On a Sunday afternoon, I received a long-distance call on my landline, from the Vice Chairman of a tractor manufacturer in North India. He was calling from his factory, where he, his wife, and the surviving workforce had locked themselves in, a few days back.
As explained to me, two company buses that transport the workers back to their homes had been hijacked by Khalistan separatists. They had shot to death all workers in the two buses. A blood bath.
Soon thereafter, the Vice Chairman and his wife had entered the factory with trucks full of food supplies, and sealed the gates. Their mission was to keep the morale of the workers as intact as possible. They cooked meals together. They slept at the factory. They counseled individuals. The factory was kept alive running with the inventories on hand.
The inventory was now over.
Although a hardcore engineer, the Vice Chairman also nursed a very active right brain. He saw in this crisis an opportunity to train his workers on Quality Improvement. He had a captive audience that had the time. On this Sunday morning, he had just completed a participative workshop on 'How to Identify Chronic Problems'. His Bible was Juran's Quality Handbook, second edition.
The immediate realization after this first session was that engaging the right brain of workers had a therapeutic impact. He needed to share this finding with someone.
The sagging morale had been substantially rejuvenated.
Lessons Learned:
- Employees are the biggest asset of an organization
- Treat your workers with 'love' and 'dignity'
- Leaders should walk their talk
- Leaders should have an aptitude for training
- Leaders should also be coaches on skills and counselors on behavior
- Successful leaders have unconditional support from their respective spouses
- Engaging the right brain for creative ideation has an amazing ability to recharge people
CREDITS: Suresh Lulla, Founder & Mentor, Qimpro Consultants Pvt. Ltd.