| Kippreport.com

The mother of all bad company policies

September 19, 2012 4:58 by Eva Fernandes

When it comes to complaining about terrible company policies nobody makes for a better whiner than this Kipper. With an acid tongue and an unwavering determination to see the worst in any organization, it is difficult for any friend to faze me with their working worries.

And fazed I was, last night when I caught with a friend who had returned to Dubai to take up a job at an eco-friendly green firm. No sooner had she been shown her desk, when she was informed of the company’s peculiar email policy.

You see, due to the manager’s maniac micro-managing tendencies, the 30-strong staff all shared one email address. Yes, one email address for 30 people—you did not misread that. There were only three terminals which had Outlook Express configured and it bears noting that some of these terminals were configured to receive emails only.

Whenever the company received an email it was printed out and assigned a special reference code. The print out would then reach the intended recipient, along with possible suggestions for an adequate response.

Amused my friend pointed out the irony of a green company printing out emails to a fellow employee.”But, we used re-cycled paper” was the response she got back.

Now, I have heard of some inane controlling and downright stupid management policies, but this one has got to take the cake. Printing out emails in this day and age of broadband connections is just downright unforgiveable-but this got me to thinking, what is the worst company policy you have ever encountered? Let us know in the section below.