Case Analysis : Ramesh and Gargi

Problem Statement:

The degradation of workplace relationships between three individuals, due to lack of

communication between them and misinterpretation of intentions and ignoring the emotional
state of the members of the organization.

Overview:

After acquiring the position as the head of L&D department at Chrysalis Pharmaceuticals,
Mr.Ramesh Sharma thought that he finally got his dream job. Ms.Kamla Saxena, Vice
President of HR and Mr.Raman Murthy, the CEO of the company handpicked Ramesh for the
role. When Kamla hired Gargi Sinha as the subordinate for Ramesh, who was also tasked
with dealing the new division of Corporate and Social Responsibility, Ramesh was
disconcerted. And also Gargi’s unconventional and informal behaviour with him and other
department heads made him uneasy. The ever enthusiastic Gargi made many changes in the
department with one sided decisions to which Kamla had nothing but praise. When Ramesh
tried discussing about Gargi’s unilateral decision making process, which is in contrast with
how Ramesh’s group always handled the decision process, his concern was completely
ignored by Kamla. Accompanied with this and Gargi’s rapid rise to spotlight and her
achievements, Ramesh felt that he was far too left behind and not anywhere near Gargi in
terms of success or fame. He planned to leave the company before he felt any worse and
resigned the job. Interestingly, Gargi wanted to take guidance from Ramesh as he was more
experienced and wise. She wanted to further improve the company’s CSR division and
declined the offer to lead L&D department outright given by Kamla. She was awed at Gargi’s
clarity in her life and at the same time was disturbed about Ramesh’s resignation.

Course Of Action:

Ramesh brought his emotions into play and felt insecure. And without putting much effort in
discussing it with Kamla, he made an irrational decision and opted to resign from the
company. Kamla, as the Vice President of HR department, should focus on all employees
instead of just focusing on one highly performing employee. This puts a burden and the
organization’s overall performance gets affected. The best option for Kamla to take is to ask
Ramesh to meet in person along with Gargi and remove any misunderstanding between the
two. If a person as experienced and as wise as Ramesh felt such discomfort, it may as well be
the case with many other employees regarding the new changes but they might have kept
their problems to themselves. Kamla should strive to achieve balance between all the
employees as Ramesh and Gargi, though highly exceptional, are extreme opposites of each
other. In case she fails to convince Ramesh to meet up or to change his mind, she should
work on improving the workplace relationships. As any problem in the work group might not
pose an immediate threat but it might become detrimental in the future.