“What ?? This can’t be happening. I can’t believe it.

” Somanath was almost crying in front of

me now.

Here I was sitting in the chair of a HR Manager looking like an executioner to him and there
he was in front of me, as if pleading for his life. I could understand his situation but was
feeling helpless I could not do anything about it.

Somanath was from a small village in Karnataka and had studied Engineering from
Dharwad. He was one of the lucky students who had got placed in one of India’s biggest IT
companies. His family felt proud of him and had hosted a lunch for the village when
Somanath was to leave for Mumbai which was his job location.

Two weeks into his first job, Somanath had failed in two Voice and Accent tests and had
already been declared unfit for the role by his trainers. Me, as a HR person, had little or no
say in the whole evaluation process and hence felt helpless that I was left with the dirty job
of showing the way home.

Somanath was smart, intelligent and the best at tech skills. He was, however put into a job
which involved speaking directly to overseas customers. Coming from a small village, his
speech was not up to the mark of the trainers. He could type well. His grammar was correct
but he was just short of practice and confidence in speaking to an Englishman in English.

I tried putting myself in his shoes and tried to figure out what was going in his mind. “What
would the village people say? How will my parents feel? The University topper is no good
to work in big city? My professors wouldn’t see my face. I will bring disgrace to everyone.
No, I can’t go home. I can’t give them this news. It’s better I ….. ”. Whoof. I got shaken off my
seat simply by the thought of what he would be thinking. Suicide. I could read that on his
face. I consoled Somanath a little bit and asked him to drink some water while I go check
his evaluation sheets again.

I walked out of that small cabin and straight into the Head of Learning & Development.
Geemalata had been heading the function since the last 3 years and shared a good rapport
with me. “Geem, I said. Your trainers are no good. They are ruining the lives of these kids.
We pull them fresh out of small town colleges to save cost and your trainers can’t even
work hard enough to polish these kids to hit production floor”.

Geem knew exactly what I was talking about and turned her monitor’s screen towards me.
“Do you think I like it? It’s my KRA, my performance indicator and I am being hit the most.
8 out of 10 new hires are not good at voice but Talent Acquisition wants to push them to
call taking processes. My trainers haven’t gone home for 2 weeks now. Sitting back extra
and putting in more than their hearts into these kids but fluency in English language cannot
be built in a week. What can I do about it? They are just wrong hires”, she said.

“Well, I don’t know whose mistake it is but we have no right to play with someone’s career
and life in this manner Geem. I am going to take this up with Krupa, the HR Head. I can’t be
sitting and taking one exit interview after another for people who haven’t even got a chance
to perform and show their caliber.” I barged out of Geem’s cabin and in a gist of anger,
marched towards Krupa’s office. En route, I picked up Nivedita, the head of Talent
Acquisition as well.

Nivi, as I called her was sailing in the same boat as me. She had already got dready phone
calls from parents whose kids had broken the news. She couldn’t sleep the night before as
well. “Nivi, all of us know that what is happening is wrong but no one seems to be doing
anything about it. We can’t keep holding on to a clause in the Offer Letter that states that
appointment is subject to clearance of entrance tests. These kids will die and with them will
die the hundreds of wishes which have been tied to their jobs by friends and family. We are
not killers. We are givers of jobs, of hope, and our aim is to build a better life. How can we
be doing this?”

Krupa was on a conference call but let us in. They were speaking about urgent manpower
requirement in our Navi Mumbai office for a new project that we had just acquired. Krupa
was looking at Nivi, as if she was asking, “Will you be able to give me the numbers” and Nivi
was shaking her head with a “Not at such a short notice boss” kind of gesture. Krupa was
making some gestures at me but I was still with Somanath, and Jayesh and Rashmi and
Lourdes and the hundreds others who were about to die … I was praying to Ganesha to
show me the way. Suddenly, Krupa put the phone on mute and shouted, “Vishaaaaal, do you
have any smart suggestions on how we get the numbers?”

That for me was the moment of truth. A challenge, an opportunity in disguise was staring at
my face. “Yes, Krupa. I can do it for you but you will have to sanction certain exceptions and
follow my plan of action. In two week’s time, I shall get you the numbers.” Krupa was all
smiles. She closed the call and then asked me what was up my mind.

I explained my Plan Of Action, “i) We call back all new joinees who have been fired recently
on the basis of a stupid voice test. ii) We put them through rigorous non-tech training
program of 2 weeks. iii). We put our hearts behind them and in return get 200% passion
towards the training as they all want to save their jobs. iv. We pray to God that all goes well
and if it does Krupa, we will be out of 2 problems not one. Our attrition numbers will go
down and our hiring targets will be met. What say, are you game Krupa?”

Game she was and so were the 100 odd techies. The HR Team personally sat and made calls
to each one of them explaining them their last ray of hope and assuring them all support to
help them successfully hit the shop floor. 2 months later, it was ‘Family’s Day @ Work’ and I
was with the parents of all these kids. They wouldn’t stop praising the company and it’s
efforts to retain the jobs of their kids but all I did is point them to the corner of the
cafeteria. “He is the one who must be thanked”. They walked across, rang the bell and
prayed to Lord Ganesha. I just stood beside them and murmured, “Aaaal Izz Welll !!!“