Mr. Sundaram, a well-respected General Manager of the HR Department at a major bank, was known for his meticulous approach to manpower management. After decades of service, he retired with accolades and heartfelt farewells. However, retirement did not bring the peace he had anticipated. Used to the regimented and structured environment of the bank, Mr. Sundaram found himself struggling to adapt to the relaxed atmosphere at home.

Without a department to manage, he began imposing the strict HR policies he was so familiar with on his domestic servants and drivers. Mrs. Sundaram watched in bewilderment as he tried to implement performance appraisals and efficiency measures for the household staff. The situation was quickly becoming untenable.

Fortunately, Mr. Sundaram’s expertise didn’t go unnoticed for long. Within a couple of weeks, he was offered a position in the HR department of an airline company. Eager to get back to what he did best, he accepted the job. The airline, recognizing his extensive experience, promptly placed him in charge of their HR department.

On his first day, Mr. Sundaram was appalled by what he saw. “So many workers? There are different workers for each task. These people don’t even know manpower management. No wonder most of the airlines are running at a loss,” he thought. He immediately summoned his assistant for a meeting.

“How many people does it take to fly a plane?” he asked.

“Sir, there is ground staff and there is flight staff. Two people are required on the ground for check-in, two for baggage, two for boarding, two for ground navigation, two for air navigation, two for flight cleaning, two for refuelling, four for plane maintenance, and two for spares. Two people in flight to fly the aircraft and four air hostesses for in-flight service. Apart from this, some workers are also required to work here and there,” the assistant explained.

Mr. Sundaram was not impressed. “You are confusing me. When the plane is in the air, the ground staff will sit idle and when the plane is on the ground, the flight crew will sit idle. This is not right. Manpower has to be rationalized. In our opinion, these are not necessary. Two people are enough for the whole job.”

“Two people? Just?” The assistant was stunned and confused, but he had no choice but to take notes as Mr. Sundaram outlined his plan.

“Tell the plane’s pilot to check in the passengers from tomorrow.”

“Sir, but the luggage needs a different person.”

“Okay, keep it for temporary luggage boys. A man from operations will do the maintenance and cleaning of the plane. After checking in, the pilot will go to the boarding counter for boarding.”

“Sir, if the pilot gets boarding after check-in, who will bring the plane up to boarding?”

“Talk to the maintainer. He must have been on the plane by now. After maintenance, he will bring the plane to the boarding gate.”

“OK sir. But after boarding, ground staff will be required to move the plane to the runway.”

“After boarding the pilot will board the flight. The maintenance man will go to air navigation. The temporary staff will do the ground navigation.”

“Sir, but if there is no one on the plane except the pilot, then who will provide customer service?”

“Once take off, put the plane on autopilot. Then the pilot is free. Tell the pilot to come out of the cabin and sell samosas and tea. Cross-selling income is very important to us.”

“Sir, how can the pilot handle the whole plane alone?”

“Why can’t he? Go to a bank branch and see what the branch manager does alone. If there are too many problems, send the pilot to the bank branch for a few days of re-orientation & training. Everything will have to be learned.”

“Thank you, sir. No one has done such manpower planning to date in this industry.”

Finally, the assistant asked one more question: “But what if there is a complaint, sir?”

Mr. Sundaram said, “Then the pilot will bring a letter of apology to the passenger’s home. We are doing all the work here. What is the pilot to do.”

“And listen. The logging day will also be kept.”

The assistant heard this word for the first time in his entire career.

“Sir, what is this logging?”

“On the day of logging, we need to compel our customers to buy our product. Chicken sandwich one day, veggie sandwich one day, cold coffee one day, apple juice one day…”

“But sir, how do you sell a chicken sandwich to a vegetarian?”

“If you have talent and willpower, what can’t happen?” Tell the customer the benefits of chicken. Chicken meat contains protein. If you explain to the customer, he will surely agree. And if you haven’t bought it yet, do something else. A chicken sandwich called a veggie!”

But we don’t want zero figures on logging day. Do one thing, put a man in the control tower. We need an hourly report on how many sandwiches have been sold.”

The assistant went to his seat and thought about his future. Muttering “Pranam Sundaram sahib. Thank you, I salute all the bank staff.”

And thus, Mr. Sundaram embarked on his new journey, applying the same stringent HR policies he had perfected over the years in a completely new industry, leaving his assistant and the entire airline staff wondering about the future of their company.