In our most recent post on this blog, we revealed how far TBI has now fallen in the eyes of its employees. These unfortunates have been forced into accepting salary by installment lately, because this low-class language school has hit such financial woes that they are now paying salaries two or even three times a month. Even worse, they have been doing so behind schedule!

As bad as this sounds, it does not fully encapsulate the dysfunction which is currently being experienced within this ailing language school. The other main indicator which is flashing bright red is in the area of staff retention. Now let’s be clear about this. Staff churn is not a new problem for this sickly company. Due her personality of pathological narcissism, former TBI Director Mariam Kartikatresni went through dozens and dozens of assistants and subordinates. Every time she made a mistake or met a setback, she would just point her finger at some unfortunate subaltern and they would be fired. It was like an Indonesian version of “The Apprentice”, with the TBI Director serving as a kind of female Donald Trump. Many employees soon realized how toxic the situation was and quit of their own accord. This was increasingly the case as the company started going backwards and wages began to stagnate.

However, the latest phase of salary-by-installment has broken the willpower of even the strongest and loyalest employees. Recent months have seen the departure of people who have shown years of endurance putting up with the foibles of the TBI elite. For example, Ibu Tuti, former head of Human Resources has now gone. Long Mariam’s right hand lady, she has thrown in the towel. Similarly, long time school manager and Luke Preece sock-puppet, Ibu Atika, has also gone for the door. One gets the image of rats leaping from a sinking ship. Even getting a monthly salary paid in one installment is now too much to ask for. People are voting with their feet.