Promote ‘Mango’ performers in corporate – HR message

The corporate and its HR function needs to identify and promote the ‘mango performers’ for the overall growth and welfare of the organization. Well before identifying the mango performers, they necessarily should understand the real meaning of the term ‘mango performers’ from the corporate context.

Mango fruit is popularly called as the ‘queen of fruits’, which has great nutritive, delicacy and commercial value across the globe. The mango tree also conveys an important management principle to the corporate which no business institutions can ever teach to the business leaders.

Mango is a succulent fruit and indeed a summer fruit.The plant mango, botanically called as Mangifera indica grows in arid region, where water and nutrients in the soil are not abundant. The tree starts flowering and fruiting from onset of summer through late summer.

Summer months pose scarcity of water and the intense heat. Further the summer season also can be really torturous in the tropical regions where the mango plants grow well.

But during brute summer months, the season where water is scarce and heat is intense, the mango plants flower and fruit. Indeed the fruits are very delicious, juicy and nutrient rich.

Mango tree has evolved to fruit during the worst phase of the season where many other plants may not even survive.

Every corporate would have to pass through the phases of adversity or scarcity of ideas, innovations etc. The huge chunk of the people in the corporate may know to perform only when there is no threat or challenge and the job is also briefed well. Or in other words, only when the environment is favourable and conducive, most people perform.

The corporate requires both type of performers viz.,

Best performers in the best environment
Best performers in the worst environment

In brief, the corporate must identify the ‘mango performers’ so that they can cruise the organization safely through the adverse situation.

If the corporate believes strongly in the philosophy of best environment only will create best performers and ask why some people are not doing the best despite the best facility is given to them, may miserably go wrong.
The HR function in most corporate would prefer to sack the people who do not perform well despite the best care and comfort is given. They need to go a little deeper to know whether such employees fall under the definition of ‘mango performers’.

More manure and more water to a mango plant only will support the vegetative growth of the tree and not the fruiting. The message is not against giving best comfort to these employees or to engineer some discomfort to them.

Have such mango performers in the corporate and certainly they can offer the best performance at the hour of adversity. Learn from nature; let your learning from nature enrich your wisdom to govern the corporate to success.

Dr S Ranganathan