Management Challenges & Issues in Small Dams Organization, Punjab Irrigation Department

Ghulam Sarwar Baig Status: Student Email: gsbaig76@yahoo.com Center for Advanced Studies in Engineering CASE Abstract-Any organization whether public or private always has a room for improvement, In Pakistan, public sector organizations, in general, are said to have lost the confidence of their customers and present a bleak picture of good management. Irrigation Department of Punjab is no exception to it. Moreover, there is a variation from organizations to organizations lacking in different dimensions of organizational management. Identifying those weak areas and their in-depth analysis is a challenging job. An approach to solve this problem can be regarded as Total Customer Based Approach. This approach enables the analyst to find out the weak areas in broader terms first and then apply survey questionnaire methodology to exactly identify the areas to improve. Subsequent statistical analysis is the second part followed by viable recommended actions. A totally customer based effort has been made to identify the weak areas in managerial practices by asking their opinion Keeping in view the national culture, historical background of the However, the scenario can be replaced with a pleasant one if serious and concerted efforts are aimed for improvement. I. INTRODUCTION Punjab Irrigation & Power Department is one of the oldest public sector departments of Pakistan. It is operating and maintaining the largest integrated irrigation system in the world. Irrigation network comprises irrigation canals, drains, tube-wells, small dams and flood protection infrastructure and serves as lifeline for sustaining the agriculture in this part of the world. Irrigated land supplies 90% of agricultural production accounting for about 25% of the GDP of the province while accommodating about 45% of the labor force. Total assets value of the irrigation infrastructure has been estimated to be US$ 20 billion. Small Dams Organization is one of the constituent departments of the whole Punjab Irrigation Department and is controlled by Irrigation Development Zone Lahore. Basic objective of Small Dams Organization is to tap water from springs and rainfalls in catchments, store in the reservoirs and subsequently distribute it to agricultural lands. In addition, small dams also provide facilities for fish farming, tourism, storage of drinking water and vegetation cover. Rawalpindi division has a total of 50 small dams in the Potohar plateau region. This region covers an area of 24000 km2 and lies between the Jhelum and Indus Rivers falling within the administrative districts of Jhelum, Chakwal, Rawalpindi, Attock and the federal territory of Islamabad. Headquarters of Small Dams Organization is located at the Rawal Dam, Islamabad headed by a Project Director (BPS19). Project director is assisted by three Executive Engineers (BPS-18), at Islamabad, Jhelum and Chakwal respectively, who in turn are assisted by three to four Sub Divisional Officers (BPS-17) for administrative and field works. There are more than 300 regular and 200 temporary employees serving in different pay scales. The research work has been focused to study different managerial practices in the Small Dams Organization at the Rawal Dam site. II. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This study is based on two arch surveys, one is was for the purpose of identification of major problem areas and second one was for in-depth study of problem areas. After carrying out the literature review most important managerial practices for improvement and capacity building were identified. In order to come up with the specific fields of managerial practices to include in the detailed survey questionnaire, brainstorming sessions were conducted to design a short Indicator Questionnaire for first survey to identify major problem areas. This questionnaire is comprised of 11 questions on different dimensions for improvement in the organizational performance and sample pool was selected from senior management positions. In the light of results of first survey we identify following eight areas for further study. These are; 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Emotional Intelligence Motivation Human Resource Management Empowerment General Management Leadership Organizational Culture Customer Satisfaction

Next step in our research was development of detailed survey questionnaire, which is divided into above mentioned heads. Each head contain different questions, which focus on various aspects of each head. This questionnaire resulted from rigorous brainstorming sessions. This final version of the survey questionnaire was prepared in URDU language to make it more meaningful and understandable to all categories of employees.. Questions were easy to understand, written in Urdu and designed to take less time for the employees to fill but give the real picture of the organization. A range of options from 1 to 5 in the answer columns was given to enable the employees give their feedback in different shades, as seemed appropriate to them. Lowest shade No was given a zero weightage whereas highest shade Yes corresponded to the strongest support for the question asked and carried a weightage of 4. In order to carry out a meaningful, understandable and in-depth statistical analysis, questions were designed in a similar format and polarity so that the response could then be easily translated into statistical figures for subsequent root-cause analysis. III. RESEARCH AREAS A. Emotional Intelligence. Twelve questions in this field are included to ascertain the presence of human touch in managerial practices and indicate the weak links prevailing among different groups. B. Motivation. This section encompasses the soft factor of motivation to find the extent to which the managerial practices are actually contributing towards increasing or maintaining the motivation level of the employees. C. Human Resource Management. Questions in this section are aimed to identify the weak areas in human resource management and adversely affecting the performance of the individuals e.g, facilities, performance appraisals, policies, procedures, promotion criteria etc. D. Empowerment. This section focuses on the authoritative rights prevailing in the organization and their level of implementation by each individual. E. General Management. Various managerial functions have been addressed in this section and questions are designed as such to identify the weak areas. F. Leadership.

Questions in this section are designed to indicate the weak areas in leadership qualities of the managers at every level. G. Organizational Culture and Customer Satisfaction. Questions in this section are focused on the organizational customer oriented culture to improve the performance of the organization. IV. CONDUCT OF SURVEY

BPS stands for Basic Pay Scale

A. Sampling In order to make the survey statistically authentic, a sample pool size of 60 was surveyed out of which 54 responses in total were received. Further grouping of the responses was made on the basis of variation between different Basic Pay Scales. Finally following sample pool groups were analyzed contacts S# 1 2 3 4 5 TABLE 1 Basic Pay Scale (BPS1) Groups 14 58 9 12 13 16 17 18 Samples 15 16 12 3 8

Since the sample size for BPS1 13 to 16 was very small (only 3), therefore, this sample has not been included in the statistical analysis being invalid. B. Distribution and Collection of Questionnaires Purpose of this survey is to identify the weak areas in managerial practices. In order to accomplish the desired goal, a true and honest feedback is must. Before distributing the questionnaires among different people, each individual was educated on the purpose, construction and the correct way to answer the questions. Employees were distributed the questionnaires in different locations and given about half an hour to fill them up and return. V. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

A. BPS 1 to 4 This is the lowest class as far as pay package is concerned and seems to be not affected one of the bad managerial practices. Under mentioned graph 5.1 depicts the current state of various practices and margin to improve upon.

68 41 43 50 54

70 52 30 46

69 53 56

35

35

io at iv ot M

EI

t t ip re en gm sh l tu M rm er Cu en we ad G Le po Em HR
EI on at i ti v Mo HR p Em t t en hip gm ers er m nM ad ow Ge Le re l tu Cu

GRAPH 5.1

B. BPS 5 to 8 Situation in this category improves and about all the aspects of the managerial practices are lying at an average level of 60% as depicted in the graph 5.2 below.
68 55 60 61 75 59 77

GRAPH 5.4

VI.

TRENDS

GRAPH 5.2

C. BPS 9 to 12 This category is slightly better and seems to be more comfortable tan the previous ones as shown in graph 5.3 below.
66 48 68 58 71

A. BPS Grade-wise BPS grade-wise or in other words class wise response trend is shown in graph 6.1 below. The graph clearly depicts that the almost every managerial practice needs special attention towards the lowest class (BPS 1 to 4) as this class is the most affected in all respects. On average BPS 1 to 4 people are satisfied to an extent of only 47%. BPS 5 to 8 and 9 to 12 employees have slightly better confidence level up to around 65%. Interestingly, the middle/senior level managers serving in BPS 18 to 19 officers feel uncomfortable with the prevailing situation with a satisfaction level of 54% only. Talking in terms of cumulative effect, all the employees feel that there is a margin of 43% in improvement in all the current managerial practices prevailing in this organization.
100 EI Motivation HR Empow erment Gen Mgmt Leadership Grade 1-4 Grade Grade 5-8 9-12 GRAPH 6.1 Grade 17-18 Culture

Em

po we r

HR m en G en t M gm Le t ad er sh ip Cu ltu re

EI M ot

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64

66

80 60 40 20

EI M ot iv at io n

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G en

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GRAPH 5.3

Le a

M gm t de rs hi p C ul tu re

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D. BPS 17 to 18 This is the highest category after excluding the bracket of BPS 13 to 16 being invalid for statistical analysis. This class comprises engineers and represents medium to senior level management. Although there is a mix of response about different categories, however, the average level of satisfaction about various managerial practices stays above 50% as shown in the graph 5.4 below.

B. Research Category-wise Research category-wise response pattern is depicted in the graph 6.2 below. As per the statistical data, most neglected practice in the organization is the human resource management attaining only 47% of the overall satisfaction level of the employees; out of which BPS 1 to 4 employees present the worst scenario with only 35% conformance to the standard practices. Areas of Emotional intelligence and Motivation take the second priority and there is a margin of about 50% improvement. BPS 17 to 18 officers are least

motivated (30%) as per the survey results. General management, on average, is lying at 55% to the desired level of conformance with all the employees opining in almost the same manner. Empowerment and leadership practices also fall in near vicinity of 61% and 63%, respectively. Here again BPS 1 to 4 employees need special attention to empower them in their routine jobs. It seems encouraging that managerial practices concerning organizational culture and customer satisfaction approach are at relatively better level of 71% on average.

Motivation

1.

HRM

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Em po H R w er m e G en nt M g Le ad mt er sh ip C ult ur e M EI ot iv at io n

Grade 1-4 Grade 5-8 Grade 9-12 Grade 17-18

Empowerment

General Management Leadership

Growth and promotion criteria awareness 2. Encouragement, appreciation 3. Problem solving attitude 1. HRM department 2. Professional growth, training 3. Access to seniority roll 4. Attractive pay package, benefits 5. Knowledge of performance evaluation mechanism 6. Knowledge about rule, regulations and procedures 1. Delegation and authority 2. Confidence and trust by seniors 1. Rationale workload 1. Guidance and counseling for improvement 2. Performance evaluation with consultation 1. Customer complaint resolving mechanism TABLE 3 BPS 5-8

8% 25% 28% 0% 2% 7% 10% 20% 22% 0% 17% 7% 0% 7% 35%

GRAPH 6.2

Research Category

Weak Areas

TABLE 2 BPS 1-4

Conformance Level

Emotional Intelligence

1. Recreational/ entertainment activities and facilities. 2. Care and feedback 1. Growth and promotion criteria awareness 1. Attractive pay package, benefits 2. HRM department 3. Professional growth, training, chances 4. Access to seniority roll 5. Satisfaction with promotion criteria

0%

Research Category

Weak Areas

Motivation

20% 8%

Emotional Intelligence

1.

Recreational/entert ainment activities and facilities. 2. Managers apathy, sympathy 3. Care and feedback

0%
HRM

3% 13% 26% 30% 30%

12% 15%

Conformance Level

MICRO-LEVEL ANALYSIS A TQM APPROACH Designing of the questionnaire, its planned conduct and translation of the data into meaningful information has also enabled the researchers to carry out an in depth, micro-level analysis to find the weakest areas for improvement in the organizational performance. Responses from each category in each class (BPS grades) have been analyzed to identify the key areas where the employees feel deprived. Following paragraphs explain those key areas in each class (BPS grades) in reference to different research categories.

VII.

Culture, Customer satisfaction

Empowerment

28% 7% 25% 13% 23% 40%

Research Category Emotional Intelligence Weak Areas

General Management Leadership

Culture, Customer satisfaction

1. Rationale workload 2. Competitive environment 1. Performance evaluation with consultation 2. Guidance and counseling for improvement 1. Customer satisfaction approach

Motivation

TABLE 4 BPS 9-12

LevelConformance

HRM

Research Category Emotional Intelligence

Weak Areas

1. Recreational/ entertainment activities and facilities. 2. Care and feedback 1. Growth and promotion criteria awareness 1. HRM department 2. Professional growth, training, chances 3. Effectiveness of trade unions 4. Attractive pay package, benefits 5. Satisfaction with promotion criteria 1. Liberty in decision making 1. Competitive environment 2. Rationale workload 1. Performance evaluation with consultation 2. Guidance and counseling for improvement 3. Commitment of seniors with organizational objectives

0% 35% 41%
Empowerment General Management Leadership

Motivation

HRM

13% 15% 21% 23% 25% 21% 13% 25% 19% 25% 27%
Culture, Customer satisfaction

1. Recreational / entertainment activities and facilities. 2. Care and feedback 1. Growth and promotion criteria awareness 2. Appreciation and encouragement 1. Satisfaction with promotion criteria 2. Attractive pay package, benefits 3. Effectiveness of trade unions 4. Professional growth, training, chances 5. HRM department 1. Liberty in decision making 1. Rationale workload 2. Competitive environment 1. Performance evaluation with consultation 2. Guidance and counseling for improvement 3. Commitment of seniors with organizational objectives 1. Customer satisfaction approach

9% 25% 13% 26% 6% 9% 13% 25% 28% 31% 6% 22% 3% 13% 40% 56%

Empowerment General Management Leadership

VIII. ROOT-CAUSE ANALYSIS Detailed and in-depth analysis of the responses given by all the employees reveals that following are the basic reasons for the current state of affairs prevailing in the organization: 1) Absence of recreational and entertainment facilities. 2) Absence of personal touch in dealing with the employees. 3) Dissatisfaction with complicated and very slow promotion criteria.

LevelConformance

1. Delegation and authority 2. Liberty in decision making 3. Participation in organizational improvement 4. Confidence and trust by seniors

5% 6% 27%

Culture, Customer satisfaction

1. Customer satisfaction approach TABLE 5 BPS 17-18

57%

4) Lack of involvement of employees at all levels. 5) Non-functional human resource management department. 6) Absence of opportunities for professional growth like trainings, courses etc. 7) Non-delegation of powers by senior management. 8) Low salary package with additional workload. 9) No competition. 10) Vague, inefficient and useless performance evaluation system. 11) Lack of customer satisfaction approach. IX. RECOMMENDATIONS On the basis of root-cause analysis, following actions are recommended to be taken in the organization with the objective of bringing improvement in the overall performance:1) Arrange suitable cafeterias, recreational & entertainment activities like frequent gettogethers, festivities, family functions etc for the employees of all cadres. 2) Educate every tier of management about the concept of Emotional Intelligence to deal with the employees with a human touch and in a friendlier atmosphere. 3) Devise a new promotion mechanism based on performance methodology and not merely on seniority basis. 4) Devise performance evaluation methodology based on performance rather than activity. Set tangible performance indicators. 5) Impart result oriented training for professional growth. 6) Improve salary package with the commitment of increased productivity by each individual on the basis of sustainable performance. Salary packages must be rationale with the prevailing rate of inflation.

useful data for subsequent statistical analysis and thereby enabling the researchers to find a viable solution. Appendices: Appendix A. Indicator Questionnaire Appendix B. Survey Questionnaire

REFERENCES

[1] Batten, [2]

[3] [4]

Joe D. (1989). Tough-Minded Leadership. American Management Association, New York. Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ for character, health, and lifelong achievement. New York: Bantam Books. Kathryn Bartol, David Martin Margaret Tein, Graham Matthews (2000), Management, A Pacific Rim Focus. McGraw-Hill, Australia. Blanchard, K. Johnson, S. (1997). The One Minute Manager. Harper Collins Publisher, New Delhi.

X. CONCLUSION Any organization is made up of human beings who perform various managerial as well as non-managerial functions throughout the organization. The sum of their individual efficiencies counts towards overall efficiency of the organization but the dilemma is that people are usually unaware of the drawbacks prevailing in their organization. Therefore, to improve the performance of the organization, first and foremost focus must be on the people of the very organization who can give a realistic opinion indicating the weak links. Their opinion can then be transformed into