Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has reportedly fired off a no-holds-barred email to employees, blaming them for poor attendance.
The strongly-worded message, which has since gone viral, accuses employees of “running away from the company” and shows no tolerance for excuses. BT was unable to independently verify the article.
In the published email, Aggarwal expressed his dismay at the shockingly low attendance rates, writing, “I think everyone has the basic self-respect not to cheat the company by not even showing up for work. It is disrespectful even to colleagues who are honestly working hard and contributing. ”
“A tougher attendance expectation will start from Monday. Those of you who have abused your freedom so far, HR will have a conversation with you. Come to work, do good work, and feel part of the Ola mission”.
Emphasizing that the company does not have a work-from-home policy except in genuine cases, he said HR will address serial offenders.
The CEO also rejected excuses about the company's facial recognition system, saying, “We don't insult basic intelligence.” Aggarwal ended the email by asking employees to actively contribute to Ola's mission and take pride in their work.
This tough stance comes against the backdrop of Ola's ongoing cost-cutting measures, including the recent layoff of 500 employees. A recent earnings call focused on Aggarwal's operational efficiency, where he highlighted reductions in operating expenses and outlined plans to maintain flat or declining costs while boosting revenue.
Ola Electric is on an aggressive expansion drive and plans to scale its store network from 800 to 4,000 by December 2024. The company is also launching a “Network Partner Program” with the goal of recruiting 10,000 partners by 2025. Small towns and cities.