BEYOND THE TEA: WHY C-GUYS EARN MEGA BUCKS

Today, telecommunications giant, MTN, announced the resignation of the CEO of their Nigeria business.  Last month, their Global CEO, Sifiso Dabengwa, had also resigned. All these came after the sanction by the Nigerian telecommunications industry regulator, NCC, over the failure of the company to deactivate over 5.1m unregistered subscribers on its network. Also resigning is the Head of Regulatory & Corporate Affairs at the company, the widely acclaimed Akinwale Goodluck.

Just two months ago, the two executives would have been flying around with the best of C-suite treatments. This again brings to the fore the debate on risk and reward.

In many workplaces – or outside – it is common for junior level workers (and managers) to argue that they do most of the work, while the executives just sit in their offices, jump from one meeting to another, drink tea and earn most of the pay. Monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop is commonly used in such gossip talks.

Well, in management, there are three levels of decisions:

• Operational: Taken by lower-level managers. In some cases, even by non-management personnel.
• Tactical: Handled by mid-level managers.
• Strategic: Decided at the executive level.

The operational level employees and managers are the guys you see in office 7.30am, already punching their keyboards. The executives – at least, most – stroll in 9am, sign one or two documents awaiting  approval on their desks, and catch the next flight to Abuja or London by 1pm.

The operational-level guy (O-guy) collates all sorts of data, reports and summarizes in one-page or simple charts for the C-guy to review. For the uninitiated C-guys are the Chiefs – the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Finance Officer (CFO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), Chief Operations Officer (COO), Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) etc.

Given these, the O-guy tends to think he does more.

But only if he remembers that the issue is not the data he collated and submitted to the C-guy, but the decision made from it. The C-guy, fortunately or unfortunately, is the one to make the decision, and if he doesn’t get it right, the whole company is in trouble.

Furthermore, there is the accountability part. If the data used in analyses that led to the decision of the C-guy is incorrect, it is the C-guy that will still be liable. For example, if a lower level staff of a company bribes a tax authority, and it comes to the fore, it is the company and its director that are liable. Of course, the lower level guy will be sacked by the company for putting the company in a mess, but it is the CFO and the CEO that will face the sanction of the government. It doesn’t matter that they were not the one that directly did it.

For this MTN case, this being a bigger issue, it is highly likely that the executives were aware. But it is not unlikely too that they were not. Maybe some lower level managers are the ones that are responsible. But hey, the government’s business is with the CEO. Another thing: this happened in Nigeria. The Global CEO of MTN that first threw in the towel may not even be aware. But hey, he has control over the Nigerian CEO, so he is guilty, too. The buck stops on his desk.

Yet another angle: If the operational-level guy made an error of judgment, it hardly affects the company as a whole, but if the CEO makes an error of judgment, it will have far-reaching impact. Well, except the lower-level staff’s error is  pouring petrol on the Head Office building and setting it on fire. That one will have far-reaching implications!

The operations guy that will do the deactivation of the lines still have their jobs, but the C-guys that may not even know the what to click on the system to deactivate an unregistered line, are now without their jobs.

So, when next you say the C-guys just faff around, watch CNN in their offices, and drink tea, yet they earn mega pay, remember their job is more mental, yours is more physical. And I believe the job is not axing trees. Their job is riskier, that’s why their reward is heftier. And mistakes by them can be heftier, too. Ask MTN C-guys.

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