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Shattering the Glass Ceiling (An Article about Perseverance)

By

Kastuv Ray

Introduction 

Some individuals believe that there is a glass ceiling in internal audit above, which people cannot rise. In many cases, this is true. But what is this glass ceiling? Certain individuals may state that this glass ceiling is a barrier against individuals of a certain race; creed or colour and some may relate it to their work place.

The Glass Ceiling at Work

There are many instances when we come across extremely talented people, wiser than their years. What sometimes happens is that they are promoted and ascend the ladder but in other circumstances these members of staff are held back. The risk of holding these employees back and not letting them progress is quite simply that they will start looking elsewhere and when they find that job, they will move on and probably do a lot better. So who is the loser? Other problems arising from this are the employee may stay there and become frustrated. This may then affect his own morale; he may moan; other staff may feel the same way and before you know it, the organisation may be hit with an epidemic of low staff morale.

The Impact of the Glass Ceiling in the World of Outsourced Internal Audit

The world of outsourced internal audit is such that everyone seems to know each other and you can bump into your old managers and employers anywhere along the line. Some employees who have been held back by their managers or have had problems have joined other organisations and built up a reputation, but rather than letting “bygones be bygones”, they sometimes want to get back at their old employers. Revenge is not a nice thing but it is a dark aspect of human nature. The individual who believes that they have been wronged embarks on a quest for justice. They may set up a new internal audit department at another outsourced provider and recruit staff and attempt to build an empire and chase after their previous employer’s clients. It is nice to have some competition and friendly rivalry is acceptable but sometimes this kind of competition may take nasty turns. Ultimately it is the client that really loses. The wronged employee may use slightly altered products and services to win over the previous client only to get back at the previous employer. My feeling is that if you feel you have been wronged and held back, go elsewhere and work hard and be successful and that is the best way to get justice because if your previous employers were holding you back for whatever reason, inside they feel that they made a mistake and feel sorry.

Case Study: The Tactless Manager

Consider the following extremely fictitious case study.

GRIGOR Ltd has a very talented young auditor who is popular with the clients and is wise behind his years. He works extremely hard and takes pride in his work. Let us call him Fadus. He has a manager called Godfellow who is extremely laidback. This manager is quite a decent chap but is very tactless. At some point in Fadus’ tenure, Godfellow starts to think of Fadus as a threat to his role. At a meeting with the Senior Manager (Reginald), Godfellow makes the following comments to Fadus. He talks about a strange fellow called Muffin and compares him to Fadus saying that they are both strange. He also states that Muffin’s parents are loaded and that Muffin does not need the money to work. He then makes the comparison to Fadus. Later at the Christmas meal (which is not attended by Fadus), Reginald makes comments to his staff saying that Fadus is loaded and has £100,000 in the bank. At the annual appraisal, Fadus is not given the promotion, he has been promised and the pay rise. He looks elsewhere for a job finds it and does well in his new position.

Analysis

If I were Reginald, I would put the following point for review in Godfellow’s appraisal and review this point during the year:

“Knowing when to open and close his mouth.”

I think Godfellow is tactless and has influenced the Senior Manager as well or alternatively both individuals started to view Fadus as a threat and wanted him to leave the organisation and used this method as they thought he was sensitive. It was obviously their loss and the new employer’s gain.

The Glass Ceiling in your Mind

I think there is a glass ceiling but it can be in our mind. If we let these things get to us, then we become mentally restless and it can affect us. We will only succeed if we work hard. Examples of glass ceilings are:

·        The belief that we cannot pass our professional exams

·        The belief that we cannot do a tender presentation

·        The belief that we do not have the capability to carry out an internal audit on an area for which there is no guidance

We face several obstacles in life but they are meant to test us. This is character building. If one day, you want to be Director of Internal Audit or set up your own consultancy, you have to persevere.

Look at some of the leading consultants and names linked to our profession like Professor Andrew Chambers, Mike Comer, Jim Kaplan, Dr Sarah Blackburn and Paul Makosz. Do you think that they got to where they were because things were handed down on a silver platter to them? They had to work hard and overcome obstacles. When we read their material, we should feel inspired to excel and take this profession to the heights to where it is meant to be, namely the top. On a different note, the Indian actor, Shah Rukh Khan who started with no backing in the industry, today is an icon and holds the number 1 position as a Hollywood superstar. How did he do this? He worked hard and overcame the odds. The same can be said for Aishwarya Rai. Once labelled as a “plastic doll”, she worked hard and now the movie world courts her.

To end this article, I attach a poem by the great Rudyard Kipling. This has been taken from the book Poem for the Day published by the Natural Death Centre:

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired of waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream-and not make dreams your master;

If you can think and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the lives you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can walk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings-nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And-which is more-you’ll be a Man, my son!