Shock.  Horror.  Team leaders Submit False Expense Accounts
By Sharmishtha

In April last year, a pilot process for Telecom (US based Satellite communication process) was brought to an International BPO in Gurgaon. Agents and Team Leaders were recruited in a large number for this process. After Induction, all were given their shift timings for the training and two Team Leaders, Manish and Ankit,  were sent to the US for the OJT (On the Job Training) for the process. Meanwhile the batch was going through voice and accent training. These Team Leaders were sent to the US as they had the desired qualification and experience.  And promising futures as they have all the skills to make it to the top.

After two weeks, they flew back to India after the training. They were very happy as they were assisting the Official Trainer in the training,  and had the OJT stamp on their resume which would lead to quicker promotions. Other Team Leaders were bit jealous of them for scoring an all expenses trip to USA. Managers had high hopes from both of them as they wanted this pilot process to be a success. Everybody was very excited and were thankful of  getting lots of help and support to do their jobs from Manish & Ankit.

Suddenly, after a week all were surprised to see what was posted on the wall. The posters had Manish’s & Ankit’s name on a white sheet which mentioned “They have been terminated on integrity issue as they submitted false bills and documents for the expenses of the OJT in the US. We would not entertain anybody getting into these kinds of unfair practices. If found guilty would be strictly dealt.” It came as a rude shock to everybody when they came to know about the incident specially those who considered them as their mentors. This incident became the talk of the process but was a good lesson for all. But the question on everybody’s lips  was -  what made them do so when they were doing so well?  Was it just plain greed that made them produce false bills for reimbursement that cost them their reputation and jobs ?  People will never know.