Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s revelation at a monthly meeting on Friday, that he was replaced as chief executive “because of performance”, reportedly placated staff members upset about the recent downsizing at the company.
Advertisement
Bansal assured that the company reviewed all its employees by the same standards after Flipkart said that it was laying off atleast 300 people who were non-performers last month.
As soon as Bansal made the disclosure, almost 200 employees applauded his revelation. He said that even he was not spared for his performance issue because of which he was replaced by Binny Bansal, the co-founder. “Anybody is free to ask any question, challenge existing norms and hold the leadership accountable for business and organisation metrics”.
A monthly Town Hall meeting at Flipkart’s office is created to promote an open interaction with the company officials placed at the highest rung of the ladder.
Bansal’s admission diffused tensions immediately and brought applause for the frankness that is seen rarely in the corporate world.
“At times, we have employees who do not meet the performance bar”. They are not related.
The e-commerce marketplace has been witnessing stagnating growth following intense competition from global rival Amazon over the past year and a half. The site sells everything from mobile phones to clothes. Last month, Flipkart had announced that it was buying fashion site Jabong for 70 million Dollars. Flipkart also owns Myntra.
Advertisement
The acquisition of Jabong was Binny Bansal’s decision. In July 2016, Flipkart chose to lay-off 700-1000 underperforming employees when it faced a downfall in its valuation by Morgan Stanley, T. Rowe and others. Earlier this year, Flipkart had also faced criticism after it deferred the joining dates for campus recruits from the Indian Institutes of Management and IITs.
