This story is about how a HR manager screwed up a company’s critical project which cost them RM250,000 to replace.
Hariiz works for a software company based in the USA and, as the senior programmer in Malaysia, leads the local team of 20 in Cyberjaya. The team worked well under his leadership: hours were decent, pay above average, and the team pulled together socially as well as professionally.
Like all software development operations, there was overtime, but he was smart, keeping things loose and informal. He made sure the team understood that their focus was on getting the job done and not following every rule in the Corporate Rulebook and HR Handbook.
The HR Crackdown
Unfortunately, while this was great for morale, it wasn’t so great on the administrative side of things. The corporate powers-that-be decided to send the HR Manager down from the US to Malaysia to get things sorted out.
An Iota of Power
Mat-Salleh she may have been, but the “Puan Rosmah” of the office arrived with her iota of corporate-given power and laid down the law on her first day in the office. She was an absolute stickler for the rules and policies in the employee handbook and followed them without exception.
She didn’t like that people would come in and leave when they liked, even if the work got done. She implemented a time card system and started clock-watching. Straight out of the rulebook, the policy was clear: if you were late more than 15 minutes three times in a single month, that meant a verbal warning. A fourth offense in a month triggered an HR investigation and a written warning.
Clock Watching Without Common Sense
With zero flexibility, this policy proved impractical. Real-life situations—married adults juggling responsibilities, unexpected traffic jams, or a sick child—meant employees were at risk of an HR investigation and warning letters. “Puan Rosmah” didn’t care how out of touch her policy was; she was only interested in enforcing it with an iron fist.
Accordingly, no one took it seriously. But when she wrote up four people and fired a fifth in the first month, Hariiz saw the plummeting morale of his team. With project timelines and deliverables at risk, he decided to take action.
One Man Rebellion
A week later, Hariiz walked up to Puan Rosmah’s desk, written warning in hand along with a copy of the employee handbook. The entire office fell silent—this was Hariiz. They knew something was about to go down.
He flipped the employee handbook open to a specific section and told her to read it. Her face went ghost white. Then, speaking slowly and enunciate every syllable, as if he didn’t speak good English, he said:
“I have been given a written warning for my tardiness and am now under investigation by HR. Per company policy, I am leaving the office immediately. Investigation takes between 3 and 10 working days. I will not be doing any work until this is resolved. Furthermore, I take issue, object, and refuse to sign or acknowledge this. I will be contacting legal counsel to determine my options.”
Then he walked out of the office, leaving her spluttering. It was like watching a movie when she actually said, “You can’t do this! You can’t just leave.” He grinned over his shoulder and kept walking.
Crawling Out Through the Fallout
Within two days, the team was falling apart without his guidance and leadership. A deliverable had been missed, the client was getting worried, and they called the CEO in Miami directly. When the client enforced a heavy penalty clause for non-delivery, the company had to pay a hefty RM10,000 fine for each day,
Without effective leadership amongst the programmers it took them a week to get things sorted and delivered. The total damage? RM250,000!
When Corporate found out what had happened and why, Rosmah was “recalled.” Hariiz reappeared the day following her departure. Two days later, the fired programmer was back in the office. To everyone’s relief, Hariiz had everything and everyone back on track, meeting the next set of deadlines.
Rules Are Not for Micromanagement
Rules exist to control processes and prevent things from falling apart. But when rules become tools for micromanagement, clock-watching, and passive-aggressive behavior, employees will do one of two things: rebel or, worse, quit.
The company was lucky: Hariiz rebelled. If he had quit, the rest of the team would have almost certainly followed, and that would have been the end of everything.
Sometimes, following the rules is the best revenge—especially when your revenge comes straight out of the employee handbook.
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Read also: My Boss’ Jaw Dropped When I Walked Out Of The Meeting After He Yelled At Me
My Boss’ Jaw Dropped When I Walked Out Of The Meeting After He Yelled At Me
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