination is the last resort.

KK Ong should be reprimanded and counseled because he showed favoritism towards one employee and used inappropriate communication style towards others. He should have alerted senior management when he first knew about the issue.

Compulsory staff seminars will only create awareness, but enforcement will be weak. A clause should be included in the HR policies and the employee handbook that states that borrowing among colleagues is not allowed. Information about the consequences of spending beyond one's means should be circulated to all staff on a regular basis. By doing this Electrode has discharged its duty of being caring and gives itself strong grounds to dismiss stubborn employees in the future.--Contributed by Lim Christina, Andy Hon, Pamela Soh, Aerith Yan, Tee Wan Ching, and Geordie Wilks