Synopsis: Communication For Productivity
Letters written to some 7500 Workers / Managers /
Union Leaders, following a period of strike / Go slow / Murders (1979 -
1987), at Mumbai factory of Larsen & Toubro Ltd. This direct / open /
honest communication led to a remarkable atmosphere of trust between
Workers and Management, which, in turn, increased productivity at 3% per year
(ave).
|
8 April 1985
To:
Dear Friends
Can you lock
yourself "out" of your
own house - even when you are holding the "key"
in your own hands ?
This is what seems
to have happened at IIL
(International Instruments Ltd.) Bangalore, one year ago.
The owner of
the company Mr. Krishnan
apparently believed in the Gandhian
concept of "Trusteeship". So he made
all workers share-holders of the company. He must have thought,
"... if
the workers own the Company (even
partially), surely they would work very hard and keep it competitive"
But that did
not happen!
The workers
paid themselves the highest
wages (for the instrument industry) - you see, they "owned" the company!
Material
plus labour - cost added upto 81%. Many departments
became uneconomical - sick.
So when
the Management decided
to close down
these departments (I suppose, to
save the rest of the Company!), the
workers went on a "sit-down" strike!
That is what
I call, "locking
yourself out of your
own house." it is, like punishing
one's own self!
But let
me tell you one thing. Competition does not give a damn whether
you own the
company or you
are a paid employee'.
If you cannot compete, you are simply finished!
And
much as I would like L&T-ites to think that
it is the society - the Nation -
which ultimately owns this
company, all that philosophical talk of
"ownership" is
completely meaningless unless we
are productive - enough to
face the competition and sell our products in the market.
And most
unfortunately, when we
are facing severe competition in Switchboards, Dairy-products, Chemical plants and many
other products, I find some
employees raising petty, selfish
issues and obstructing
productivity! I hope they will
read this article
and cooperate with
the Management in making ourselves competitive. No
company -not even L&T - is beyond the threat of competition.
Educating employees
and persuading them
to give-up unproductive practices
are important responsibilities of management.
But then
no one can save a person who wants to lock himself out of his own home!
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