HR Management Discussion Article

To inspire employees speak their language

Dear students, review the attached article describing how managers can engage and inspire employees through language. Consider the main points of the article and how the Supervisor was able to get more productivity out of his stonecutters. Finally, based on the results (the temple opened on time), what was different about the second supervisor’s approach and how can this be applied in a modern office work environment?

Discussion responses should be a 5-7 sentence paragraph addressing questions asked within the writing prompt

To Inspire Employees, Speak

Their Language

Most employees are going through the motions at their jobs. To re-engage them, leaders must

translate organisational objectives into meaningful aims.

At a quarry, outside a village, worked twenty stone

cutters supervised by a foreman. The foreman

shouted at and abused them all day, forcing them to

cut more stones. Even during lunchtime, he would

keep an eagle eye, not allowing them an extra

minute.

While the stone cutters hated the foreman, they

continued to work. They had no choice. They

needed the money more than the foreman needed

them.

The Foreman’s Comeuppance

One day the foreman got a call from the head office.

‘But…’ said the foreman, colour draining from his

face, ‘but it’s impossible…how will I?’

The worried foreman hung up the phone and started

towards the centre of the quarry.

‘From tomorrow, all of you will have to cut twenty

more stones,’ said the foreman, pretending to be in

control, ‘remember, it is either twenty more stones a

day or you can look for another job!’

The tables had turned. Despite his bravado, the

foreman had exposed his dependence on the

workers to make the new quotas. The next morning,

the stone cutters assembled together and halted

work.

‘Listen to me! If you can’t cut twenty more stones, at

least cut ten more,’ the foreman pleaded.

The head office sent a new foreman. ‘Why don’t

you want to work?’ he asked them.

‘We are stone-cutters not magicians. We can only

cut so many stones in a day,’ said one of them with

unconcealed hostility.

‘We are fed up with the constant shouting and

supervision. It is as if we are in a jail,’ said

another.

‘You can collect your wages for today and take the

day off,’ the foreman declared.

Lord Ganesha’s Inner Chamber

The next morning, as the apprehensive stone cutters

assembled at the quarry, they saw a bus waiting for

them.

‘I want all of you to get in the bus!’ said the foreman,

‘we are going for a picnic.’

After a one-hour journey the bus reached a large

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clearing. As the stone-cutters descended from the

bus, they were left spellbound by what they saw. In

front of them, clad in red stones, was a grand

temple, its imposing form standing majestically

against the bright blue sky. As they moved about,

the foreman guided them through the temple.

‘Look these are the very stones we cut into shape,’

said one worker, running his hands over the stones.

‘I never knew stones could look so beautiful,’ said

another.

‘When this temple is inaugurated, you can bring

your families here. They will be so proud to see

what you have done,’ said the

foreman.

The workers looked at the foreman with gratitude.

He now had their undivided attention.

‘Look at that temple,’ said the foreman, ‘there is only

one part missing.’

‘Yes, the inner chamber,’ said a

worker.

‘Right, the inner chamber that will house Lord

Ganesha. Right now, it is just a grey cement

structure, not worthy of him, right?’

‘Yes, yes, you are right. Not at all,’ everyone chimed

together and started discussing, among themselves,

how the inner chamber could be made worthy of

Lord

Ganesha.

‘Can you get us white marble?’ asked one of them.

‘Why?’ asked the foreman.

‘The inner chamber has to look special. If we use

red stones only, it will look like the rest of the

temple. So, we have decided that we will make a

special inlay design with white marble,’ said the

worker.

‘But marble will be twice as hard to cut,’ said the

foreman.

‘Yes, but the inner chamber has to look perfect. Can

you get it for us?’ said one of them.

‘Yes. I will get it for you.’

‘When do you need the stones ready?’

‘There is a very auspicious occasion in thirty days,’

said the foreman.

The temple was inaugurated on time, and the temple

builders stood with their families at the entrance and

welcomed the devotees with garlands.

Reframe Aims to Engage Employees

Companies want employees to go beyond their job

description and show enthusiasm towards

organisational aims. Yet, in return they can no

longer promise job security. The new market

realities are forcing companies to be agile: to move

quickly (with a smaller workforce) and easily (with a

flexible workforce). If companies want to attract and

retain the best talent, they must focus on the value

that they are delivering to the employees in lieu of

job security.

Gallup’s research shows that only 13 percent of

employees are engaged (enthusiastic about

organisational goals), the remaining 87 percent of

employees are either unengaged (sleep-walking) or

actively disengaged (busy undermining

organisational goals).

The new foreman made the workers visit the grand

temple, the magnificent end result of their

backbreaking labour. He offered to have their

families visit the temple. He filled them with pride

about their work. He transformed them from stone

cutters to temple builders. The next step was to give

them an aim that they could be enthusiastic about.

Since his relationship with the workers was new and

his authority delicate, the new foreman did not

directly outline the aim. Instead, he suggested: ‘Is

the inner chamber worthy of Lord Ganesha?’ This

suggestion helped the stone-cutters discover a

worthy aim themselves. The team’s acceptance of

the aim was, therefore, automatic. The company’s

aim was simply to complete the temple and earn

profits, but the wise foreman reframed it to inspire

the team: not in the number of stones cut per day but

in terms of building an inner chamber for Lord

Ganesha.

The late Nelson Mandela said, ‘If you talk to a man in

a language he understands, that goes to his head. If

you talk to him in his language, that goes to his

heart.’ A company must connect with employees in

their language, and help them discover how their

actions lead to the fulfilment of a truly meaningful

aim. Gallup says that in order to win customers,

companies must win the hearts of their employees. If

so, the next value creation opportunity may be right

inside your company: helping the 87 percent

discover enthusiasm, helping them cross over to the

other side.

Venugopal Gupta is the founder of The Business

Parables, a strategic initiative, based on storytelling

that helps organisations create value through better

people (employees, partners, investors)

alignment. You can follow him on

Twitter @venugopal_gupta.

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