Signs of a Disengaged Organization

Is court is the right place to settle issues between employees and employer? Right or Wrong, but definitely not the ideal place, especially when the issues are trivial and could have been easily sorted-out away from the public and media glare.


The fact that for the first time a serving general of the Indian Army has dragged the government (employer in this case) to the court over the issue of correction of his date of birth is both unprecedented & unfortunate. Army Chief Gen V.K Singh has reportedly challenged the government in the court over the festering issue of his DOB, that he claims to be May 10, 1951 then what the records show to be May 10, 1950, amidst accusation that he was trying to extend his service at the fag-end of his career.

The issue appears too trivial to become a case in the court. Is it a case of a general trying to protect his honour or an organization bearing the brunt of a disgruntled employee? Well! The blame-game can continue but truth may never be known. However one thing is certain that prima-facie it is apparent that the issue could have been resolved internally. And, who shall win this case is of less significance. More than anything else, it perhaps shows how the organization is communicating; what levels of trust prevails in the organization! If the head of the organization (equivalent to CEO of the company) feels that the only recourse with the employer is the legal recourse, then what impact does it have on the morale of other employees in the organization? Is this a sign of a deeper systematic rot? Is this the symptom of a disengaged organization?

An airline recently dropping its passengers at the wrong airport, the pilot mistaking Kochi for Kozhikode; the members of a state legislature demanding a gadget that has yet not been released by the company that manufactures the same aren’t they all similar symptoms? Although, they appear to be funny& trivial, but deep down something appears to be seriously wrong inside the organization.

A latest Volkswagen Polo, TV advertisement shows a man (owner of the VW Polo) taking a rebirth as son of his own son to ride the car again. The punch line appears – ‘Volkswagen Polo, You will come back for it’. Another advertisement that caught my eye was of Hero Motor Corp, the new avtar of Hero Group (after breaking-off with Honda) trying to build its brand. A song ‘Hum Mein Hain Hero’ that has become quite famous now is played in the background but unlike the first ad of their campaign (where it shows people fighting against their odds& winning), it depicts kids lip sing the song. Both advertisements attempt and largely succeed to create a strong ‘engagement’ with the audience. The hero ad tries to engage with the kids, their future customers (who shall not remember them as Hero Honda).
Both these ads show- a) A little communication can create engagement; b) However, communication has to be appealing (touching both emotional & rational chords) to create engagement: and, c) Engagement is always for a very long term. It never sets- out to just to cling for the time being. The vision is always for a long haul.
Engagement is no rocket- science but some organizations make it look like one.