The elderly gentleman, who was sitting inconspicuously in the front row got up, went before the mike and began to speak.
"Sir! You may please sit down and speak" said Kannan.
"No. I prefer to speak standing. For old men like me, this will be an exercise. Moreover, only if I speak standing, I will feel my legs aching and finish my speech soon!"
Margabandhu's response evoked a mild laughter in the audience.
"When I started this company twenty years back, I first recruited three executives. I am proud of the fact that today, this company has grown to such an extent that we have been recruiting twenty executives every year.
"I have always believed in doing every action, following a systematic approach and observing due diligence. I followed this approach in recruiting executives for my company also.
"When my friends came to know of my intention to recruit executives for my newly established company, they recommended people known to them. They said that those people would be trustworthy. Was it enough that the candidates were trustworthy? Should they not have qualities like intelligence, capacity to take decisions and execute them, acting with alacrity, being proactive etc.?
"So, I decided to assess the candidates for possession of such attributes and select the best among those satisfying the requirements, gave advertisements in the newspapers, carefully scrutinized the applications, shortlisted suitable candidates, interviewed them, conducted a detailed background check on the selected candidates and recruited three executives.
"I thus followed an arduous process of selection for recruitment of the first set of executives for my company. That process has been constantly updated, tweaked and improved over the years, keeping the basic criteria for selection intact. So, you people, recruited now, can feel proud that you have the requisite attributes."
The trainees were pleased by the Chairman's observation. Some of them began to clap, but seeing that others had not joined them, quickly stopped clapping, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
"Why are you reluctant to clap? Give yourselves a big hand. It is important that we acknowledge and celebrate our own achievements."
On hearing Margabandhu's exhortation, the trainees clapped enthusiastically.
"If what I had said appeared like a story to you, then you should also expect a twist in the tale!" said Margabandhu and paused.
The trainees who were excited and enthused a few seconds before, now became quiet, anxious to learn what the twist in the tale was.
"All the three executives excelled in knowledge, work skills and personality traits. But in course of time, there were some changes in them. One of them was caught in a fraud. He was arrested on my complaint and went to jail after being convicted by a court.
"Another person's interest in work began to dwindle after a while and he was functioning in a mediocre way. After a few years, he left the job, complaining that he didn't get the promotion he was entitled to. I am not sure whether he would have been able to do well in his new job.
"I saw such changes in the executives recruited by me in the subsequent years also. Initially, this development was frustrating to me. I was angry with myself over what I perceived as my failure in choosing the right people.
"It took me several years to understand that this was a natural phenomenon. However thoroughly we may scrutinize people, assess their capabilities, analyze their qualities and select people through a carefully designed system, people are bound to act in different ways, because of the inherent differences in the the nature of people, their thinking, mental make-up and the choices they make at different points in their life.
"In a way, this realization was a blow to my ego. These experiences made me realize that the belief that we can control every thing is misplaced.
"During the recent years, I have not been playing any role in the recruitment of people for the company. But, I know that you have been recruited through a refined process of assessment. I have no doubt that all of you are very good in several ways.
"However, sustaining your position in the company and rising up to great heights will be entirely determined by your actions. If you understand this and function accordingly, you will be able to come up well, not only in this company but also in your life."
After Margabandhu completed his speech, there was a big applause.
After the applause had subsided, one of the trainee executives reluctantly got up from his seat and asked Margabandhu, "Sir, May I ask you a question."
"Go ahead" said Margabandhu.
"You spoke about two of the three executives recruited by you at the beginning. But you didn't say anything about the third person."
"Oh, I forgot. Or, I can even say that I deliberately omitted to talk about the third executive!" said Margabandhu, with a giggle.
"He came up by virtue of his excellent functioning. He has now become the General Manager of this company."
Margabandhu looked with pride at Kannan, the General Manager, who was sitting next to him and gently patted him on his shoulder, conveying his appreciation, satisfaction and happiness.
Section 2
Assessing Before Acting
vERAgum mAndhar palar.
No comments:
Post a Comment