Ask HR: Is my boss at liberty to dictate which entertainment joints I can visit?
What you need to know:
- The CEO might have personal vendetta against the owners of the entertainment places and is imposing his personal issues on the employees.
- Indeed you must meet your targets, but that does not mean you should not adhere to other rules, including memos communicated by management from time to time.
- Depending on the culture of your organisation, you could direct the question to your CEO or a supervisor.
Our CEO has told sales people that they should not visit certain entertainment places so long as they remain employees of our organisation. Should my employer care where I go if I meet my sales targets? Am I not free to spend my money as I want?
You are free to spend your money as you want, but it would be prudent to understand why the CEO has issued such a directive, and why only specific places have been blacklisted. The sales employees are primarily in the market, selling company products or services. They are the ambassadors of the company to the external world. Therefore, their behavior can influence how the products or services are viewed by the current and potential customers. The CEO might have information that you are not privy to and is protecting the employees against individuals who frequent these entertainment places who might target the employees with an intention to swindle them. Have you investigated the kind of dealings that happen at those entertainment places? Could it be that there are illegal transactions? If sales employees are seen frequenting the places, could it injure the company’s image?
You have not indicated the industry that you work in. Are you also in the entertainment industry and therefore your CEO does not want you to support the competition? Could the entertainment places be stocking products that are competing with the products your company sells? If this is the case, then the CEO has good intention since he wants to protect the organisation and secure your livelihood. By the way, was the directive given in writing? This is important since the CEO might have personal vendetta against the owners of the entertainment places and is imposing his personal issues on the employees. Indeed you must meet your targets, but that does not mean you should not adhere to other rules, including memos communicated by management from time to time.
Depending on the culture of your organisation, you could direct the question to your CEO or a supervisor. In a workplace that encourages dialogue and team work, it would be prudent for the CEO to initiate a discussion around the issue so that there is open discourse on the matter. This way, all the concerns would be brought to the fore and an amicable agreement reached. The bottom up approach would then create an environment that all views are respected rather than an attitude of ‘my way or the highway’.
Nation Media Group
