The Hindu Business Line : Passengers in workplaces

SOMETIMES numbers in themselves have a knack of becoming catchwords. Since the President, Dr Abdul Kalam, wrote and spoke of his Vision 2020, that number has gained wide currency in India. It has the advantage of not only denoting an easy-to-remember target year for the nation to acquire the developed status, but also standing for clarity of vision which is what 20/20 means to ophthalmologists.

On the international plane, 20-80 is similarly acquiring a mystic significance. We have been hearing for some time about the ratio of the rich to the poor in the world being 20:80, and 80 per cent of the world's resources being gobbled up by 20 per cent of the people in affluent countries. I read somewhere that the top 20 per cent of investment bankers got the heftiest pay packages last year, with some rainmakers among them earning triple what they received in 2002. The other 80 per cent got no increase, or even a cut in overall compensation.

Some time ago, the Goldman Sachs Chief Executive, Mr Henry Paulson, embroiled himself in a heated controversy by declaring that 80 per cent of the value of his company was added by a mere 20 per cent of the employees. The furore that he whipped up by this statement was so unnerving that he thought it prudent to withdraw it in a hurry. He need not have, for he was only stating some thing to which every person in a leadership position in any organisation would readily subscribe.

The fact is that the majority of those employed by every organisation consists of passengers. They can be easily spotted, passively pottering about without a sense of mission or belonging, marking time and watching the clock while on their seats, with no sign of drive, ambition or commitment, contributing little to the operational, financial or technological strides made by the organisation.

The corollary of this proposition is that it is the balance 20 per cent that represents the pool of initiative and enterprise, creativity and competence, and capabilities and achievements within an organisation.

The problem in India is that the excessive protection enjoyed by employees makes it practically impossible to get rid of idlers. Under the voluntary retirement scheme, only those who have made a mark and can market themselves elsewhere usually quit. Thus, it seems there is no way the country can shake off the 20-80 syndrome in the near future.

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