On this edition of Work Life, Sharon* worked at a startup for six months but left because employees were getting paid for doing nothing. She would later find out the CEO was only using an office full of staff to gain the trust of clients from his arbitrage trading business.
What was your first impression of the company when you joined?
I liked the company. I gave them my terms, for instance, when I wanted to resume and close. Every term I gave, including how much I wanted to be paid, was approved. I wasn’t expecting it to be that simple. But, for whatever reason, it was.
So, I went ahead and took the job and resumed. It was a good one. We were promised a lot of benefits. I was employed to head the customer support team. In fact, the work environment was very conducive. Everything was perfect. All that was needed was provided. Everything you’d need to have in a good workplace was there. We started well.
A week after I started working there, I got four more offers, but I rejected them because I felt like I’d gotten to my dream job and workplace. I expected my stay there to be fine. In summary, I felt there would be a future in the job.
So, when did you start noticing the red flag?
The second month.
What does the red flag look like?
I knew there was a problem when we were not given tasks. There was no work to do. You come to work in the morning and close in the evening without doing any work.
I was wondering, ‘Weren’t we employed to work? Why is there nothing to be done?’
But some people were happy that they came in, got their first month’s salary, and didn’t do anything. There was free internet and everything you needed. It was just like, ‘leave your house, come to the office with your laptop, do your personal work in the office and leave when it’s evening.’
It was at this point I knew something was definitely wrong.
What! That is giving money laundering vibes.
So, I approached my HR and asked what was happening. And he said the boss is trying to make some changes. I said we’re supposed to be building websites and speaking to customers.
At a point, the company was into CAC registration, we were doing adverts; that was part of the things that were written as the services rendered by the company. We were doing a lot of things.
It sounds like you were the only one bothered in the office.
Yes, obviously, I was the only one concerned about doing nothing. It seemed everyone was fine as long as their salary kept coming.
I thought most people wouldn’t mind getting paid without working. What’s your relationship with work, by the way?
Some people want to get paid without working, but far from it, that’s not me. Work, for me, is growth. Growth in the sense that I’m not at the same level of knowledge I started with. I want to always learn something new and develop myself in whatever area I find myself.
So, to do nothing is a problem for me. I can’t bear doing nothing or even bringing the knowledge I have to the table. You’re going to make what I have dormant because I’m not putting it to use. Even though you’re paying me, I’m doing myself more harm than good.
I always want to increase my capacity, I want to be a solution to something. I always want to give a hand. I cannot be found doing nothing at all! In summary, the primary purpose of work for me is not money but growth.
Interesting! You’re one of a kind. What happened after you started raising concerns?
After raising the concern, the CEO scheduled a meeting with me. In the meeting, he said that he likes that I’m concerned and that he’s also bothered. He said the things we listed as services are not bringing the company money, so what he does is arbitrage trading. When he said that, I was like, “What!?”
Isn’t that supposed to be illegal?
Yes, it’s illegal. He said he’s not trading in Naira but in Chinese Yuan and Dollar. I told him isn’t that supposed to be illegal in Nigeria? He said that’s what brings in the money. Anyway, we agreed that we’ll focus on Forex. For the next three months, nothing was done. I kept pushing.
Within these three months, I opted to teach other workers how to trade Forex because I used to trade before I lost interest. I felt I should share the ideas I have since I didn’t want to be idle. I started having classes each time we came to the office. He(the CEO) would come around, peek and see that I was taking classes with them. At some point, it was as if I was doing too much, so I stopped the classes.
The next thing I did was take up several online courses while I continued the job since my talking and pushing were of no use. I told him officially that I was taking online courses since we were not given any work to do, and he said that’s fine, and that I should make good use of my time.
This feels weird. In other words, he’s saying, “Stay as employees and do what you like while I figure out what to do with my company.”
Exactly! He wasn’t interested in whatever we did. He just wanted to have people he could call employees. Because he always said that he didn’t want people to come in and not see employees.
What he wanted was that when his clients came (meaning he had always done trading before he employed us), they would see staff working. I remember he insisted during the interview that people who want to join must have a laptop.
You’re just at your desk; people come in and they see people working, so they feel like their money is safe with him.
Your boss was weird! How long did he keep up with paying staff for doing nothing?
Three months. And he owed us for another three months before I decided to leave. I did five months on-site and one month remote.
So you were there for six months? I didn’t think you’d stay that long before leaving.
As I mentioned before, I was actually busy. I was taking several courses and enhancing my skills. Of course, there was free Internet and workspace. I’d already taken off my mind that I was working for someone and was concentrating on what to do to enhance my skills and be better skill-wise.
I also had good colleagues and we were just having fun. Sometimes, we’ll come and I’ll teach them a few things. For two months, I taught people how to write and encouraged them to take courses online too.
Do you have fond memories of the place?
My fond memories were of times I had to teach and use my skills to help people. The fact that people can learn from me was a huge thing for me.
I’ll not forget to mention this: There was a time when the CEO said he wanted to take everybody out. I felt that wasn’t necessary and I told him that if he wanted to spend, he could add to the salary he would pay that month. But he disagreed. The HR was also bent on going out.
We finally went out to one of the most expensive places in Lagos. From the office, we had two full vans of police escorts, one at the front and the other at the back. I wasn’t comfortable with it. There was a whole lot of noise and I was very irritated but they wouldn’t let me opt out. It was a forced outing. Each time I remember this, it feels annoying.
He invited a videographer, there was also a drone guy. I think the videographer started with him from home. So, it was more like “a day in the life of the CEO of (name withheld).”
It was a whole lot of public display of nonsense. We got to the location, Everyone was asked to order whatever they wanted to eat. But I asked the waiter to pack my food since it was already 4 pm and I wasn’t ready to spend longer than I would have spent if I was in the office. And I left.
He hasn’t started owing salaries at this point, has he?
He wasn’t owing at this time. We got the salary for that month. It was the salary for the next month that he didn’t pay.
I’m curious about how everything spiralled until you said ‘Nah! This isn’t ever going to work’.
This part is quite funny. When I said I wasn’t doing anymore, I told him, ‘You’re owing salaries for this number of months and you still want us to keep coming to the office every day to do nothing. I don’t see it as being prudent. People are wasting money to come to work.’
So, he asked me what he should do. I advised him to allow us to work from home till when he’s able to sort out the bills. That was where I went wrong. He agreed. But all he told HR is that I suggested that everyone should work from home till when he’s able to pay.
HR told other staff and they were angry with me, saying I shouldn’t have made such a suggestion because working from home would make him not pay again.
Each passing month, other staff kept reaching out to me, and I told them to reach out to HR or the CEO. Already, I knew he wasn’t going to pay because he didn’t have the money. I made my findings and discovered he lost money in the course of whatever he was doing and money was blocked. And that was when I decided I was done and I left.
Wow!
Funny enough. He’s so calm. Even when you make any complaints, he still talks to you very calmly and makes you feel good. It’s like nothing is affecting him.
What lessons have you taken from this experience to other places you have worked and will work?
I think one of the lessons I’ve learnt is not to settle fast. I’d already felt like it was a good place. I was set to work there. I’d already given my everything. I’ve learnt that I should take my time and observe my environment for a while and not be in too much haste to settle.
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