A Simple Solution!!

“Raghu, our company is not doing well, we need to take some desperate measures now, I am sorry, but we HAVE TO DOWNSIZE”, said Mr.Sinha, the Managing Director of Quanta solutions. Raghu simply nodded. He was in a state of shock. It had been 3 years since he joined Quanta Solutions as a Senior Manager and it was the first time he would be asked to downsize people from his team. Raghu shuddered at the thought of facing his subordinates. “What am I going to do, how am I going to downsize 100+ people from the 400 members within 2 months”, Raghu said to himself.

Raghu had an excellent track record at Quanta. Under him, the various business functions at Quanta had delivered products and services of excellent quality. The company had just 450 odd employees, each of them were sincere, committed, and hardworking. Raghu was in a dilemma. If he laid off 125 people, it would demoralize the other staff and set a bad precedent. If he didn’t, then the management would anyways lay off people. In a state of confusion, Raghu took 2 days of leave and went to his native village.

At the village, his dad welcomed him with a warm hug. Raghu took his bath, had his breakfast and sat in the Verandah wondering about his office situation.
“Raghu beta, what are you worried about?” asked Dhanram, Raghu’s dad. Raghu explained the whole situation to his dad who smiled and said, “Don’t worry beta, there is always a solution to every issue, just relax. Come, let’s go to our farm.”

Raghu went with his dad to their Mango farm. It was a small farm spread just over a hectare. Dhanram asked Raghu to sit beneath the shade of a mango tree. As his father along with the farm employees started their work, Raghu watched carefully.

Raghu’s father and his employees were cutting some old mango trees; the employees were watering only a few trees and adding fertilizers, while some were planting young mango saplings. Raghu was puzzled and asked Dhanram why some trees were being cut. He replied, “Beta, we are only cutting trees that yield very less fruit. Since we have water scarcity, we water and nourish only a few trees that yield more fruits.”

“Then, why are you planting new saplings when you can’t water the existing ones?” asked Raghu in an irritating tone. Dhanram just smiled and said, “Beta, when you do something, you take into account the factors present today and the ones that decide tomorrow; I am cutting down the old trees so that I can water and nourish only the fruit-yielding trees. We take care of these selected Mango trees because they provide us rich yield. We plant new saplings because they consume less water. By the time they grow into mature trees, the water scarcity issue would be solved, and we would get more yield of mangoes! You gotta plan for the future”. Raghu was puzzled. It was a rather simple explanation which made a lot of sense.

Dhanram’s thoughtful reply made Raghu think deeply. That night, he couldn’t sleep. He just kept pondering over Dhanram’s reply. In the morning, Raghu took the blessings of his parents and left the village. For some reason, his father’s farming strategy seemed to make complete sense.

Raghu arrived at his office and called his sub-ordinates for a meeting. In the meeting, he asked his sub-ordinates to prepare a list of all employees who were slacking in performance. Within a few hours, Raghu got the list of all employees and the details of their performance over the past quarter. He and the managers of the respective functions sat together and planned the strategies for the upcoming quarters. The employees who were slacking were given training to improve their skills, and warned that they would be fired if they didn’t raise their performance level within a month.

Raghu called in all his team members for a meeting and asked them to provide suggestions/measures that would help Quanta Solutions increase their sales and establish themselves in the market. He also announced huge incentives for employees who could implement measures to increase profits. Within a month, Raghu received many valuable suggestions from his team members. He chose the best 5 solutions and gained the approval of the management to implement them. The employees who gave the suggestions were rewarded handsomely. Soon, the work atmosphere at Quanta turned lively due to the positive vibes from the management.

Meanwhile, employees who were still slacking in their performance were fired and replaced by talented young freshers. Raghu placed appointed a team of talented, skilled, and dedicated employees to mentor the freshers. Within a span of three months, the share value of Quanta Solutions increased by 20%.

Mr.Sinha, the MD, called Raghu to congratulate him. “Raghu, you have done a great job, thanks to your ideas, we are now in a position of strength, how did you do this?”
Raghu just smiled and said, “It’s easy sir, just nourish the trees that yield the most and plant new ones”. Mr. Sinha was puzzled, but knew that Raghu’s words implied a hidden meaning.
Raghu then shook hands with Sinha and left the room. As he sat in his cabin, he remembered his father’s words, “Beta, when you do something, you take into account the factors present today and the ones that decide tomorrow.” Raghu couldn’t help wondering how such a simple solution could solve a complex issue.