The Premise:
I am the MD of a firm which provides innovative solutions and consultancy services to rural India. The source of our profit comes from grants from government affiliates, NGOs and a small percent from the rural population who makes use of our services. We have tie ups with Gram panchayats and our team keeps visiting the rural interiors, exploring more avenues to help them, they identify the needs, pass it on to our research and development wing who develop a prototype which is in turn sent back to the villages to be thoroughly tested, the inputs incorporated and the final product launched.
In a span of 2 years we have made some significant contribution to the quality of life of the villagers. Our products have directly touched their lives and in many cases enriched them. Some of the examples of our products are the mobile applications that help them the farmers know about the weather, educate them on better practices of farming, procurement of better quality of seeds, knowledge of better rates in the market, micro financing options, information on availability of loans in government banks and the various government and social initiatives that are already in place to cater to their needs.
Moreover , we have created a platform where millions of farmers, though our e-portal can interact , share their views, brainstorm on their problems and most importantly display a united front to help create policies to their advantage.
At present, we have a workforce of about 300 full time employees, which, as it is, is still woefully inadequate, considering the volume of customers we serve and the large geographical area we canvas. We are finding the going difficult as recruiting dedicated personnel is proving difficult. Moreover, in the recent past, we have witnessed an attrition rate that is a major cause of concern. Our employees are leaving our firm to either work with companies that cater to the urban needs or joining MNCs, leaving the Indian borders to go serve foreign customers.
This is a persuasive speech that I am giving to my employees, motivating them to be firmly committed to this organization and highlight the goodwill we are spreading in a sector that has long been ignored by others.
The Speech:-
Dear employees,
I first and foremost congratulate each one of you for the undying commitment that each one of you have exemplified in our mission to serve a sector that has long been ignored and forsaken, only because other corporations didn’t seem it to be financially rewarding. We wanted to tread new paths and not just reiterate on paths that were already taken. So, when other corporations were busy measuring their success by economic yardsticks, we were busy measuring it with the social satisfaction index, a scale that focussed more on the difference we were creating in the society than on the revenue we could possibly generate.
In a span of two years, our efforts have touched millions of lives. We have, almost singlehandedly improved the quality of life in thousands of Indian villages. Our products have made a difference in their lives. You all are living testaments to the love affair of this company with the Indian villages and how well it has been received and reciprocated. Little wonder then that our company is one of the most loved companies of rural India and that our teams are greeted like celebrities in the villages.
I come to you today, however, with a heavy heart. It pains me to announce that the attrition rate has reached worrying proportions. With 17% attrition rate, things look dark and bleary. Our workforce, as it is, is woefully inadequate, considering the volume of customers we serve and the large geographical area we canvas. We are finding the going difficult as recruiting dedicated personnel is proving difficult. To further compound our problems, our employees are leaving this firm to seek greener pastures, be it in companies that cater to the urban needs or joining MNCs, leaving the Indian borders to go serve foreign customers.
A long time ago, a young graduate, fresh out of IIT, got a job working in a PSU and against his wishes, got a posting in a rural village, where he found, he really had no job except signing off on some files that came his way, once in a blue moon. He kept sending off applications after applications to the central office, informing them of his predicament and requesting them to give him a posting that was more befitting his skills. But as you all know, government machinery has a pace of its own. To kill time, this young mechanical engineer made friends with a nearby small time entrepreneur who ran a dairy farm. The dairy farmer had no technical skills and his machines would break down a little too often. Since the engineer loved machines, he would often kill his time, by fixing those bulky and rusty machines. He advised the farmer to get rid of the antique machines and import new ones from Germany.
After a couple of months the engineer finally got a new posting. But as we about to pack, the famer came to his doorsteps and told him, that taking his advice into consideration; he had ordered the new German machines and now that they were here, there was no one qualified to run them and the engineer was the only one who knew everything about that machines. The farmer requested him to stay in the same village and help him with the machines. The young engineer was faced with a choice. He could either take up the posting in an urban city and live a comfortable life, or he could stay with this farmer in this rural village and create something new all together. That village, Ladies and gentlemen, was Anand, the young engineer was Dr. Vergeese Kurien, and the small dairy farm went on to become a co-operative Amul, the largest milk producer of the world.
Each one of you here made a choice. Each one you, could have stayed in a city and would have jobs that would definitely be more financially rewarding and materialistically comfortable. But you chose to work for the underprivileged. You chose to be here because you all are actually touching lives and transforming them. The amount of goodwill that you are spreading in the villages, today, is perhaps unparalleled.
If you remember, in your orientation, I posed you the same question that I am asking you today. Make a choice and stick with it. Every day, when you look yourself in the mirror, remember you made that choice. It’s very well your decision that can shape the future of India. Will it be a nation divided between the urban rich and the rural poor? Will it be a nation of Mercedes carts racing by bullock carts? Will it be a nation where the rich have quadruple bypass operations to clear their arteries while the poor lack a small vitamin drop at birth that will help prevent blindness? Will it be a nation where the cities have flyovers and overways but the villages lack even metalled roads? Will it be a nation where the cities are living testaments to globalization but the villages are all but forgotten? It all comes down to the choice you make. I m well aware that the ills plaguing our society are far too many for any one organization to correct but should that be the excuse for not trying at all?
Each one of here made a choice the moment you joined this firm and with each passing day and at each hurdle, you have re affirmed that choice. Each one of you have the unique privilege to waking up every day, looking at yourself in the mirror and feeling really proud of the choice you have made because it’s an effort at rebuilding the torn social fabric of india, a small effort but an effort nevertheless. I sincerely hope that you keep feeling proud of this achievement and reaffirm the choice again and again. Together we can make a difference and bring about the change. To end with a quote of RabindraNath tagore, Into that heaven, my father, let my country awaken.
