This is something they will probably never teach us in the business schools. The most important decision we make in our career, the one decision that can make or break our plans, is who we chose as our managers. If we chose the right leader then doors to opportunity and possibility open up. In a dynamic business environment knowledge holds the key to growth and only the right leaders can impart the right skills to his people. On the other hand if get stuck with the wrong manager nothing fixes that bad decision.

Approximately 250 million people are working in Indian manufacturing and service industry. According to Gallup Research about 20 percent of those surveyed are engaged and inspired at work. These people are those 20 percent who gives 80 percent of the productivity to the organizations. They drive quality, innovation and knowledge development. Other the other hand we have 37 percent who are actively disengaged. These people have horrible bosses who make their life miserable. Consequently, they spread discontent and negativity. The remaining 40 percent are not engaged, they are just the kind of present at workplace, but not inspired by their work or their managers. They operate far below their potential and the business does not benefit from their presence. We need to engage them and take our organizations to the next level. Changing people or forced attrition will not necessarily solve the problem. We need to connect with our teams and enable them to contribute to the business. We need to listen to them more and let them share their ideas. We need to acknowledge that many of our managers need help. They need help on engaging with the team and organization.

The crucial part of the story is research shows that the top 25 percent of the teams, led by the best managers, has 41 percent fewer quality defects in comparison to the bottom 25 percent of the teams. The latter are managed by worst managers as per the Gallup Research. Great managers build efficient teams who in turn create a safe, qualitatively better and more customer responsive business environment. So having too few engaged employees implies less safe workplace, mounting health care cost, more quality defects and more time spent on interpersonal squabbles. The focus of the organization gets diffused.

According to Pew Research Center, the level of engagement plays a key role in shaping perception about the attitude of people towards business and their intellectual capability. Such impression plays a key role in shaping investment climate and willingness of the global business community to engage with a country or organization. For great ideas like Make in India to succeed, India has to ensure that Indian workforce is engaged. For India to succeed in general, all of us will have to collective work towards India’s growth - growth through development of knowledge and quality.

Human Resource Development has in last one decade begun to pay significant attention to the impact of human nature on economic growth. The quality of our managers and employees has a serious implication for the future of Indian companies and there by shaping the direction of India's future. For organizations to be competitive, and be able to produce quality goods or services they must have quality people who are inclined to learn and assimilate the knowledge around them. For the world to be a better place we need to focus on learning and quality. Across the world millions of people hold full time jobs but it is the quality of their work and innovation that determines the growth of the economy. That, in turn, impacts the capacity of the economy to forge bonds with others. The level of workforce capability is the key to creating the right perception about a nation, a society, an institutions or a business. The extraordinary achievements of ordinary people takes us to the next level.