When Capt. Prince Kofi Amoabeng (rtd) wrote the second instalment of his book on the UT Story, titled, ‘The UT Story: Building a Winning Team,’ he detailed the story of a certain Adoley who informed his institution of an amorous policy in the company.
While the name, Adoley, isn’t the real name of this personality, the story around how what that employee did was so major that he (Capt Amoabeng) was forced to make a definitive policy on what kinds of amorous relationships his employees could have, is the import of this story, as GhanaWeb has deduced from the book.
It all started in early 2002 during the end one of the company’s staff durbars.
From what the author described as huhuhuhu, a Twi term which was “operationalized as any internal gossip or news from the grapevine,” he got wind of something disturbing that was happening withing the company, and on his blind side.
“On this occasion, a male team member said, ‘Chief, there’s a serious huhuhuhu. but this one, I cannot say it here.
“’Can you tell me in private? I asked.’
“’Yes, sir, one-on-one, no problem,’” he wrote in the opening chapter of the book titled, Amorous Policy.
Capt Prince Kofi Amoabeng and this staff member eventually had a sit down where, after a few dragging moments, he spilt the beans on what he had heard.
This was, however, not without the team member stating that all he had heard were rumours about this other female team member, who Capt Amoabeng described as “a pleasant, pretty and affable Front Desk Executive. I had always liked her attitude to work. I felt she exemplified our values by the manner she treated everyone who came her way.”
He added that from what the employee was telling him, Adoley (not her real name) had been sleeping around with people in the company, GhanaWeb has deduced from the book.
What was intriguing to him, he adds, is that she was not only doing this across one department of the organogram, but she was doing so in a diagonal way.
“He smiled mischievously and deliberately gave me a list if four names. One was an LMO, which was the lowest rank on the list; another was a Project Officer, which was above an LMO; the third was a Credit Manager, a step above a Project Officer. I do not recollect the designation of the fourth person. Bit, of course, it must have been from one of the three listed above. I thank him for his cooperation.
“I immediately invited Adoley to my office…. I politely offered her a seat across my desk and went straight to the point. ‘Adoley, I like the way you work, but I think you’re overdoing it. I hear you’re sleeping with all the men here,’” he wrote.
Attempting to deny this, Capt Prince Kofi Amoabeng said he immediately shut her up with his evidence.
Using his military skills, he told her to stay quiet whenever he mentioned a name that she, Adoley, had slept with, and object openly if a name he mentioned was not one of them.
And to make this easy on her, as he could read her demeanor throughout the session, he included names that had not been given him by the ‘informant,’ but ultimately, Adoley confirmed that she had slept with all the four names he had been provided with.
“I gave her a withering look, as the soldier in me surfaced. I spoke bluntly without a care for euphemisms: ‘Adoley, go pack your stuff and get out of here!’ I snarled. ‘Whilst we’re trying to build the company, you’re trying to destroy it with your vulgar behaviour! Even if you were slutting horizontally on one level, perhaps, I may understand. But you’re slutting diagonally across the organogram! What kind of low life is that? Get out! Get out now! You’re suspended, indefinitely! And I don’t think you’ll be returning! Get out!,’” he added.
But that did not end the story, GhanaWeb reports.
Adoley, the author added, reported the case to the HR, who in turn came to him with an attempt to make a case for her but the old solider said he would have none of that and quickly shut her up.
After she (the HR) left, she returned another time with another thought-provoking defense to why Capt Amoabeng may have reacted too much on this matter.
“Later during the week, at a strategy session, the HR manager came to me once again and said, ‘Sir, you claim to uphold principles and policies but your treatment of Adoley isn’t grounded in any policy. You can’t run the company like that.
“… The company policy doesn’t state expressly or implicitly that one cannot sleep with another member of staff, or for that matter, three or four co-workers… but if you insist, then you could institute a policy against amorous relationships among staff… once it becomes a policy, I know you will fiercely implement it. But for now, you’re not being fair to Adoley,’” he wrote.
After reasoning through this, he had no other option than to call Adoley back, but on a probationary basis.
And with immediate effect, he instituted what became known as the Amorous Policy of UT.
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