Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola, is unquestionably one of India's most determined businessmen, but some of the company's staff and board members appear to have grown weary of his aggressive pace and leadership style.
Recently, Aggarwal saw a locked entryway that should have been left open and instructed a custodial manager at the Ola Futurefactory to complete three laps around the 500-acre-large facility as a punishment for the mistake made. More than two dozen former and present workers who requested anonymity were cited in a Bloomberg piece exposing Aggarwal's harsh and demanding behavior at work.
Employees said that Bhavish Aggarwal occasionally called team members and staff members "useless" in Punjabi often using Punjabi epithets as means of insulting them. They further asserted that he tore presentation materials and that sessions were cancelled because he would lose his temper over poor sentence structure or the quality of the paper. A former business head who is no longer with the company told the website that the expectations were like having to run a marathon like a world's greatest athlete Usain Bolt.
With a greater turnover rate than rivals, over thirty-six senior executives, have left Aggarwal's two billion-dollar businesses, Ola Electric and ANI Technologies Pvt Ltd., which oversees Ola's ride-hailing operations, within a year or two after joining. Aggarwal has additionally been referred to as "very intense" and "rough" for scheduling impromptu meetings at "1 am or 3 am." Aggarwal stated that the workplace is one where "passions and emotions run strong" in an interview from last month. The Ola CEO had added, "My rage, my frustration—that's me as a whole."
"India can overcome competitors not just by creating cheaper EVs, but also by building a worldwide footprint in 5G, green energy, and sustainable mobility," the CEO of Ola has previously stated. The world should assess us based on our success in accomplishing those objectives, he had stressed. Bhavish Aggarwal said to Bloomberg when asked about his managerial style, "Not everyone is a fit for our culture. There is no international norm for a uniform, sterile workplace."
Ola had earlier this year published concept pictures of its first electric vehicle. Although the company declined to give its name, it stated that it would be made available for purchase in 2024. "We deserve a car that defines this new India. Our car is made in India, by Indians and for the world,” he added.
Although Ola Electric is still making frantic efforts to increase sales, supply chain issues have caused production to be delayed. Additionally, some customers have brought attention to the problem of faulty batteries and accident-causing software, which has resulted in product recalls and Twitter apologies. Aggarwal hopes to make Ola Electric a serious competitor to companies like Elon Musk's Tesla and the Chinese giant BYD Company.
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