Har Ek Employee Jarrori Hota Hai

Sometimes I wonder what is the real test of employee engagement? There are proven tools designed by organizations of repute to read the engagement scores. However at times your mere interaction with an organization can tell you how engaged (or disengaged ) the employees are.


On my recent visit to a shopping mall in Bangalore, I came across ‘free eye-testing camp’ organized by one of the reputed eye-care hospitals in the city. My better-half was very keen that I get my vision tested. I was reluctant as I have always been apprehensive of this concept of ‘free’. I have always felt that such camps have some covert-mission of pulling-in more business. Anyways upon her insistence I relented and got my eye tested by a very eager optometrist. He told me that my near -vision had some problems and I needed to wear lenses. For this I should visit the hospital soon. He also gave me some discount coupons which can be used on my visit to their hospital. I thought in my mind that I must earned some real virtues today – first a ‘free’ eye-test and then these ‘discount coupons’. Wow!

Anyways few days passed. I decided to get my eyes tested thoroughly, for chance that guy at the free camp got his maths right then I was risking my vision. I, however, decided to visit a Titan Eye+ showroom who have optometrist at their showrooms (more so because of the trust that I have on the brand Titan and of course on the name Tata), instead of that discount coupon hospital. I visited the Titan Eye+ showroom at Koramangala. I told the executive of my suspicion regarding the correctness of my vision and he immediately led me to the optometrist chamber. The lady optometrist was immensely patient and tested my eyes using various combinations of lenses, much to the amusement of my five-year old son who accompanied me. She tested my eyes thoroughly for close to 25 minutes and then very confidently told me that my vision was perfectly normal and did not require any lenses as of now. She also advised me to get my eyes tested when I am on the other side of forty as age may have some impact on my eyes. I thanked her and enquired from her how much I had to pay. She politely refused and said that the eye-test had no charges. But I was adamant to pay thinking that the same job at an eye-specialist clinic would have costed me few hundred bucks. However she politely refused and thanked me for my visit.

Business Line recently listed Titan among the five companies in India as being the ‘game-changers’. In case of Titan the market –capitalisation of the company had jumped from 3400 crores INR to 20000 Crores INR in the last five year, a phenomenal 500% rise. I also remembered my interaction with the CHRO of Titan Mr Ramadoss who had shared with me that they had followed permanent on-roll hires when it came to optometrist and other executives at their Titan Eye+ showrooms. He always felt that the level of engagement that these key staff members shall exhibit cannot be compared to a temp, especially in a eye-care showroom where the key factor is trust. This meant that they had to pay them more and run on slimmer margins for sometime while competing with established brand names in eye-care. However they were not ready to short-change.

Recalling my incident I know that the decision to take no payment for the eye-testing must have been of the company (policy), however the sincerity with which she tested my eyes, the confidence with which she refused any charges, the courtesy with which I was led-in by the Titan Eye+ executive could not have been alone dictated by the company’s policy. You can feel it, there is something deeper then that in their behaviour. Perhaps that’s what you call engagement. They may not have converted my visit to sales (as that free, discount coupon hospital tried to do) but Titan Eye+ had converted me and my family into a lifelong customer. They gave me trust as a solution.

Companies must remember that it is their engagement with their internal customer that leads to engagement with their external customer. And like the famous Airtel Jingle – Har ek employee jarrori hota hai, jaise hare ek customer jarrori hota hai ( every employee is important, like every customer is important).