Before going into business as a Chartered Accountant I held a position as a senior clerical officer with a stock and station agency branch at Wodonga. My duties included recording financial affairs and involved authorising cheques. There were also outside salesmen whose job it was to organise livestock sales with other agents, farmers, butchers, abattoirs and so on. There were opportunities for these salesmen to help themselves by dealing in livestock, using the employer’s funds. Such practices were frowned upon and forbidden.
As was usual in our branch office there was considerable trading negotiated by our salesmen. On one occasion there were several deals going through and one of our salesmen, as a matter of convenience, in his own right and in his own name, negotiated a deal which presented him with a handy profit and had the sanction of the branch manager.
This deal placed me in a predicament.
The manager approached me to sign the cheque. What should I do? The deal was contrary to regulations and was expressly forbidden. Should I sign the cheque or should I make waves and refuse to sign?
As a conscientious and responsible employee I refused to sign.
The manager could have approached another employee for a signature but to his credit he did not take this easy way out. He communicated with the managing director of the company and confessed to an unauthorised deal. This action certainly did make waves! Never the less my manager was able to sway the hierarchy and obtained permission to complete the contract.
Where did that place me?
Despite my refusal to sign the cheque my manager acknowledged that I had acted prudently and our otherwise good relationship did not suffer.
I subsequently received instructions from Head Office to sign the cheque and the matter was resolved. The waves had subsided!
Just to write “closed” to this situation, I was eventually promoted to the position of assistant internal auditor, concentrating on the company’s fourteen country branches.
Making waves sometimes pays off!
Ray O’Shannessy
1st March 2020.
As was usual in our branch office there was considerable trading negotiated by our salesmen. On one occasion there were several deals going through and one of our salesmen, as a matter of convenience, in his own right and in his own name, negotiated a deal which presented him with a handy profit and had the sanction of the branch manager.
This deal placed me in a predicament.
The manager approached me to sign the cheque. What should I do? The deal was contrary to regulations and was expressly forbidden. Should I sign the cheque or should I make waves and refuse to sign?
As a conscientious and responsible employee I refused to sign.
The manager could have approached another employee for a signature but to his credit he did not take this easy way out. He communicated with the managing director of the company and confessed to an unauthorised deal. This action certainly did make waves! Never the less my manager was able to sway the hierarchy and obtained permission to complete the contract.
Where did that place me?
Despite my refusal to sign the cheque my manager acknowledged that I had acted prudently and our otherwise good relationship did not suffer.
I subsequently received instructions from Head Office to sign the cheque and the matter was resolved. The waves had subsided!
Just to write “closed” to this situation, I was eventually promoted to the position of assistant internal auditor, concentrating on the company’s fourteen country branches.
Making waves sometimes pays off!
Ray O’Shannessy
1st March 2020.
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