Year 1972. I joined as one of the Graduate Trainees and got posted to the Personnel Department of one of the factories of a big company. Our orientation started with the General Manager explaining about the Mission statement of the organization. Vision was not explained, perhaps because it was a Unit. As was the norm, the Mission statement was hung on the walls of Reception, Conference hall, Personnel office, Canteen, GM's office etc.
Within three months of my joining, the Chairman was visiting our plant for a day. The sleepy plant suddenly came alive. All the heads of the department were instructed to keep their sections spic and span and ensure that every staff and worker were in their work spot when the Chairman came.
The Chairman came. As luck would have it, the canteen manager bunked. The Personnel Manager sent me to the canteen to oversee the operation. The first job was to send the Tea to the factory exactly at 11.00 AM so that the workers could get back to their spot before the Chairman came there.
It was 10.30 AM and I was going around the kitchen. A canteen worker was boiling the milk of about 200 liters in a big open vessel. As we were watching, a small cockroach fell on the boiling milk. Except me and him, no one else saw the insect falling. We both tried to remove the cockroach, which was dead by then, but it was going up and down the boiling milk. We could not trace the small cockroach. The worker slightly tilted the container using a cloth so that I could find and remove the insect. I removed the insect with the ladle but the container went out of balance. The whole milk spilled down the drain.
No extra milk was available. No time to procure. No tea was sent to the factory. PM was not to be seen. Relenting to the fate, I concentrated on the preparation of lunch.
Workers at the factory waited for some time, grew impatient by 11.15 and started crowding the tea counter by 11.30 leaving their work spot. Oblivious to all this, the GM, along with some HoDs and PM, was guiding the Chairman to that specific area at that time. GM was shocked to see all the workers standing and chatting at the counter. It was not the scene or the screen play that he wrote! The Chairman came, shook hands with a couple of workers, enquired how they were doing and quietly went.
Evening 4.00 o’clock. The Chairman was seen off. The GM was in his chair, surrounded by all the HoDs with mixed reactions in their face. They had, by then, got to know the reason for the workers not in their work spot in the morning. Obviously, I had been blamed and I was summoned. I was a Trainee. GM would not talk to me! So the PM asked me for explanation.
I narrated. A small cockroach fell on the boiling milk due to the pesticide operation done in the morning and I had to throw the milk. So no tea was sent. (I don’t know why I didn’t say that we spilled the milk).
PM pounced on me. “So what, you could have removed the cockroach. It was small. It was not poisonous and no one else saw”. He went on and on. Apparently, he had to save his skin.
I was just staring at the wall. I was in a haze. It was a hard day. Fortunately, my eyes fell on the Mission statement that was adorning the wall. I quietly pointed out to the gang there, our Value statement which said “Employee Safety is the utmost concern of the organization”.
There were some mumblings, some warnings. But then, I was let off.
Who says that Mission statements are not useful?
Within three months of my joining, the Chairman was visiting our plant for a day. The sleepy plant suddenly came alive. All the heads of the department were instructed to keep their sections spic and span and ensure that every staff and worker were in their work spot when the Chairman came.
The Chairman came. As luck would have it, the canteen manager bunked. The Personnel Manager sent me to the canteen to oversee the operation. The first job was to send the Tea to the factory exactly at 11.00 AM so that the workers could get back to their spot before the Chairman came there.
It was 10.30 AM and I was going around the kitchen. A canteen worker was boiling the milk of about 200 liters in a big open vessel. As we were watching, a small cockroach fell on the boiling milk. Except me and him, no one else saw the insect falling. We both tried to remove the cockroach, which was dead by then, but it was going up and down the boiling milk. We could not trace the small cockroach. The worker slightly tilted the container using a cloth so that I could find and remove the insect. I removed the insect with the ladle but the container went out of balance. The whole milk spilled down the drain.
No extra milk was available. No time to procure. No tea was sent to the factory. PM was not to be seen. Relenting to the fate, I concentrated on the preparation of lunch.
Workers at the factory waited for some time, grew impatient by 11.15 and started crowding the tea counter by 11.30 leaving their work spot. Oblivious to all this, the GM, along with some HoDs and PM, was guiding the Chairman to that specific area at that time. GM was shocked to see all the workers standing and chatting at the counter. It was not the scene or the screen play that he wrote! The Chairman came, shook hands with a couple of workers, enquired how they were doing and quietly went.
Evening 4.00 o’clock. The Chairman was seen off. The GM was in his chair, surrounded by all the HoDs with mixed reactions in their face. They had, by then, got to know the reason for the workers not in their work spot in the morning. Obviously, I had been blamed and I was summoned. I was a Trainee. GM would not talk to me! So the PM asked me for explanation.
I narrated. A small cockroach fell on the boiling milk due to the pesticide operation done in the morning and I had to throw the milk. So no tea was sent. (I don’t know why I didn’t say that we spilled the milk).
PM pounced on me. “So what, you could have removed the cockroach. It was small. It was not poisonous and no one else saw”. He went on and on. Apparently, he had to save his skin.
I was just staring at the wall. I was in a haze. It was a hard day. Fortunately, my eyes fell on the Mission statement that was adorning the wall. I quietly pointed out to the gang there, our Value statement which said “Employee Safety is the utmost concern of the organization”.
There were some mumblings, some warnings. But then, I was let off.
Who says that Mission statements are not useful?
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