It is not the queen, the workers only give you the honey

Bee hive is made by the worker bees and not essentially by the queen bee. This important message all the entrepreneurs and the top bosses in the corporate must keep in mind while running the organization. This message, indeed the HR also should memorize. No queen can run the show without worker bees. Another important thing one must know is that only the worker bees could gather and store so much of honey in the hive.

Is the quantity of honey in the hive is directly proportional to the number of bees or bees differ in their ability to gather nectar and convert them to honey? Or the availability of total number of flowers ready for pollination determines the quantity of the honey in the hive?

Number of bees and number of flowers ready for pollination do play a role but, more than the number and availability of the flowers for pollination, the ability of bees in gathering the honey only determine the quantity of the honey in the hive. It is reported that a bee can carry nectar almost equal to or just above than its body weight. Every worker bee try to carry more than what they could and that is how the honey reserve in the hive increases. Only when such high performing bees are there in the hive, the quantity of honey can be expected to be high in the hive.

Just by having large number of bees does not influence the quantity of honey present in the hive but only the bees with supreme capability that make the hive rich with honey.

The corporate HR must get their learning here. Have people with high capability and result orientation. Only such employees alone can decide and determines the future of the organization. This insight should be well conceived and understood by all the corporate leaders. When they play the role of a queen, they should remember that queen never gather and bring honey and nor do they significantly play a role in building the hive. Of course they facilitate.

Most functional heads in the corporate try to fill the vacancies with substandard and average people just to send a message to the top management that they are very quick to address the issue of attrition. They may succeed well in convincing the top management that they are very quick to replace and refill the vacancies created by the resignations. But such an effort would never offer success or growth to the organization.

But most corporate never analyze the recruitment process strictly to see whether only the right candidates are selected and appointed. Unfortunately, most corporate go by the logic that the HR and the respective functional heads have immediately identified the candidates and filled the vacancies. They go by the philosophy of performance of the candidate cannot be linked to the intent or capability of the functional heads and HR function.

The point of discussion is not about whom to be blamed in the corporate but who should to made accountable and responsible for the result.

Understand the important dimension of having right people for the job. Only when you have right people, and people who can take up lot of responsibilities, can make the difference. If such talents are not hired, corporate cannot achieve any result. Also understand that the queen never works and the worker bees are only making the difference. The worker bees only ensure the survival of the future clan of the bees.

It is not the queen gives you the honey but only the workers who toiled for the honey that you enjoy. Learn the essentials of having people who can stretch beyond the brief and can contribute more for the success of the corporate.

Respect the management insight of honey bees and respect people and this should be the learning, both the top boss in the corporate and HR must hold.

Ref: Management Book – Jungle wisdom for corporate management – lessons from university of nature by Swami Sukhabodhananda and Dr S Ranganathan