When I read the article “It’s not about how much you slog,it’s all about the value you add“, I was reminded of a particular case.
A decade ago, a friend of mine worked for one of the best market research companies in India. The branch was run by a dynamic professional who had almost single handedly created a thriving business. At that time, many of the young management trainees literally lived in the office, going back to their apartments /rooms only to have a bath. They were having a good time at office with AC’s , a cable TV, food on company expense and perhaps most critically being acknowledged by the boss as a “sincere and dedicated executive“.
This state continued presumably because it was the demand of the business.
Then the branch head moved on and was replaced by another dynamic professional. She had a completely different take. Her instructions to the employees was that she wanted the office to close at 6 pm. And if somebody was working later than that she would ask for an explanation. In her words, ” Either you are overworked or inefficient”.
She got the cable TV disconnected, set a limit to food bills and asked for explanation for use of the cab facility. Within a month, everybody was able to finish their work on time and go home. And only on rare occurrence when extra work was required, would they stay back at office.
What’s the difference?
The clients remained the same, so did the size of business, the executives also remained the same.
What changed was the bosses attitude and what they rewarded.
Yet another example of how critical is the role of the manager in shaping his / her team’s performance. And therefore the value on investing in skilling managers.
Reference: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2012-03-16/news/31201513_1_value-input-data-entry
Contributed by: Lovely Kumar, Chief Projects, Larks Learning
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