Ola CEO Used Punjabi Epithets With Staff, Tore Presentations In Anger, Punished Employees: Report

New Delhi: Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal has an aggressive and unsparing behaviour at work, which according to his employees have vexed some managers and board members at the company. A report in Bloomberg suggest that this relentless ambition and management style has created a toxic work culture forcing a dozens of senior executives to leave the firm within a year or two.Also Read – Ola Electric Forays Into International Markets, Nepal To Be First Pit Stop

When Bloomberg interviewed over two dozen present and former Ola employees, it was revealed that there were instances where Bhavish Aggarwal used Punjabi epithets at staff and told teams they were useless. “The workplace culture inside Ola Electric has turned hostile over the past couple of years,” said the employees who chose to remain anonymous fearing reprisal. Also Read – Ola’s First Electric Car Likely To Be Priced Between Rs 40-50 Lakh

They also claimed he tore presentation papers and meetings were cut short because he would get angry about either sentence constructions or quality of the paper itself. Also Read – Is Ola Planning to Launch Electric Car On Independence Day? CEO Bhavish Aggarwal Drops Big Hint

Meetings scheduled for an hour often lasted 10 minutes because Aggarwal would lose patience over a sentence construction in a memo, a crooked paper clip or the quality of printing paper, the report said quoting employees.

In another incident, Aggarwal reportedly asked an employee to complete three rounds of the several-acre-large Ola Futurefactory because an entryway that was supposed to be open was shut when he visited, the Bloomberg report said.

What does Bhavish Aggarwal has to say on his management style

When asked about his management style, Aggarwal told Bloomberg that “not everybody is a fit for our culture” adding that he wants to build companies with lasting impact, even if that means rubbing some people the wrong way.

“Passions and emotions run high and we are not on an easy journey,” Aggarwal told the agency in an interview last month at Ola Electric’s headquarters in Bengaluru. “But I don’t want to choose an easier journey for myself or for Ola. My anger, my frustration — that’s me as a whole.”

Bhavish Aggarwal’s big ambition

Agarwal has big ambitions for Ola Electric to rival the likes of Elon Musk’s Tesla and Chinese conglomerate BYD Company. Although Ola posted its first profit last year, a decade after it was founded, and also remains India’s top ride hailing platform ahead of global rival Uber, Aggarwal had to push off an IPO last year.

Earlier this year, Ola had unveiled the concept images of its first electric car. The company did not reveal its name but said it would become commercially available in 2024.