Thefollowingisadissertationby Niranjan Wickremasinghe which he submitted in January 2008 as a project report in partial fulfillment of the requirements for his

Master of Business Administration degree from Sikkim Manipal University in India. Niranjan had a brief tea planting career from 1993 to 1998 and is now the Managing DirectorofMedicheksColombo(Pvt)Ltd,whichprovidesmedicalinvestigations forHACCP,ISOandotherqualitycertificatepurposes.Weareindeedindebtedto Niranjanforsubmittingthisworkforthebenefitofourreaders.

A Study of Tea Plantation Operational Aspects in Relation to Operational Workforce

by

Niranjan Christopher Wickremasinghe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express sincere thanks and gratitude to my lecturer and supervisor Dr. Lalith Senaweera, Deputy Director General of Sri Lanka Standards Institution and Senior Lecturer ICBT for the guidance, encouragement and the support given to me during the period of the MBA.

I extend my sincere thanks to Mr. Chamila Senaratne, Manager Post Graduate division ICBT and his team, Ms. Kumudu Abeywardene, former

Manager, all my lecturers and resource personnel and batch mates of the MBA Program 2006/ 2008, who imparted their knowledge and experience and encouraged me towards obtaining a MBA.

A special note of gratitude to Mr. Chris Gunaratne, ex-Group General Manager Loinorn Estate/Senior Planter Bogawantalawa Plantations, Mr. T.T. Christy, Operations Director/Senior Planter Agalawatte Plantations, Mr. Asanka De Tissera, Manager Laxapana Estate, Assistant Managers, staff and all at Laxapana Estate, for their co-operation and all the support extended to obtain main research materials, Mr. Nishantha Premaratne, Manager Mahakoodugala Estate, Mr. Kosala Wijesekera, Manager Wattegoda Estate, Mr. Sanjaya Dissanayake, Manager St.Clairs Estate, Mr. Saman Rajasinghe, ex-

Superintendent and present and past Superintendents and senior executives of the plantations, field officers, members of the staff, Union Leaders and Labourers of the above estates for providing me with a wealth of knowledge and information.

Finally I must thank my wife Cynthica, a critical admirer of my studies and for always being behind me, encouraging and giving me her fullest support to obtain the MBA, and my two little sons for sacrificing their time and bearing with me, all my friends and colleagues who helped and encouraged me by extending their guidance, support, suggestions and criticisms.

Without the help and support of them all, my hope of completing the MBA would only have been a dream.

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study is to assess the impact of the Tea Plantation operational aspects in relation to Operational Workforce.

Today, plantations face many challenges including a massive problem of shortage of operational workforce in order to carry out day to day operations, even though most of the operational work in estates requires semi-skilled workers.

By this empirical study I am going to highlight the importance of employing the required workforce in order to maximize the yield, while harvesting good standard tea leaves to produce the best quality teas. This will enable the plantations to make good teas and gain the maximum profits, while following the best agricultural practices in the long term.

For my comprehensive study on operational aspects in relation to the operational workforce, I was with the superintendent stationed at Laxapana Estate, Maskeliya for a period of five days, meeting and interviewing various personnel and going through the estate books of labour statistics, information and data. In addition, I visited three other estates and discussed the operational workforce related problems with the Superintendents of those estates. In order to fine tune the findings, I got expert advice and information from two senior planters.

The studys findings enables the estate management to identify the main reasons for the shortage of workers in estates, how important the HR functions are, ways and means to follow the HR practices and arrest such problems and the best adoption of recommendations. This would enable the estates to function smoothly and in a more economical manner, while following the best agricultural practices.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No

Acknowledgement Abstract Table of contents

... ...

1 3 4

(A)

Executive summary i) Introduction ... 7 8 9 10 11 11

ii) Aims and Objectives.. iii) Methodology ... iv) Analysis v) Conclusion vi) Recommendations

(B)

Chapter 01

An overview of the Organisation

1.1 1.2 1.3

Introduction History

13 15 17

Special Features .

(C)

Chapter 02

Project Overview

2.1 2.2 2.3

Introduction

22 23 23

Aims and Objectives Literature Review . 2.3.1 2.3.2 2.3.3

HR Management 24 HR Planning Motivation 28 33

2.3.4 Interview 46 2.3.5 Communication . 50 54 54 57 58 63 73 82 84 90 90 92

2.3.6 Management by Objective 2.3.7 2.3.8 Training and Development ... Welfare Activities

2.3.9 Job Satisfaction 2.3.10 Incentives and Rewards 2.3.11 Performance Appraisal . 2.3.12 Trade Unions ... 2.3.13 Industrial Relations ... 2.4 Problem Analysis . 2.4.1 2.4.2 2.4.3 2.4.4 2.4.5 2.5 2.6 2.7 Quit .

Poor Turnover ...

Lack of Motivation 93 Union Involvement 93 Training and Development 94 95 96 98

Methodology . Analysis ... Conclusion

2.8

Recommendation . 99 2.8.1 2.8.2 Improve Welfare Activities . 99 Training and Development .. 104

2.8.3 Mechanisation of Operations .. 108 2.8.4 Outside Workers .. 109

(D)

Chapter 03

Appendix 1 Tea Appendix 2

.. 112

.. 113

Worker related List of References ... 123 Bibliography .. 130 List of Abbreviations ... 132

(A)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

i) Introduction

History

Tea is a perennial plant, belonging to the species Camellia sinensis or Camellia thea and it is consumed as a beverage after brewing. Tea originated from China, and is mentioned in a Chinese dictionary of 350 BC. According to the Chinese writer Cha Pu, the practice of tea drinking began in the 6th Century AD and was gradually introduced to Japan in 1000 AD. Tea was considered as a luxury beverage used in ceremonies by the Emperors and the rich society of eastern countries. By the middle of the 17th Century tea invaded Europe. The word tea is derived from the Portuguese word Tcha, and Portugal claims to be the first to introduce tea to Europe. Tea became popular in England in 1680.

By 1834 the British started cultivating tea in their own colony of India by getting down plants, experts and labour from China. Today tea is considered as one of the healthiest natural beverages and a stimulant fit to be consumed by people of any age group.

The commercial planting of tea in Sri Lanka was introduced by a Scotsman, James Taylor in 1867, on 19 acres of land on Loolecondera Estate, Hewaheta. This was carried out with the idea of testing tea as a possible alternative crop for coffee which was facing a leaf rust disease at that time. The first consignment of tea was exported in 1872 and the production of tea topped the 1 million pound (454,000 kg) mark by 1884.

In Sri Lanka tea growing areas are divided into 3 main categories according to elevation they are High grown (above 1,220m), Mid grown (610m to 1,220m) and Low grown (below 610m) areas situated at an elevation from mean sea level. By the turn of the 19th Century, over 120,000ha of tea had been planted which increased to 238,000ha by 1965. For the year 2006, total tea production was 310.8 million kg on 221,969ha of tea plantations. For decades, tea has been the main agricultural export of Sri Lanka.

(Source: Sri Lanka Tea Board - Statistical Bulletin 2006)

In the year 1992, 460 State owned plantations were privatized and divided among 23 plantation companies. Since then the main objective of plantation companies were to follow agricultural practices in order to maximize the profits.

Being the main agricultural export for 141 years, tea has contributed significantly towards the economic and cultural development in Sri Lanka. It is an industry of its own with a unique culture deeply rooted in our history. Hence it is the duty and responsibility of the State and the plantation sector to take the industry forward for the benefit of next generations.

ii) Aims and Objectives

The main objective of this study is to find out the reasons for the workforce shortage and its effect on the tea plantations and to expose the causes for the shortage and measures to prevent such situations.

Tea is Sri Lankas largest agricultural export crop accounting for almost 18% of the entire export income. Labour intensive tea plantations are also the countrys

largest employer occupying about 80% of the total workforce in the entire plantation sector in Sri Lanka.

Operational Workforce shortage is the main cause for less production and poor quality in tea. The quality in tea gives the highest demand and best price for production (NSA). According to the Sri Lanka Tea Board report the total tea export in the year 2006 was 315mn kg (without re-exports) with foreign revenues topping Rs.86,337mn (ITC report in the year 2006). This was further increased in 2007 to reach US$ 1 billion (Rs.1,000mn) recording the highest earnings in the history of the tea industry. Sri Lanka is the worlds leading tea exporter in the world market with the well established brand name Ceylon Tea with lion logo, followed by Kenya 314mn kg, China 285mn kg and India 204mn kg.

Therefore it is very important to look after tea plantations in a more lucrative manner, giving more attention for its operations and smooth running of the plantations. This will enable the tea plantation to enhance the quality tea that would give us the edge over competitors in the world market. Sri Lanka is known to the world because of its reputation for quality tea.

By this study, I have tried my level best to relate the operational aspects with operational workforce, as the workforce involvement and their effect is very much higher in the TEA PLANTATION in comparison to other industries. (Source: Sri Lanka Tea Board Annual Report 2006)

iii) Methodology

For this, I have mainly used the theoretical knowledge obtained by following the MBA course, referred books, magazines, publications, reports and other literatures on tea plantations, interviewed estate management, staff and workers in

order to analyze the practical problems faced by the operational workforce in the estates. This analysis has to be reviewed by the top management of the respective estates, by uplifting the living standards, welfare activities, motivating, training and development and better communication with the workers. It could minimize the out flow of estate workers from the plantations and reduce the poor out turn of OWF.

This study was done at Laxapana Estate, Maskeliya, which was recognized as one of the best tea estates in Sri Lanka and the most profitable property in the region from year 2005 to date with the highest NSA. Another reason to select this property is that, it follows all the agricultural practices and also obtained all the quality standard certifications required by the international tea buyers.

iv) Analysis

Here, I have identified the highest workforce intensive operations in an estate, and how the shortage of workforce effects the operations. This will affect the production/quantity (Yield), price/quality (NSA) and the profitability of the property.

The main field operations in a tea plantation are harvesting (plucking), applying fertilizer (manuring), weeding, chemical spraying, pruning, and planting.

Out of the above operations, harvesting is considered as a day today operation, and needs more than 60% of the workforce. In the tea industry, tea leaves are harvested regularly with no resting, it is the only revenue generating operation in a tea plantation. The next are applying fertilizer and weeding generally at monthly intervals. Others operations such as pruning, planting etc. are considered as

10

occasional. All these operations are considered as expenditure items in the estate books of accounts.

v) Conclusion

In this study, the main observation is that the management does not practice modern management methods and theories in this century old tea industry in Sri Lanka. They still follow colonial, out dated ways and means of managing the properties.

Here, I have mentioned the methods for uplifting the living and social standards, finding solutions for the problems faced by the workforce, motivation methods and introduction of modern workforce management theories to estates. By motivation we could improve the attendance for work regularly and to perform better by giving a higher output tea plantation targets.

It is mainly, by way of managing the OWF effectively and efficiently, identifying and utilizing the workforce in the most viable manner and attending to their needs and wants in a human manner, that you could find solutions for the shortage of workers and the OWF related problems.

vi) Recommendations

The top management has to play a key role by introducing new management styles to the estate workforce, management should identify and offer them better living and social conditions, status and recognition. Introduction of new incentive schemes and methods to motivate the workforce is also necessary. It is vital to follow new agricultural techniques, methodologies, equipment and technology in the plantations.

11

It is also important to pay more attention to the welfare and social activities of the entire OWF. By doing something extra, the management could get the cooperation and better recognition from the workers. The support and co-operation of the workforce is essential to run the property in a smooth and profitable manner.

Getting away from traditional ways of managing plantations, treating the workforce well, giving them due respect and dignity, education, awareness and considering them as an integral part of the plantations, are the only ways that the management could achieve their objectives. This would be a decisive factor in the survival of the Tea Industry.

12

(B)

Chapter 01

AN OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANISATION

1.1

Introduction

Laxapana Estate is situated at Del House, Maskeliya in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is at the foot of the sacred mountain Adams Peak, or better known as Sri Pada which is believed to have the footprint of Lord Buddha. Laxapana Estate is located at a distance of about 10km from the closest town Maskeliya, 140km away from Colombo.

This plantation is at an elevation of over 1,520 meters above mean sea level, which produces rich, high quality, high grown teas with a unique character.

The present Manager (Superintendent) who is in charge of the Laxapana Estate is Mr. Asanka de Tissera, who has over 20 years experience in managing estates as a Senior Manager.

After the privatization of the SPC and JEDB Plantations in 1992, the management was taken over by 23 management companies with each getting an average of 22 estates, initially for a period of 5 years, which was later increased to 50 years. With this privatization, most of the estates in the Makeliya region including Laxapana Estate were grouped as Maskeliya Plantations Ltd, which is currently managed by the Richard Peiris Group of companies.

13

Laxapana Estate has a total extent of 737.05ha of land, of which 526.70ha are under cultivation, out of which 397.30ha are in bearing. This estate is divided to 5 sub-sections called Divisions. Each division consists of many Fields. For each division there is a field officer and assistants who serve as members of the staff, who are responsible for the agricultural and human aspects of the division. Kanganies are from the labour population and lead a set of workers who are called a gang. Each division is under the supervision and control of an Assistant Superintendent (SD) who is also responsible for all the functions and operations in that division.

Laxapana has 1236 registered OWF, 59 staff members, and 3 senior executives (two assistant superintendents and a factory manager) in the top management to assist the Superintendent (PD) who is overall in charge of all the agricultural and management aspects in the estate including the property and its people. Property includes the plantations, trees, bushes, plants and nurseries, land and all other natural resources including forestry, water resources, factories, buildings, workers houses and sheds, all other movable and immovable assets and all stocks within the estate boundary. In short the Superintendent is the caretaker of an estate, who is responsible for all the operations, functions and the welfare of the workforce in the estate.

After privatization the companies have added another responsibility to the Superintendents to maximise profits from the estates following the accepted agricultural practices.

(Source: Laxapana Estate Record Book and Estimate Documents)

14

1.2

History

After the introduction of tea to Sri Lanka in 1867, it was found that native community lacked the knowledge and experience of handling large plantations. Therefore as an alternative, planters got down freely available cheap worker migrants from South India. By year 1900 there were 300,000 Indian and Ceylon Tamils and 50,000 Sinhalese to cover an area of 364,000 acres (147,250ha) of tea. Until independence in 1948, entry for workers from India to Sri Lanka was open and free.

By the year 1960 there were 197,181ha of tea with an approximate workforce of 500,000. In the 1970s there were 242,000ha of tea land and the workforce comprised about 450,000 Indians and 100,000 Sri Lankans. During the period 1970 - 1975 about 200,000 Indian workers were sent back on the agreement with India (Prime Ministers: Sirima/Shasthri pact). The balance, about 250,000 Indians obtained citizenship in Sri Lanka.

By 1980, there were 244,000ha tea and the workforce was over 400,000. This was an excess (surplus) situation as the yields and productions were low.

After privatization in 1992, the tea grown area came down to 187,000ha, due to diversification of the low productivity areas by the management companies. Those low yielding weak areas were used for timber wood plantations like Eucalyptus S.P., and other cultivations like vegetables, fruits, and flowers etc., which were more profitable than growing tea in unsuitable soil conditions. Some plantations have used these diversified areas for holiday seekers and tourism. Tourism has become a good source of income for a lot of tea plantations.

15

With the introduction of high yielding VP cloned teas, the harvest and yields have improved drastically, and as a result estates felt the need of more OWF.

The operations workforce situation in plantations has gone from one of surplus to deficit recently, and it will be worse in the years to come. During the period 19801996, the OWF in the estate sector declined by an astounding 30% to 280,500 in 1996. After the privatization of management in 1992, the operational staff force further declined by 18%, and currently there is an average drop of 5% every year. Many leave estates for other employment, out of which foreign employment is significant. The average number of workers per estate is about 550 at present as it has to be about 655 per estate. This low OWF situation tends to be particularly pronounced in estates located close to urban centers like Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Badulla, Bandarawela and Ratnapura towns.

According to the Sri Lanka Tea Board statistics (Year 2006) the current registered tea area in Sri Lanka is 221,969ha and production is about 310mn kg of made tea, and available workforce for tea estates is at about 250,000. These statistics show a considerable short fall of workforce.

With the continuous increase of production and the yields in the estates, the short fall of workforce has become critical and creates an unhealthy situation in the operations of tea plantations.

(Sources: Sri Lanka Tea Board Statistical Bulletin 2006, Central Bank report 2007, NIPM Referrals Handbook on Tea, Tea Planting in Ceylon)

16

1.3

Special Features

Laxapana teas have been famous for quality, and always have a high demand by the highest volume buyer in the world tea market Liptons and Brook Bond companies, whose main offices are located in London, United Kingdom. The Laxapana mark has topped the Colombo tea auction in main grades such as BOP, BOPF, and Dust 1, on many occasions mainly due to high quality production demanded by the reputed buyers. Therefore it is very important to pay more attention for OWF related matters as OWF is the secret behind the best tea.

The salient feature of this estate is that it has topped the market getting better prices whilst achieving the highest production. In tea terms, this is known as the highest NSA and highest yields.

To make the best quality teas it is necessary to harvest green tea leaves from tea bushes on time before it gets mature. The most suitable tea leaves for plucking are the two leaves and a bud or tender young leaves. For this operation they have to follow proper plucking rounds, which is to continue harvesting from each bush without missing any at regular intervals.

This is the highest labour intensive operation on a tea plantation, and is mainly done by female workers. Females account for 55-60% of the average workforce in an estate. Tea harvesters who collect green tea leaves from the bushes are called pluckers. The harvesting (plucking) operation is a selective process. It was identified decades ago by the management that females are the best people for these selective processes, as they take good care of the tea bush and the harvested leaves. In this process the output of tea plantation females are always higher than their male counterparts. Here, pluckers have to manually break the tea stem from the bush with two leaves and a bud for best quality teas and transport it up to the

17

processing area without damaging the harvest. Damaged, bruised tea leaves destroy the quality of tea and gives a bad end product and also causes heavy wastage and loss.

The harvesting of green leaves on time results in higher productivity and yields. If the plucking rounds are not maintained properly, this increases the growth and height of the tea bush, making harvesting a difficult task. In this situation it is recommended to prune the bush. Generally, a well maintained tea bush in high grown areas are pruned once in 4 years when the bush is about 4 feet tall (the average plucker is about 5 feet tall).

For harvesting a high yielding VP field, it requires about 15-20 workers/labourers per hectare (LPH) per plucking round and about 4-6 rounds per month. For a seedling field, the requirement of workers for harvesting is between 10 - 15 workers per hectare per round, and average 3-4 rounds per month. Generally men are used in estates to harvest over grown (over 4 feet) high tea bushes and in situations where there is a desperate need or shortfall of females to maintain proper plucking rounds. This happens mainly after festive holiday periods like New Year, Deepavali festival, Kovil festivals (Thiruval), Thai Pongal and during worker strike or go-slow situations which are very common in tea plantations.

Generally there are about 40-60 workers under a supervisor and a Kangani in a plucking gang, where they are responsible for harvesting the crop in one section of a division. In an average size division (about 100ha) there can be up to 3 female plucking gangs, and in special times 1 men plucking gang in a division.

Generally the average harvest per day by a plucker is 1.75 times the LPH. For example if the LPH in a field is 10, then the pluckers expected daily average harvest is 17.5kg of green leaf.

18

On Laxapana estate, the given norm for harvesting is 18kg per day and for excess above the norm an incentive is paid additionally per kilo of green leaves.

The second most important labour intensive operation in an estate is weeding. This could be done in many ways. The most environmental friendly way is to take out unwanted plants manually from the site. This is also an economical method as the removed weeds could be used as manure after turning them to compost. Men are used to clean the property, especially to take out perennial flowery, hard weeds and creepers. Another advantage of using manual labour is that they could remove only the unwanted plants/weeds leaving the useful plants in the site, it is also called selective weeding. Manual weeding is considered as the best method of weeding, especially where the immature tea plants are considered. This method of weeding is mostly used during the time period when the harvest is less, to give more work to the labourers. In an estate generally 15-20 LPH is used to clean an average weedy field, and this operation is done 1-2 times per year for a field and followed up by 2-3 times a year with spot manual weeding using 5-8 LPH.

Chemical weeding is the most common and convenient way of eradicating weeds from the estate. According to the growth and variety of weeds, selected chemical or mixture of chemicals are used. Application of weedicide is done by sprayers at the rate of 3-4 LPH, A spraying gang has 10-14 workers under a kangani. Generally chemical weeding is done for a field 1-2 times a year followed by spot spraying at the rate 1-2 LPH, 2-3 times a year. This method could be harmful if the protective steps are not followed. There is a high possibility of soil and water resources getting toxic due to excessive use of chemicals.

Applying fertilizer or so called manuring is vital to get a better harvest. Manuring, replaces the different chemical components back to the tea bush. There are macro and micro elements of fertilizer. Nitrogen (N), Phosphorous (P), Potassium (K),

19

are considered as main macro components and Magnesium (Mg) , Calcium (Ca), Zink (Zn) , Boron (Br), Ferrous (Fe), are micro components used in very small quantities.

Fertilizer could be applied manually, distributing the required chemicals directly to the roots of the tea bush. For this operation the required LPH is 3-5 and carried out with the onset of rain. At Laxapana, application of fertilizer is done 3-4 times per year for VP teas and 2-3 applications for seedling tea. There are instances where some nutrients are applied as a liquid spray. This is called folio spray and it is done at the rate of 2-3 LPH. Here, chemicals are sprayed on to the tender leaves of the tea bush (flush), for VP fields there will be 3-4 applications per year and for seedling 2-3 times per year.

The variety of fertilizer and the frequency of applications are decided based on the yield and the soil conditions.

Other than the main operations mentioned above, OWF is required for pruning of tea bushes. Pruning is the process of artificial removal of leaf bearing branches of the tea plant. It may involve all or more branches being removed from a tea bush at a height of 18-24 inches from the ground. In this estate the pruning average height is about 20-22, inches according to the slope of the field.

Pruning needs workers at the rate of 45-55 LPH, at the intervals of 4 years on VP teas and 4-5 years on seedling tea fields.

Generally, 25-35 % (1/3), of the total matured tea area of an estate is pruned per year, followed with many other operations related with pruning, such as cutting drains, applying dolomite, planting and re-supply of shade and other trees, cleaning the moss and ferns on tea bushes, applying lime etc.

20

New clearing operational work like preparing fields, holing, planting, transportation, etc. also requires a large number of workers. New clearing requires 12,000-14,000 VP tea plants per ha, with re-supply.

Laxapana Estate generally requires 40-50 labourers per day for the manufacturing process of tea at the factory. The worker requirement depends on the capacity and the harvest (estimate: 1 worker for 55kg of made tea). An average of 12,000kg, green leaf is used for daily production of made tea at an out turn of 22.5% (E.g. 12,000 kg green leaves gives 2,700 kg made (black) tea).

(Source: Handbook on Tea, Plantation Management in the New Millennium, Estate Estimates and Books of Accounts)

21

(C)

Chapter 02

PROJECT OVERVIEW

2.1

Introduction

Here, we are analyzing the Operational Workforce related problems. According to my study, the problems and challenges faced by the OWF is the main reason for the shortage of labour force on plantations. The present generation in plantations is not willing to stay on in estates like their parents and grandparents. A few decades back the plantation workers did not have a life beyond the estates. The present generation dislikes continuing the plantation work done by their ancestors. The main reasons identified by me, behind the new generations dislike on working and living on plantations are:

a) Lack of motivation and appreciation for estate work b) Not recognized by the communities and the State leaders c) Poor living and sanitary conditions in estates d) Poor health and education facilities e) Higher cost of living f) Less exposure to the outer world g) Less social welfare and leisure activities h) Bad influence by unions and trade union activities

HR Planning would help the top management of the estate to find remedies for the shortage OWF requirements.

22

2.2

Aims and Objectives

With the discussions had with the OWF, staff, and management of the estates, I have tried my best to analyze the above situations to find solutions to the best of my knowledge. My main intention is to reduce the out flow of OWF from estates and to motivate them to attend work regularly, by providing best alternative solutions for their problems, introduce the ways and means of training and development to educate them, by motivating, rewarding and appreciating the service rendered by the OWF in estates to give proper recognition, and to improve on welfare activities. This will enable them to feel their importance within the industry as well as to the entire country.

The work done by the OWF has to be enjoyed by the workers. It is important to provide good working conditions in order to achieve better results from workers. By introducing better welfare systems, protective and safer equipments, methods and technologies and other facilities, the barriers of communication between the Management and Workforce can be gapped. This relationship building process will have long term benefits to the estates.

2.3

Literature review

I have referred to and taken materials and notes from various books, magazines, publications and periodicals etc., on HR Management and Plantation Management. By reviewing and analyzing these, I have tried my level best to find the relationship with OWF with regards to the operations on plantations, the tasks (norms) performed by them, and the actual requirement of OWF for future operations.

23

As in any other organization in plantations too, the following functions are performed by a manager.

a) Planning b) Organising c) Staffing d) Directing e) Motivating f) Controlling g) Co-ordinating h) Communicating

Out of the above, selected functions which, I feel important for tea plantations are highlighted.

In the 1950s the popular management abracadabra used to be POSDCORB known as the principles of management. The knowledge about the management and the organisation was usually classified under the broad heading of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling/co-ordinating, reporting and budgeting.

2.3.1

HR Management

Like in other industries, managing estates and its people has to be done in a scientific manner. This scientific management method was first introduced by Frederick W. Taylor who is known as the father of scientific management. Taylor summed up his approach as:

Science, not rule of thumb

24

Harmony, not discoed Co-operation, not individualism Maximum output, in place of restricted output The development of each man to his greatest efficiency and prosperity

According to Taylor Planning should be the result of co-operation between the management and workers and that provision should exist for compensating the personnel with financial incentives.

As part of scientific management methods Gantt charts, Tasks and bonus wage systems were introduced. (Henry Gantt, Frank and Lilian Gilberth) These systems are widely used in estate management.

To develop a spirit of co-operation between workers and the management welfare systems were introduced (Robert Owens). This was called the introduction of personnel management systems to the industries. According to Owens the returns from investing on HR would be much higher than investing in machinery and equipment.

Division of labour was introduced as a measure to reduce waste and gain efficiency stemming from familiarization with special work and use of tools. This has stimulated workers inventions pertaining to tools and methods (Charles Babbage).

The analysis of jobs in terms of workers physical, mental and emotional requirements and development of testing devices for selecting work were introduced to the industries (Hugo Munsterberg).

25

In modern HR management priority is given for Human relations movements. This movement is characterized by its focus on group behavior and workers feelings as they relate to productivity and morale (Elton Mayo).

Elton Mayo and others of the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration conducted experiments at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company in Chicago.

The modern HR management theories were based on human behavior. It was proven that productivity depended at least in part on the extent to which the workers became a team and co-operated wholehearted and spontaneously.

Workers co-operation and enthusiasm seems to be related to the interest of the work group shown by the supervisors and experimenters, the lack of coercion or force, and the extent to which workers participated in making decisions and changes that would affect them.

The behavioral science movement is an outgrowth of the human relations studies. On the behavioral method observations and surveys in disciplines like sociology, anthropology, psychiatry, social psychology and psychology, the following theories were formulated:

a) Maslows need hierarchy theory or deficit theory of motivation

b) Hertzberg two factors theory of motivation

c) McGregors theory X and theory Y

26

The evolution of HR development concepts can be traced in terms of six approaches. They are:

Industrial Relation approach (IR) Personnel Management approach (PM) Human Resources Management approach (HRM) Human Resources Development approach (HRD) Strategic Human Resources Development approach (SHRD) New-age Human Resources Development approach (NHRD)

The IR approach was essentially legalistic in nature and was primarily based on the conflict model wherein conflicts between management and the workers are resolved within the legal framework.

PM approach also focused on 4 Rs namely, recruitment, retainment, retrenchment, and retirement.

With the arrival of HRM approach, the scope of personnel management expanded to treating the human resources as Assets, which should be effectively managed in congruence with the organizational goals. Accordingly, the focus on HRM has been on manpower planning, selection and induction, performance appraisal, job satisfaction, training and development, wage and salary administration, workers welfare and working conditions, dignity of labourers etc.

In due course, the concept of HRM evolved into the idea of HRD. Thus issues such as employee involvement, empowerment, self-development, team building, converting the problem employees or liabilities into assets, quality of work life, institution building, organizational development and change, capacity building, workers wellness, work dignity and 360 performance appraisal etc. assumed

27

significance in the management of organisations. The 4 Ts, namely, trust, transparency, truthfulness (in inter-personnel relations) and team work, became the main words in HRD. Further, ideas from TQM were also integrated with HRD.

The notion of HRD then naturally evolved into the concept of Strategic HRD, where there is an integration of the HRD functions with the organizations strategic intent as articulated by Grayhamel and C.K. Prahlad (1994). Accordingly, the HRD department gets involved in restructuring and reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, turnaround, de-layering, converting the organization into a learning organisation as defined by Peter Senge (1990), and similar other issues of strategic importance. With the arrival of spirituality at work movement, the concept of HRD is now evolving into New Age HRD. It suggests that character-competence of the key members of organization is more important than the core-competence of the corporation. Thus, we find that the idea of HRD has traveled a long way from its IR orientation to New age orientation.

2.3.2

HR Planning

The Estate Superintendent has to be an excellent human resource manager as most operations in plantations involve the human asset. If the OWF is managed

efficiently, managers could gain excellent results. HR Planning is the first step in HR management. HR planning is the process of forecasting, developing and controlling. It is a process for an organization to ensure, that it has the right number of people and the right kind of people at the right places at the right time doing work for which they are economically most useful (Geisler).

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Prof. Kris Agrys says planning is needed when the rate of change in the external environment is greater than the rate of change in the internal environment. If proper planning fails then closure is in sight.

According to Wendell French, HR planning is the process of assessing the organizations HR needs in the light of organizations goals and making plans to ensure that a competent, stable workforce is employed.

E.W. Vetters opinion on HR planning is as a process by which an organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position. Through planning, management strives to have the right number and right kind of people at the right places at the right time, doing, things which result in both the organization and the individual receiving maximum long-run benefits.

There was a different opinion on HR planning by Leon C Megginson. He said that it is an integrated approach to performing the planning aspects of the personnel function in order to have a sufficient supply of adequate developed and motivated people to perform the duties and tasks required to meet the organizational objectives and satisfy the individual needs and goals of organizational members.

In plantations, the process of HR Planning is very essential. The initial step in planning is forecasting; this process consists of two stages.

a) Workers demand forecast b) Workers supply forecast.

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Employee planning deals with short and long term forecasting issues and is designed to provide sufficient information about employee requirement in the future, as illustrated below.

a)

1) Short term employee demand forecast - This is designed to assess the level of worker requirements to enable the plantation to meet its objectives during the forthcoming fiscal year. This type of forecasting has an immediate effect on the plantations current situation. Here, the management has to consider the expected harvest, other agricultural operations and the required workers and allocations for all the operations.

2) Long term employee demand forecast - This is to provide an optional indication of the future of the plantation worker requirement based on one to five year periods.

For these short and long term human resource demand forecasting two kinds of techniques are commonly used:

i) Judgmental forecasts This is the conventional method where management forecasts using their intensive and extensive knowledge. It could be a managerial estimate where managers and supervisors who are wellacquainted with the workload, efficiency and ability of workers, think about their future workload, future capabilities of workers and decide on number and type of workers to be required. Judgmental forecasting also could be done by using Delphi method. Here, a large number of experts who present their forecasting statement independently and underlying assumptions to the others, who then make revisions to their forecast.

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ii) Statistical projection - For this technique, the following statistical methods could be used:

Ratio trend analysis - Here, the past records and future forecasting ratios are analysed. The components of the internal environment changes are considered while forecasting future ratios. This method depends on the availability of past records and the internal environmental changes likely to occur in the future.

Econometric model - Under this model, previous data is analysed and the relationship between different variables which effects the HR

requirements, in mathematical formula is developed.

Work study technique - In this method, the volume of the workload in the coming year is analysed. Here the productivity pattern and internal mobility is also taken in to consideration.

b) Employee supply forecast - Once the worker requirement for the forthcoming fiscal period are summarized, management should proceed with identifying appropriate sources of worker supply.

In order to keep a track of workers qualifications, capabilities and development, it is necessary to introduce and maintain an updated employee record system.

The supply forecast includes: i) Human resource audit - Here, workers skills, capabilities, are identified and recorded. By analyzing the records management could identify the future supply problems. The important aspect of this is to keep the records regularly updated.

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ii) Employee wastage - this is to analyse the future loss of workers in various operations. Workers may leave plantations for reasons like retirement, layoffs, dismissals, disablement, ill health, marriage, death or for new employments. Reason for high labour turnover and absenteeism should also be analysed and remedial measures must take.

iii) Internal promotions It is very rare in the plantation sector. Very few may be promoted as supervisors (Kanganies), or to the factory operations.

If HR planning is done properly, there wont be any operational workforce shortages in the estates. Good planning is very essential in the smooth running of the property and to achieve the given targets. If all the managers consider human resource as the most valuable resource, then, every estate should have an excess labour force.

Since there was an unemployment rate of 6.5% in Sri Lanka at end 2006, we could effectively utilize those unemployed to fill the shortage of workers in Estates. (Figure: 2.3)

When there is a short fall of workers in the estates, some efficient managers get outside workers from nearby villages to fill the gap by offering them very attractive packages, which includes free transport, lunch and tea. For example, on an estate the normal wage of a female plucker is Rs 320 per day and for each kilo in excess of the norm she gets Rs.10.35. During the cropping time, an average good plucker can harvest about 40kg, where she gets 22kg as excess (40-18 norm kg). For this excess, she gets an additional Rs.227.70 per day (Total income

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Rs.547.70 per day). Poor villagers in surrounding areas can greatly benefit by such employment. For this, the estate has to bear a total cost of Rs.350 + transport, where the estate lorry is used to transport about 20-30 people. This is very useful and profitable during high crop times to maintain plucking rounds and to gain better yields.

2.3.3

Motivation

Motivation is a Latin word, which means to move. Human motives are internalized goals with individuals. Motivation may be defined as the forces that cause people to behave in a certain way. It encompasses all the pressures and influences that trigger, channel, and sustain human behavior. As in other industries, managers must work with and through people, so they must gain at least some understanding of the forces that will motivate the people that they are to manage. To be a successful manager, it is necessary to understand the concept of human motivation, and be able to use the understanding to achieve higher standards of work performance.

Motivation is a very important factor in todays industries. Its human feeling that enables them to perform and to feel better. It is a kind of encouragement.

Motivation function begins with the recognition that individuals are complex and unique, hence the motivation techniques must reflect the needs of each individual. It is an area of management in integrating people into work situations in a way that motivates them to work together productively, co-operatively, and with economic, psychological and social satisfaction.

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The following are the some of the definitions given by different people on Motivation:

The act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a desired course of action. (Michael J. Juicus)

Motivation is the work a manager performs to inspire, encourage and impel people to take required action. (Lewis Allen)

Is the complex of forces starting and keeping a person at work in an organization. To put it generally, motivation starts and maintains actively along a prescribe line. Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continues him in the course of action already initiated. (Dubin)

Means a process of stimulating people to action to accomplish desired goals. (William G Scott)

Motivation is the general term applying to the entire class of drives, needs, wishes, and similar forces. (Koontz and ODonnell)

Motivation is a general inspiration process which gets the members of the team to pull their weight effectively, to give their loyalty to the group, to carry out properly the tasks they have accepted and generally to play an effective part in the job that the group has undertaken. (Brech)

Motivation refers to the way in which urges, drives, desires, aspirations, striving or need direct, control or explain the behavior of human beings. (Dalton E. McFarland)

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The term motivation has been called an intervening variable. Intervening variables are internal and psychological processes which are not directly observable and which, in turn, account for behavior. (Tolman)

Motivation refers to the degree of readiness of an organism to pursue some designated goal, and implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces, including the degree of readiness. (The Encyclopedia of Management)

It is a willingness to expend energy to achieve a goal or reward. It is a force that activates dormant energies and sets in motion the action of people. It is the function that kindles a burning passion for action among the human beings of an organization. ( C.B. Mamoria)

The following are the characteristics of Motivation:

* * * *

Motivation is an internal feeling Motivation is related to needs Motivation produces goal-directed behavior Motivation can be either positive or negative

By motivating the workforce, management creates will to work which is necessary for the achievement of organizational goals.

There are two main types of motivation.

i) Positive Incentive Motivation - Where the motivation is generally based on a reward, it increases the possibility of increased motive satisfaction.

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According to Flippo, Positive motivation is a process of attempting to influence others to do your will through the possibility of gain or reward. Incentive motivation is the pull mechanism. The receipt of awards, due recognition and praise for work well done definitely lead to good team spirit, co-operation and a feeling of happiness.

Positive motivation includes:

Praise and credit for work done Wages and Salaries Appreciation A sincere interest in subordinates as individuals Delegation of authority and responsibility

ii)

Negative or Fear Motivation - This type of motivation is based on

force and fear. Fear causes persons to act in a certain way because they fear the consequences. Negative motivation involves the possibility of deceased motive satisfaction. It is a push mechanism.

The imposition of punishments frequently results in frustration among those punished, leading to the development of maladaptive behavior. It also creates a hostile state of mind and unfavourable attitude to the job. However, there is no management which has not used the negative motivation at some time or the other.

Theories of motivation: a) Maslows need hierarchy theory or deficit theory of motivation According to Abraham Maslow (US psychologist), who propounded the need hierarchy, There is a series of needs some of which are lower in the scale or

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system of values, in individual or social and some are higher. Higher needs cannot be satisfied or even felt while the lower need remain unsatisfied. A satisfied need is not a motivator.

Following are the features of Maslows theory.

1) People have a wide range of needs which motivate them to strive for fulfillment.

2) Human needs can be definitely categorized in to 5 types : Physical needs (hunger, thirst, relaxation, sex, etc.) Safety or Security needs (cover against danger, threat, deprivation, etc.) Affiliation or Social needs (belonging, giving, receiving affection, etc.) Esteem needs (Status etc.) Self actualization needs (creativity, self-expression, etc.)

3) These needs can be arranged into a hierarchy, Physical needs are at the base where as Self actualization need are at the apex.

4) People gratify their physical need first, when the need is satisfied, they feel the urge of the next higher level need.

5) Relative satisfaction of lower level need is necessary to activate the next higher level need.

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6) A satisfied need does not motivate human behavior, it only triggers or activates the urge for the next higher level of needs.

Deficit Principle According to Maslow, once a need is fairly well satisfied, it is no longer a stronger motivator of behavior. People are motivated to satisfy only those needs that are perceived to be deficient.

Progression Principle Maslow contends that the five categories of needs exist in a hierarchy. A need at a given level is not activated until the need directly below it is fairly well gratified. Thus, the person is expected to progress step-bystep up the need hierarchy.

b) Hertzberg two factors theory of motivation According to Hertzberg, there are two separate sets of conditions which are responsible for motivation and dissatisfaction of workers. The motivational factors or satisfiers are directly related to the job. Motivational factors are: achievement, recognition, responsibility, the work itself, advancement etc. The dissatisfies maintenance and hygiene factors do not provide motivation. Hertzberg found ten maintenance or hygiene factors, some of which are interpersonal relations with peers, supervisors and subordinates, salary, company policy, job security, status, work conditions etc.

Hygiene factors: This represents the needs to avoid pain in the environment. They are not an intrinsic part of a job, but they are related to the conditions under which a job is performed. They are associated with negative feelings. They must be viewed as preventive measures that remove sources of dissatisfaction from the environment.

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Hertzberg believed that hygiene factors created a zero level of motivation and if maintained at a proper level, prevent negative type of motivation from occurring.

When the hygiene factors are absent, there will be an increased dissatisfaction with the job. When present, help in preventing dissatisfaction but do not increase satisfaction or motivation.

Motivators: It is associated with positive feelings of employees about the job they make people satisfied with the job. Motivators are necessary to keep job satisfaction and job performance high. On the other hand, if they are not present they do not prove highly satisfying. Motivational factors or satisfiers are directly related to job concern itself, the individuals performance of it, its responsibilities and the growth and recognition obtained from it. Motivators are intrinsic to the job.

To apply the two factor theory, Hertzberg, suggest a two-step process:

i) The supervisor should attempt to eliminate the hygiene factors that are found to be more basic than factors that lead to satisfaction.

ii)

Once the dissatisfies have been somewhat neutralized, the

supervisor may be able to motivate workers through the introduction of motivational factors.

c) McGregors Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor propounded two contrasting kinds of management views about the nature of human behavior. The hard approach he called Theory X, and the soft or permissive approach as Theory Y. The following are assumptions about human nature:

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Theory X a) Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprises money, materials, equipment, people in the interest of economic ends.

b) With reference to people, it is a process of directing their efforts, motivating them, controlling their actions, modifying their behavior in order to be in conformity with the needs of the organization. c) Without those active intervention by management, people would be passive even resistant to organizational needs. Hence they must be persuaded, rewarded, punished and properly directed.

d) The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.

e) He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility and prefers to be led. f) He is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs.

g) He is by nature resistant to change.

h) He is gullible, not bright.

Theory Y 1) Work is as natural as play or rest, provided the conditions are favourable, the average human being does not inherently dislike work.

2) External controls and the threat of punishment are not the only means for bringing about efforts towards organizational objectives. Humans can exercise

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self-control and self-direction in the service of objectives to which he is committed.

3) Commitment to objectives is a result of the rewards associated with their achievements. People select goals for themselves if they see the possibilities of some kind of reward that may be material or even psychological.

4) The average human beings, under proper conditions do not shirk responsibility, but learn not only to accept responsibility but also to seek it.

5) The capacity to exercise relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organizational problems is widely, not narrowly distributed in the population.

6) Under conditions of modern industrial life the intellectual potentialities of people are only partially utilized. As a matter of fact, men have unlimited potential.

McGregor suggested the Carrot and Stick approach to motivate people in the work place.

d) Victor Vrooms Expectancy Theory Expectancy Theory was developed by Victor H. Vrooms. It is based on the notion that human behaviour depends on peoples expectations concerning their ability to perform tasks and to receive desired rewards. The expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends in the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of the outcome to the individual. It includes three variables which Vroom refers to as:

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i) Valance: Valance means the strength of an individuals preference for a particular outcome. A valance of zero occurs when the individual is indifferent towards the outcome. The valance is negative when the individual prefers not attaining the outcome to attaining it.

ii) Instrumentality: Instrumentality refers to the relationship between performance and rewards. It refers to a degree to which a first level outcome (e.g. superior performances) will lead to a desired second level outcome (e.g. promotion). If people perceive that their performances is adequately rewarded the perceived instrumentality will be positive. On the other hand, if they perceive that performance does not make any difference to their rewards, the instrumentality will be low.

iii) Expectancy: People have expectancies about the likelihood that an action or effort on their part will lead to the intended performances. Workers will be motivated by the belief that their performance will ultimately lead to payoffs for them. Expectancy is the probability that a particular action will lead to a particular first level outcome.

In sum, Vroom emphasizes the importance of individual perceptions and assessments of organizational behaviour. The key to Expectancy Theory is the understanding of an individuals goals, and the linkage between effort and performance, between performance and rewards, and between rewards and individualgoal satisfaction. It is a contingency model, which recognizes that there is no universal method of motivating people. Because we understand what needs an employee seeks to satisfy does not ensure that the employee himself perceives high job performance as necessarily leading to the satisfaction of these needs.

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e) McClellands Need for Achievement Theory: David C. McClelland, a Harvard Psychologist, has proposed that there are three major relevant motives most needed in work-place situations. According to him, the motives are:

The need for achievement i.e. strive to succeed. The need for affiliation i.e. warm relationship with others. The need for power i.e. control other people.

According to McClelland every motive is acquired except striving for pleasure and avoiding pain. He proposed that people acquire these needs for achievement, power and affiliation though experiences over the time.

On the job, people are motivated by these needs, and the manager can learn to recognize these needs in workers and use them to motivate behaviour.

McClelland used the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) to study human needs. The TAT process involves asking respondents to look at pictures and write stories about what they see in the pictures. The stories are then analysed to find certain themes that represent various human needs. From his research McClelland found that, achievement motive is a desire to perform in terms of a standard of excellence or to be successful in competitive situations. They (employees) seek situations where: 1. They can attain personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems. 2. They can receive immediate feedback information on how they are progressive towards a goal. 3. They can set moderately challenging goals 4. They find accomplishing a task intrinsically satisfying.

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High achievers differentiate themselves from others by their desire to do things better.

Evaluations Achievement motivated people are the backbone of any organization. As such considerable time and attention must be devoted to constructing ways of developing the achievement motive at the managerial level. Organizational climate must be conducive to high achievement. Estate Managers must try to raise the achievement need level of subordinates by creating the proper work environment, increasing responsibility and autonomy and rewarding excellence in performance.

Requirements of a Sound Motivation System It is very difficult for a Superintendent to sort through all the different motivational theories and models and know when and how to maximize their application in widely differing situations. There should be a sound system of motivation to make the workers put forth their best efforts. A sound system of motivation should have the following essential features.

1. A sound motivation system should satisfy the need and objectives of both the Estate and workers.

2. Motivational system should change with the changes in the situation.

3. Work should be designed in such a way, to provide challenge and variety.

4. Superintendent should recruit and achieve co-operation of subordinates in improving the organizations output. Assistants should be made to realize that they are stakeholders in the organization.

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5. The motivational system should satisfy the different needs of workers. It should be directly related to the efforts of the employers.

6. The motivational system should be simple so that it is easily understood by the workers.

Methods of Motivating People Several factors influence human behaviour. There are numerous drives and needs which can act as good motivators, moving people to work and getting things done through them as per the plan. People respond to physiological needs, social needs and egoistic needs. Human needs and desires are the door ways through which the manager pushes his motivation efforts. There are three types of motivational programmes to improve a persons behaviour towards his job.

1. Pay intensive plans. 2. Job enrichment and 3. Management by objectives.

There are 4 important factors governing employee response to the measures of motivations. The intensity of urge of the drive Past Experience Can we rely upon the promises given by the boss? Amount of reward The quantity and quality of the reward can influence the amount of extra effort put forth by the employee. Time relationship of Response to Reward Long range promises are less effective for immediate fulfilment.

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Moral Moral is the degree of enthusiasm and willingness with which individual workers of a group set out to perform the assigned work with zeal and sincerity, resulting in good team-work. When there are many frustrations, disappointments, discontent, grudges etc, it means that workers have low morale, whereas moral is high when we have improved worker contribution, lower labour turnover, less absenteeism, pride in work, less wastage and spoilage and specially no strikes and sabotage.

It is the duty of the management to develop a high moral within the estate workers in order to achieve organisational objectives.

2.3.4

Interview (Staffing)

Generally, in the tea plantations there are no formal procedures of interview for new workers before offering them employment. The only criteria is to see that they have reached the age of 17 years and have already left the schools. The other important factor is to be a registered person in the estate. The registration is given for all the permanent residents on the estate by birth or by parents been registered as residents in the property. Under special circumstances like marriage to a registered person, to look after elderly parents will get the registration.

Temporarily employment is given to children over 16 years, who are not attending schools, for pensioners and sick and for the non-residents of the estate on casual or cash basis under special considerations. This is only offered during the high cropping time when there is a severe shortage of labourers on the estate. Recruitment decisions are only taken by the superintendent of the respective estate.

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The definition of recruitment is as follows: Recruitment forms the first stage in the process which continues with selection and ceases with the placement of the candidates (Kemper)

Recruitment is a process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating and encouraging them to apply for jobs in an organization (Flippo)

Recruitment is the discovering of potential applicants for actual or anticipated organisational vacancies (Mamoria)

Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the recruitments of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force (Yodar)

In the recruitment procedure, selection pays a key role. Even though in tea estates, a selection procedure is not followed, as per my observations it is a vital procedure.

In tea plantations, it is always beneficial at least to follow a few selection procedures such as:

Interview Here, I recommend to have group interviews with prospective candidates with the Superintendent along with the assistant superintendent and the field office or the head of the division, before starting the job. It is an opportunity for the management to educate the worker about the estate, the work they have to

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perform, expected standards, norms, and to have a picture and understanding about the workers caliber etc. Also for the workers to know the plantations vision, mission and expectations. The candidates also could learn about the working times, conditions, remunerations, incentives and other facilities. This procedure could be also used as a familiarization operation. In modern context the management could show a video presentation on estate operations and functions and have a dialog on the above points. (I recommend each plantation have a meeting place close to the office, for meetings, discussions, seminars, training sessions, appreciations etc.)

Medical Examination The estate superintendent could request the workers who are expecting to work to obtain a medical certificate from the estate medical officer recommending them medically fit to perform estate work, a comprehensive report about the physical and mental condition of the recruit. It is a simple process as there is a resident medical officer in most of the estates who provide his services free of charge. By this the manager could assess the health conditions of the workers before they start their jobs.

This is very important as there are many shortcomings, weaknesses and disabilities among the estate workers. The main weaknesses are low hemoglobin (anaemia) due to lack of proteins and minerals, and not getting proper treatment for worms. As a result workers get weak and lethargic to work and are easily prone to various sicknesses, out-turn will also be less, if it is a female, this will badly affect their fertility, and children.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), it is found that 49.1% pregnant women in the estate sector are anaemic.

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Due to living and social conditions, there are many workers who are suffering from tuberculosis. This is a contingence, killer disease from which a worker could even die. It is important to treat these types of sicknesses before they could spread to the others too.

Due to bad eating habits and poor consumption of nutrients, most of the estate workers lack vitamins, minerals and proteins this will affect the resistance to disease.

Malnutrition is also very common especially among children. Poor health conditions are the main reason to have a high still-birth rate and low life span among the workers.

I also noted many workers with poor eye sight. By using corrective devices it could arrest this situation before many will go completely blind in the future. Many workers have liver, kidney and heart diseases due to excessive use of alcohol and smoking. Cancer situations are also prominent as many of them chew betel leaves. I observed that many workers suffer from skin problems and infections.

Implementing the medical examination procedures, we could check for most of the sicknesses mentioned above and treat them accordingly before offering employment. This will definitely help the managers to have a strong, healthier set of workers on the estate.

Another factor I learnt by interviewing the managers and medical officers is that there are many cases of venereal diseases amongst the estate population, especially among the residents who goes out of the estate for jobs and foreign

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employment. This is mainly because of the poor knowledge and poor awareness on such diseases and due to lack of education and negligence.

Other than the reasons and effects I mentioned above, the poor health conditions and sicknesses have caused high absenteeism and poor output, loss of time and income to the workers. This is a preventable loss to the estate in terms of time and money and to the countrys economy.

It is also important to obtain medical certificates for quality certificate purpose as most of the foreign buyers request for certain quality standards such as HACCP, ISO 9001-2000, FLO, Justica Akimotos 5 S, CTQC etc. As tea is considered as a food item it has to be certified as fit to be consumed before sales.

2.3.5

Communication

Communication pays a key role in every aspect in management. Good communication skills will help the manager to persuade, inform, stimulate, direct and convince his subordinates and workers. Especially in up-country estates it is vital for a manager to have a very good understanding of the Tamil language both oral and written, as it is the mother tongue of most of the up-country estate workers (downward communication).

I observed in my study, that even some of the workers who are able to converse in Sinhalese language prefer if the other person speaks in Tamil, and the attention and respect is more for their own language.

Oral communication by itself is best when a manager: has to reprimand a worker

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wants to communicate in confidence or off the record is settling a dispute between subordinates or workers is involved in minor violation of a policy in order to solve a problem or get something done wants to communicate something but does not want to establish a precedent

In estates, the work from OWF is mainly done using the oral communication.

Downward communication In downward communication, it is the workers expectation that we need to be sensitive to. Workers rarely understand just how limited the choice a Manager can make. Typically they underestimate the narrow range of discretion defined by the constraints and demands on the manager. This often results in unrealistic expectations.

Realistic or not, subordinates have three types of expectations as to how a manager will handle situations. First, they expect the manager to be the definitive word on the formal policies and procedures governing their work and how these impact on how they do their jobs. For example, if two workers differ over how the work policy applies to their particular situations, they will turn to the manager for the correct interpretation. Second, they expect the manager to be the guarantor of justice in the work place. Third, workers expect their manager to represent their interests in dealing with other groups and higher authorities.

Worker expectations are often behind much of the testing that every new supervisor experiences. Often workers will feel uneasy until they know how a new manager is going to handle certain situations. It is difficult to generalize about how a new manager should respond to these tests except to say that a

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manager should expect them, understand that they are efforts at uncertainty reduction not trickery, and be aware that the response to them may powerfully shape future expectations of workers.

These expectations are particularly important since the most frequent of all managerial communication is downward.

The most common message flowing in this direction are the following:

job instructions rationale for tasks in relation to the estates goals estate policies and practices help and encouragement feed back about performance

When a manager gives an assignment to his workers, communication can be improved if the manager does certain things, such as:

use the language that the workers understand (e.g. Tamil language) being certain (with feedback) that the worker understand the logic and requirements of the assignment being very direct about the ends that are expected scheduling a time for reporting back the results of the assignment trying, if possible, to ascertain whether the worker has the time and resources to complete the assignment being open to means the worker uses to meet the expected ends

The most controversial point is the last one, but it is well-documented that workers feel more motivated by assignments in which they themselves can

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determine the method. In general, it is helpful if the manager asks workers if they have ideas about how to complete the assignment. Not only is this potentially motivating, but many times workers come up with far better methods for completing the assignment than the manager originally envisioned.

These are some of the more important nonverbal cues a manager might watch for on communication with workers.

a) The physical space between the manager and worker (Close conveys intimacy, distance conveys perceived status difference)

b) The orientation of body position (Face-to-face conveys competition; side-to-side conveys cooperation)

c) The workers posture (Stiffness conveys formality, looseness conveys relaxation)

d) Facial expressions

e) Gesture

f) Eye contact

For Superintendents, it is advisable, always to have an officer with him when communicating with the workers, especially to females, as the culture on the estates are different. It will always enable the manager to maintain his status, and avoid unwanted problems due to misinterpretation of the language.

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Most of the managerial problems in estates are at some a level communication problem. Effective managers solve these problems by being sensitive to the particular demands of the direction of the communication. It is not just a matter of being clearer. Giving assignments to workers demands a different approach from asking peers for help. Similarly, keeping bosses informed requires an approach much different from counseling a troubled worker.

2.3.6

Management by Objective (MBO)

MBO has been defined as result centered, non specialist operational managerial process for the effective utilization of material, physical and human resource of the organization by integrating the individual with the environment. The MBO process consists of the following steps.

Setting of objectives Classification of organizational goals Setting up of subordinate objectives Recycling of objectives Performance appraisals

MBO is an extremely popular OD intervention. There is relation between MBO and OD as OD aims at improving the organizational performance by introducing changes in perceptions, values and structure.

2.3.7

Training and Development

Training is a process of learning a sequence of programmed behavior; it is also called the application of knowledge.

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Training gives people an awareness of the rules and procedures to guide their behaviour, and attempts to improve their performance on the current job or prepare them for an intended job.

According to Edwin D. Flippo, The purpose of training is to achieve a change in the behaviour of those trained and to enable them to do their jobs better. In order to achieve this objective, any training programme should try to bring positive changes in:

1. Knowledge helps a trainee to know facts, policies, procedures and rules pertaining to his job 2. Skills helps him to increase his technical and manual efficiency necessary to do the job 3. Attitude moulds his behaviour towards his co-workers and supervisors and creates a sense of responsibility in the trainee

The importance of training is: a) b) c) d) e) f) g) enables the management to face the pressure of changing environment usually results in the increase of quantity and quality of output leads to job satisfaction and higher morale of the employees reduces the need for supervision helps to face the competition enables employees to develop, rise and increase their earnings moulds the employees attitudes and helps them to achieve better cooperation with the organisation h) makes better economic use of materials and equipment resulting in reduction of wastage and spoilage i) instructs the workers towards better job adjustment and reduces the rate of labour turnover and absenteeism

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Training methods are classified as: i) On the job training ii) Off the job training

On the job training are as follows; Coaching This is the most common and widely used method of training in plantations, here, the supervisor teaches the job knowledge and skills to the workers at the workplace itself. In this training, trainees learn in the actual environment and equipment on the job. It is relatively a cheap method and less time consuming. This method increases the effectiveness of training, and the trainee gets more familiarized with the co-workers, working conditions and the supervisors.

Job rotation This is periodical rotation from job to job so that the worker acquires a general background of different jobs. In plantations we can see men are put for weeding, plucking and manuring on rotation.

Special projects Here, a worker is assigned to a project that is closely related to the objectives of his job. As an example in tea plantations we could see pruners are used for trimming and lopping of shade trees on contract or special project basis.

Committee assignments an ad-hoc committee is constituted and is assigned a subject to discuss and make recommendations. This is not used in tea plantations as a training method.

Off the job training methods are:

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Role playing this technique is used for human relations and leadership training. In plantations this method is used to train assistants to work as trainee kangani. In some situations, a chance is given to a selected youth to supervise a gang. On his performances we could consider him to be a Kangani in the near future.

Other off the job training methods such as, case study, conference training, management games, sensitivity training or T group training, special courses etc. are not practiced in plantations.

2.3.8

Welfare activities

Tea plantations are considered as the sector with the highest welfare facilities for its workers in Sri Lanka. In fact it is said that the tea plantation workers are cared from the womb to the tomb.

The standard facilities enjoyed by the estate workers are as follows; free housing and maintenance and a garden free line (house) sweeper for the upkeep of houses free water free medical (by estate dispensary with a medical officer) free crche and meals for preschool children up to 6 years free education, books and uniforms (government provided) free transport to hospital in a case of an emergency free cooking fuel (fire wood) maternity ward (by estate dispensary) with a midwife and staff maternity benefits (Figure 2.5) free provision of coffins and grave diggers

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subsidies rate electricity for functions, where there is no power specially appointed welfare supervisor to attend all matters free tea (500grams for each worker per month)

In addition to the above, the tea estate worker enjoys 17 days holiday pay, attendance bonus for more than 75% days attendance (Figure 2.5) and three full paid holidays per year.

Plantation workers are also entitled for 15% as EPF/ETF (employer contribution) on their basic salary plus on excess kilos and gratuity on retirement after 55 years of age. Each registered worker is liable for gratuity when they have worked for more than 5 years in the estate, even if the actual number of days worked is far less.

2.3.9

Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is very important in every employment. It directly affects productivity, employee/employer relationship, absenteeism and turnover. (Porter and Steers - 1973; Locke -1976)

JS is the way an employee feels about their job or work. It is a generalized attitude towards the job, based on evaluation of different aspects of the job. (Wexley & Yuki 1984)

The term job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude towards his or her job. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitude towards the job, while a person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds negative attitude about the job (Stephan 2001).

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There are three generally accepted dimensions of job satisfaction (Luthans 2002) 1. JS is an emotional response to a job situation. 2. JS is often determined by how well outcomes meet or exceed expectations. For example, if organizational participants feel that they are working much harder than others in the same organization, but are receiving fewer rewards, they will probably have a negative attitude towards the work. 3. Job satisfaction represent several attitudes, they are: a. Pay b. Promotion opportunities c. Working conditions d. Co-worker relationship e. Supervision f. The work itself

The definition of Job satisfaction Job satisfaction is a pleasurable or positive emotional state resulting from the appraisal of ones job or job experience (Luthans 2002)

i) Relationship between job satisfaction and other concepts A persons attitude towards his job reflects pleasant and unpleasant experience in the job and expectations and about future experiences. However, with the many studies on job attitudes during past decades, it is not possible to specify precisely how JS is determined. Most of the researches has attempted to discover what things are related to JS, but the casual basis for relationship has usually been ignored (Lawler 1973). For an example, many studies were conducted to determine how satisfied workers are and to compare the JS of men versus women, old versus young, skilled versus unskilled workers, and so on. Other studies were conducted to determine what aspects of the job are perceived to be most important to workers (e.g. pay, supervision etc.) The reason some workers are more satisfied than others or the reason workers consider some job features to be more important than others were seldom considered. A comprehensive theory of job attitudes has not yet been developed to integrate the diverse findings of the satisfaction research (Lawler 1973).

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However, a few satisfaction theories of more limited scope have been proposed, including: a) Discrepancy theory b) Equity theory c) Social influence theory d) Two-factor theory.

ii)

Job Satisfaction and Labour Turnover

Labour turnover in short is the rate workers leave a work place and the recruitment of new workers.

Labour turnover is defined as voluntary cessation of membership in an organization, and is one of several forms of organizational withdrawal such as absenteeism and tardiness. (Mitra, Jenkins & Gupta 1992).

Turnover decisions are functions of two factors. a) Ease of movement, how easy is it to find a new job b) Desirability of movement, whether workers experience enough dissatisfaction to want a different job. (March and Simon 1958)

Economist focus primarily on labour market determinants of the ease of movements. Work place turnover (quit) rates are best predicted by general economic activity. When the economy is healthy or unemployment is low and jobs are plentiful, then the turnover rates will increase. (This theory is unacceptable on foreign jobs) When the economic activity and job growth are slow, turnover rates will generally decline. Economics have also found that most but not all that leave do so for better pay/ income.

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iii)

Components of Job Satisfaction

Working Conditions

Co-Workers Relationship

Promotional Opportunities

Job Satisfaction

Labour Turnover

Pay Satisfaction

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iv) Model of Job Satisfaction Determinants

Need, Values and Personality traits Current social comparisons Reference group influence. Job factors in prior experience Perception of conditions that should exist

Employee job satisfaction Pay satisfaction Worker itself Advanced Opportunity Co-Workers Supervision Job security Perception of conditions that should

Source: Kenneth & Garry (1948) Organizational Behavior and Personnel Psychology

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2.3.10. Incentives/Rewards

Reward Management System. Worker reward system depends on the organizations integrated policies, processes and practices on its workers in accordance with their contribution, skill and competence and their market worth. It is developed within the framework of the organizations reward philosophy, strategies, policies and contains

arrangements in the form of processes, practices, structures and procedures which will provide and maintain appropriate types and levels of pay, benefits and other form of reward.

Components of a Reward System A reward system consists of financial rewards (fixed and variable pay) and employee benefits, which together comprise total remuneration. The system also incorporates non-financial rewards (recognition, praise, achievement,

responsibility and personal growth) and memory, cases, performance management processes.

A good reward system helps to improve the employees performance, to repeat the performance that meets the expectation of the organisation and helps to create more pleasant work environment.

The first key to finding effective rewards is having a large number of rewards available. The following are the list of rewards that can be used for excellent performance:

i) Recognition Praise Certificate of accomplishment Formal public recognition 63

Informal acknowledgement (pat on the back) Letters of appreciation Publicity (mention in the company letter) Award Being selected to represent department at meetings

ii) Job Tasks Assignment new tasks Relieve from duties the employee does not like More frequent assignment of duties which employees like Assignment of partners, the employee like to work with Approval of job related request Opportunity for achieved training

iii) Job Responsibilities Opportunity for more self-management More authority to decide or implement Greater access to information Greater opportunities to set own priorities

iv) Tangible Rewards Cash bonuses Prizes Free lunch facilities in the company Company donations to charity in the employee name Paid trips to professional meetings

v) Status Indicators Large work area 64

Promotion Supervise more people Status symbol (name plate, better desk, carpet) Invitation high level meetings New title

vi) Personal Activities Flexible working hours Time off with or without pay Privileges (phone, reserved parking, travel) Engaging in creative activities (work an inventions or publication)

vii) Social Activities Going to company outings or parties Going to company organized recreation activities Opportunities to talk to boss Dinner/lunch/coffee with boss

viii) Relief from Disliked Policies Exempt from selected company control procedures Except from close supervision

ix) Relief from disliked work environment Better lighting Less noise Transfer from disliked co-worker or manager More closer to restroom, cafeteria or coffee facilities

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Elements of Reward Management The following are elements of a good reward management system.

1. Base pay Base pay or basic pay is the fixed salary or wage, which contributes the rate for the job (Figure 2.5).

The basic levels of pay for job reflect both internal and external relativities. Alternatively, levels of pay may be agreed through negotiations (collective bargaining with trade unions) or by individual agreements. The base rate for a job is sometimes regarded as the rate for a competent of skilled person in a job. This rate may be in a skill based or competence based system according to the individuals skills or competence. In plantations pay is agreed through collective bargaining with the trade unions.

Base pay may be expressed as an annual, weekly or hourly rate (time rate) and it may be adjusted to reflect increases in the cost of living or market rates, or by agreement with trade union.

In plantations the pay is expressed as a daily wage and in 2007, October it was revised and the new pay system is valid till 31st March 2009 (Figure 2.5).

2. Additions to Base Pay In addition to base pay further financial rewards may be provided on the basis of performance, competence or experience.

Individual performance relating pay is in which increase to base pay are determined by performance assessment and ratings.

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The important types of additional pay are: a) Bonuses - are the reward for successful performance, which are paid as related to the results obtained by individuals, teams or the organizations. e.g. Profit bonus

b) Incentives Placement linked to the achievements of previously set targets, which are designed to motivate people to achieve higher levels of performance. e.g. Payment for over kilo plucking

c) Commission Special form of incentive in which payments to sales representatives are made on the basis of a percentage of the sales value they generate. e.g. Not practiced in estates

d) Skill based pay This varies according to the level of competence achieved by the individual. e.g. For multi skilled workers who does specialized work after normal work time - making trenches, road work etc.

e) Allowances These are elements of pay that are provided as a separate sum of money for such aspects of employment as overtime, shift working etc. e.g. Attendance allowance

f) Total Earnings Total earnings are usually calculated as the sum of base pay and additional payments. They contribute amount of money placed in an employees pay pocket.

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g) Employee Benefit: are also known as indirect pay individuals pensions, sick pay, insurance cover and company cases. They comprise elements of remuneration given in addition to the various forms of cash pay and also include provisions for employees which are not strictly remuneration, such as annual holidays. e.g. Workmans compensation, Gratuity, Sick leave payment, holiday pay

Reward Strategy Reward strategy defines the intentions of the organization on how its reward policies and processes should be developed to meet plantations requirements. In fact, the payroll costs can comprise 70% or more of the total costs incurred by an organization explaining the need to adopt a strategic approach to reward which ensures that added value is obtained from any investment pay.

Reward strategy should be developed as an integrated part of the total personal strategy of the organization. The aim should be to ensure that it will support the improvement of organizational performance in the fulfillment of overall goals of the organization.

Development in the Reward Management Scene From Defined jobs and standards To Border generic roles emphasis and continuous development expectance. Inflexible job evaluation system, sizing Flexible tasks, rewarding job evaluation process

non-adoptive assessing the value added by people in

behaviour and empire building and their roles often within job familiars. encouraging point grading. Hierarchical and rigid pay structures in Broad bonded pay structure, where the which the only way to get an increment emphasis on flexibility carrier

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is by a promotion

development improvement.

pay

and

continuous

Consolidation or reward into base pay

More emphasis on rewardable or?

These movements include innovation such as competitive related pay, broad banding and team pay which are the most forward looking of the current development taking place in the context of increased devolution of pay decisions to line management and more involvement of employee. They also reflect an increasing strategic concern about getting value for many from the reward system as evidenced by the increased interest in reward pay.

How to Deliver a Reward Selecting the right reward is only the first half of the battle. The other half is delivering a reward correctly. For example delivering a reward nine months after the performance wont have anywhere near the effect of giving the way following the accomplishments. The following are the four principles for delivering rewards effectively. 1) 2) 3) 4) If Then Principle ASAP Principle Variety Principles Sometimes Principles

The following steps help to deliver reward effectively

Describe exactly what is a good performance Describe how your organization or a customer benefited Deliver the reward using the if then, ASAP, variety and Sometimes principles

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Reward Policy Reward policy provides guideline for decision-making and action. It may include statements of guiding principles or common purposes. Reward policy addresses issues such as the followings:

Competitive pay Internal equity Contingent pay Variable pay Individual and team reward Employee benefits Total reward mix Structure Reward priorities Differentials Flexibility Uniformity Devolution Control Gender Neutrality Partnership Involvement Transfer

Variable Pay: Incentives for Performance Variable pay is compensation linked to individual, team, and/or organization performance. Traditionally also known as incentives, variable pay plans are attempts to provide tangible rewards to employees for performance beyond

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normal expectations. The foundation of variable pay rests on several basic assumptions:

Some jobs contribute more to organizational success than others. Some people perform better than others. Employees who perform better should receive more compensation. A portion of some employees total compensation should be given to reward performance above expectations.

Variable pay plans can focus on individual performance, team or group performance, and organization-wide performance. An important feature of variable pay plans is that team-based incentives increase the degrees of cooperation in teams, whereas individual incentives do not.

Individual incentives are given to reward the effort and performance or individuals. Some of the most common means of doing this are piece-rate systems, sales commissions, and bonuses.

When an entire work group or team is rewarded for its performance, more cooperation among the members is required and is usually forthcoming. Among the types of team incentives are gain sharing plans which reward employee teams that meet certain goals.

Organization incentives reward people for the performance of the entire organization. They may reduce individual and team competition. The most prevalent forms of organization-wide incentives are profit-sharing plans and employee stock ownership plans.

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As variable pay has grown in popularity, it has become evident that these plans have both succeeded and failed. Reactions of employees are crucial to how variable pay plans are accepted. There is evidence that most employees want performance rewards included in their base pay, rather than as one-time payments, and they prefer individual rewards over team or organization incentives. A key to success in variable pay plans seems to be to combine incentives with employee participation in the process.

Variable Pay Plans Certain guidelines are useful in establishing and maintaining successful variable pay systems: Recognize organizational culture and resources Make variable pay plans understandable Keep incentive plans current Tie variable pay to desired performance Recognize individual differences Identify variable pay separate from base pay

Reward and Performance Incentives Good reward systems help to improve employee performance, to repeat the performance that meets the expectation of the organization and helps to create a more pleasant work environment.

The first key to finding effective reward is having a large number of rewards available.

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2.3.11

Performance appraisals

After training and offering a job to an employee, at the end of a period of time his performances are evaluated. PA is the mechanism to assess the contribution from the worker towards the organisation during a specific period of time. It also enables the worker to know as to how they have performed in comparison with the set standards. This mechanism is followed in order to improve the workers performances. PA helps the managers to identify the better worker from the poor one.

PA is done by the immediate supervisor or a specially trained person meant for the job. PA has direct links to the selection, training and mobility etc. Appraisal and selection has a lot to do with the criteria or job expectation. Well developed job descriptions can be extremely useful in not only selecting people but also evaluating them on the same criteria.

Definitions of PA According to Wendell French, Performance Appraisal is, the formal, systematic assessment of how well employees are performing their jobs in relation to established standards, and the communication of that assessment to employees.

According to Flippo, Performance Appraisal is the systematic, periodic and an impartial rating of an employees excellence in matters pertaining to his present job and his potential for a better job.

According to Dale Yoder, Performance Appraisal includes all formal procedures used to evaluate personalities and contributions and potentials of group members in a working organization. It is a continuous process to secure information necessary for making correct and objective decisions on employees.

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According to Cummings and Schwab, The objectives of performance appraisal schemes can be categorized as either evaluative or developmental. The evaluative purpose have a historical dimension and are concerned primarily with looking back at how employees have actually performed over given time period, compared with required standards of performance. The developmental, a future oriented performance appraisal is concerned, for example, with the identification of employees training and development needs and the setting of new targets.

According to Heyel, It is the process of evaluating the performance and qualifications of the employees in terms of the requirements of the job for which he is employed for purposes of administration including placement, selection for promotions, providing financial rewards and other actions which require differential treatment among the members of a group as distinguished from actions affecting all members equally.

According to C.D. Fisher, L.F. Schoenfeldt and J.B. Shaw, Performance Appraisal is the process by which an employees contribution to the organization during a specified period of time is assessed.

From the above definitions we can conclude that performance appraisal is a method of evaluating the behaviour of employees in the workplace, normally including both the quantitative and qualitative aspects of job performance. It is a systematic and objective way of evaluating both work-related behaviour and potential of employees. It is a process that involves determining and communicating to an employee how he is performing the job and ideally establishing a plan of improvement. Performance appraisal emphasizes individual development. Now it is used for evaluating the performance of all the human

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resources working at all levels of organization and of all types. It evaluates the performance of technical, professional, and managerial staff.

Objectives of Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal plans are designed to meet the needs of the organization and the individual. It is increasingly viewed as central to good human resource management. Performance appraisal could be taken either for evaluating the performance of employees or for developing them. The evaluative purpose has a historical dimension and is concerned primarily with looking back at how employees have actually performed over given time period, compared with required standards of performance. The developmental purpose is concerned with the identification of employees training and development needs.

Appraisal of employees serves several useful purposes: a) Feedback It serves as a feedback to the employee. It tells him what he can do to improve his present performance and go up the organizational ladder. The appraisal thus facilitates self-development. It also makes the employee aware of his key performance areas.

b)

Compensation Decisions It provides inputs to system of rewards. The approach to compensation is at the heart of the idea that raises should be given for merit rather than for seniority.

c)

Data Base It provides a valid database for personal decisions concerning placements, pay, promotion, transfer etc. Appraisal also makes the employee aware of his key performance areas. Permanent performance appraisal records of employees help management to do planning without relying upon personal knowledge of supervisors who may be shifted.

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d)

Personal Development Performance appraisal can help reveal the causes of good and poor employee performance. Though discussions with individual employees, a line manager can find out why they perform as they do and what steps can be initiated to improve their performance.

e)

Training and Development Programme By identifying the strengths and weaknesses of an employee it serves as a guide for formulating a suitable training and development programme to improve his quality of performance in his present work. It can also inform employees about their progress and tell them what skills they need to develop to become eligible for pay rises and/or promotions.

f)

Promotion Decisions Can serve as a useful basis for job change or promotion. By establishing whether the worker can contribute still more in a different or a higher job it helps in his suitable promotion and placement. If relevant work aspects are measured properly, it helps in minimising feelings of frustration of those who are not promoted.

g)

Improve Supervision The existence of a regular appraisal system tends to make the supervisors more observant of their subordinates because they know that they will be expected periodically to fill out rating forms and would be called upon to justify their estimates. This improves supervision.

Performance appraisal helps to have comparative worth of workers. Appraising workers performance is, thus, useful for compensation, placement and training and development purposes. In the words of M.W. Cummings, The overall objective of performance appraisal is to improve the efficiency of enterprise by attempting to mobilize the best possible efforts from individual employed in it.

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Such appraisals achieve four objectives including the salary reviews, the development and training of individuals, planning job rotation and assistance promotions. The information can also be used for grievance handling and keeping the record. It helps in improving the quality of supervision and better the employee/employer relationship.

Uses of Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is a significant element of the information and control system in organization. Performance appraisal is used in order to:

a) Provide valuable information for personnel decisions such as pay increases, promotions, demotions, transfer and terminations. The information provided forms the basis for suitable personnel policies. b) Provide feedback on the level of achievement and behaviour of a subordinate, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work, if necessary. It also identifies individuals with high potential who can be groomed up for higher positions.

c) It serves as a means of telling a subordinate how he is doing and suggesting necessary changes in his knowledge, behaviour and attitudes. It thus provides information, which helps to counsel the subordinate. It also serves to stimulate and guide employees development.

d) Analyze training and development needs. These needs can be assessed because performance appraisals reveal people who require further training to remove their weaknesses. By identifying the weaknesses of an employee, it serves as a guide for formulating a suitable training and development programme to improve his quality of performance in his present work.

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e) Serve as a means for evaluating the effectiveness of devices used for the selection and classification of employees. It therefore helps to judge the effectiveness of devices used for the selection and classification of employees. It therefore helps to judge the effectiveness of recruitment, selection, placement and orientation systems of the organization.

f) Facilitates human resource planning and career planning, permanent performance appraisal records of employees help management to do human resource planning without relying upon personal knowledge of supervisors.

g) Promotes a positive work environment, which contributes to productivity. When achievements are recognized and rewarded on the basis of objective performance measures, there is improvement in work environment. Performance appraisal therefore, provide the rational foundation for incentives, bonus etc. The estimates of the relative contributions of employees help to determine the rewards and privileges rationally.

h) Make supervisors and executives more observant of their subordinates because, they know that they will be expected periodically to fill out rating forms and would be called upon to justify their estimates. This knowledge results in improved supervision.

i) Records protect management from charges of favouritism and discrimination. Employee grievance can also be reduced as it helps to develop confidence among employees.

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Organisations use performance appraisals for three purposes: (i) Administrative Performance appraisal commonly serve as an administrative tool by providing employers with a rationale for making many personnel decisions, such as decisions relating to pay increases, promotions, demotions, terminations and transfers.

(ii)

Employee

development

Performance

appraisal

for

employee

development purposes provide feedback on an employees performance. Appraisal data can also be used for employee development purposes in helping to identify specific training needs of individuals.

(iii) Programme assessment Programme assessment requires the collection and storage of performance appraisal data for a number of uses. The records can show how effective recruitment, selection and placement have been in supplying a qualified workforce.

It is generally accepted that performance appraisals serve one or more of the following purposes: (a) To create and maintain a satisfactory level of performance (b) (c) (d) To meet an individuals development needs To bring about better operational or business needs To facilitate fair and equitable compensation based on performance (e) To help the superiors to have a proper

understanding about their subordinates (f) To provide information useful for manpower planning by identifying employees with a potential for advancement

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(g)

To facilitate for testing and validating selection tests, interview techniques through comparing their scores with performance appraisal ranks

PA has to be done by the immediate supervisor; in estates, that is the field officer who is in-charge of the division. It would also be done by the SD in-charge of the division and reviewed by the worker himself.

The basic purpose of performance appraisal is to find out how well the worker is doing the job and establish a plan for improvement. The content to be appraised may be in the form of contribution to organizational objectives like production, savings in terms of cost, return on capital etc. The content to be appraised may vary with the purpose of appraisal and type and level of workers.

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Process of Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is planned, developed and implemented through a series of steps

JOB ANALYSIS JOB DESCRIPTION AND JOB SPECIFICATION

ESTABLISHING STANDARDS OF PERFORMANCE

COMMUNICATING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS TO EMPLOYEES

MEASURING ACTUAL PERFORMANCE

COMPARING ACTUAL PERFORMANCE WITH STANDARDS AND DISCUSS WITH EMPLOYEES

INITIATING CORRECTIVE ACTION, IF NECESSARY

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A sound appraisal system should comply with the following: 1. Reliability and validity 2. Job relatedness 3. Standardisation 4. Practical viability 5. Training to Appraisers 6. Open communication 7. Employee access to results 8. Clear Objectives 9. Post Appraisal Interview 10. Periodic Review 11. Not Vindictive in Nature

2.3.12 Trade Unions

Especially in Tea Plantations, Worker unions play a major role in day-to-day activities. These unions are responsible for most of the problems and unrest on the estates. High political involvements are the main reason behind these situations. During the past years, there were many union backed strikes on plantations. (Figure 2.9)

These are the main worker unions in Laxapana estate (Figure: 2.10)

CWC UCWF NUW LJEWU CPWU

Ceylon Workers Congress Up Country Workers Front National Union of Workers Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union Ceylon Plantation Workers Union

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WLF UPW

Workers Liberation Front Unite Plantation Workers

Even though there are collective agreements with the unions they do not honour these agreements purely due to political advantages.

e.g. From the wage agreement in November 2006, there was a wage increment for all plantation workers and it was valid till 31st December 2008. Due to political pressure and the Hon. Presidents involvement, that was changed and the wages were increases again in October 2007, and the new agreement is supposed to be valid till 31st March 2009. Even though there was resistance from the Plantation companies, they had no choice as the orders were from the top. This was a classic example of the negative political involvements in Plantations.

Most of these unions are considered as partial toward the workers, and encourage workers to go on strike and go-slows even for small problems. If it is for the benefit of the plantation industry, unions have to be neutral or impartial, and should look at the problems in a more reasonable manner, and should always take steps to settle matters amicably, thinking about the industry.

It is a fact that most of the plantation trade unions take advantage of illiterate workers and put them in trouble by instigating the problems, causing the workers loss of wages (revenue), for companies millions in turnover, and huge economical losses for the country.

There were 19 union led strikes with 196,520 workers involved in the year 2006, causing over 4.821mn man days loss to the plantation sector and to the country, whereas the total loss of man days due to all strikes in Sri Lanka during the same period was 4.899mn. This clearly shows how strong the plantation union in Sri

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Lanka is and the damage and impact cause by them to the entire economy of the country. (Figure 2.9)

2.3.13 Industrial Relations

The concept of IR means the relationship between the workers and the management.

Some of the definitions for IR are as follows: IR is called the plant community life (Peter Drucker)

IR is the relationship that exists and grows out of employment (Dalye Yadev)

IR is a group of animated capital, it deals with either relationship between the states and employers and workers organisations or the relationship between the organisation themselves (Robert Oven)

The relationship between employer and employee is that of power group relationship. IR is an integral aspect of social relation arising out of employer employee interaction in modern industries which are regulated by the state to varying degrees in conjunction with organized social fares and influenced by the existing institutions.

Significance of IR a) Good IR helps in economic policy of a nation. b) Good IR helps in establishing and monitoring industrial democracy. c) Helps in formulating labour policies of the government. d) Helps in encouraging collective bargaining.

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e) Good IR results in industrial discipline bargaining. f) Strengthens Trade Unions. g) IR helps government in making law for unfair labour practices. h) It helps in maintaining industrial react and avoidance of industrial strike.

IR is important due to the following reasons 1. IR establishes a sound cordial, harmonious labour management relation. 2. To protect and improve labour management relation by developing mutual understanding and level of confidence. 3. To develop harmonious relation in order to reduce industrial conflicts like strike lockouts etc. 4. To minimize labour turnover and absenteeism among workers. 5. To encourage workers to enhance productivity to higher level. 6. To uplift the economic status or workers by improving wages, allowance, fringe benefits etc. 7. To establish and nurture industrial democracy by providing a say to the workers in decision-making. 8. To encourage and strengthen trade unions. 9. To encourage collective bargaining.

Factors of IR a) Institutional Factors These include government policy, labour legislation, voluntary courts, employer federations, social institutions, cast etc.

b) Economic factors These factors include economic organization, structure of labour force, demand and supply for labour force etc.

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c) Technical factors These factors include mechanization, automation, computerization etc.

The three major participants of IR are the workers and their organizations, management and government.

1. Workers and their Organization Workers play an important role in IR. Workers organizations known as trade unions play a prominent role in regulating IR. The main purpose of trade unions is to protect workers economic interest through collective bargaining and by bringing pressure on management through economic and political tactics.

2. Employers and their Organization The employer is a crucial factor in IR. He pays wages, allowances, regulates the working conditions through various rules and regulations. He expects a maximum contribution from his employees. The difference between the demands of the employer and employee results in a conflict. The bargaining power of the employer is undermined. When compared to the trade unions the employers from their organization to equate or excel their bargaining power with that of trade unions.

3. Government The government acts as a mediator and custodian. The government tries to regulate the activities and behaviour of both employees and employers.

The following are the principles to be followed to maintain sound IR: a) The dignity of the individual and his freedom of right and equality to be recognized.

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b)

The employers and workers should have mutual trust, respect, goodwill and acceptance in exercising their duties and rights.

Scope of IR The scope of IR includes: a) b) c) Relationship among employees and their superiors and managers. Collective relations between unions and management. Collective relations among trade unions, employers associations and government.

Functions of IR Functions of IR include: a) Establishment of communication between the workers and management in order to bridge the traditional gap between the two. b) c) To develop a rapport between the management and employees. To ensure creative contribution of trade unions to avoid industrial conflicts, to safeguard the interest of workers on the one hand and the management on the other hand. d) e) To promote understanding, co-operation, creativity and participation. To raise the industrial productivity.

ILO i) Good labour management depends on employers and trade unions capacity to deal with their mutual problems freely, independently, and responsibility. ii) The trade unions and the employers and their organizations should be interested in resolving the problems through collective bargaining.

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iii)

Workers and employers organizations should be desirous of associating with government agencies taking in to considerations the general, social public and economic measures affecting employers and workers relations.

Conditions for Congenial IR It is very difficult to promote and maintain sound industrial relations. Certain conditions should exist for the maintenance of harmonious industrial relations. They are:

Existence of Strong Well-Organized Democratic Unions IR will be sound only when the bargaining powers are equal. A strong trade union can protect the employers interest.

Existence of Sound Organized Employer Unions These associations are helpful for the promotion and maintenance of uniform personnel policies among various organizations and to protect the interest of weaker employers.

Spirit of Collective Bargaining and Willingness to resort to Voluntary Negotiations The differences between employers and employee should be settled through mutual negotiation and consultation. This will help in maintaining congenial relations. Moreover issues not settled through the process of collective bargaining should be referred to voluntary arbitration.

Maintenance of Industrial Peace could be achieved through: i) Setting up of machineries both legislative and non-legislative to resolve the dispute

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ii)

Government should be provided tripartite committees in order to evolve personnel policies, code of conduct etc.

iii)

Provision for the various committees to implement and evaluate the collective bargaining agreements, court orders and judgment awards etc.

Approaches to IR a) Psychological approach This approach is based on the differences in the perceptions of management, unions and workers. The differences arise due to differences in personalities and attitudes.

b)

Sociological approach Is based on individual differences. An organisation is made up of individuals and groups with differing personalities, educational back ground, emotion etc. These differences results in conflicts.

c)

Human relations approach This implies that relationship between employer and employee as between to human beings.

d)

Gandhian approach This principle is based on the principles of truth, non-violence and nonpossession. Mahathma Gandhi envisaged that the employers are two equal partners in the manufacturing process of the industry.

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2.4

Problem analysis

2.4.1

Quit

Quitting is a serious problem faced by todays management. This has created major issued in industries. Especially where training and development involved. Quitting results high worker turnover and is directly responsible for heavy financial losses and affects the smooth operations in the industry.

The main reason for quitting a job is dissatisfaction. According to Price and Muller (1981), it was concluded empirically that job dissatisfaction and an indirect effect on turnover through its direct effect on formation of intent to leave.

Quitting can be due to following reasons: Job dissatisfaction Family/personal reasons (child birth, sick parents, spouses dislike etc.) Due to physical difficulties/sicknesses Change of residencies (mainly due to marriage) To go for another employment (foreign job, garment job etc.) Due to retirement age

Despite a low monthly salary of Rs.10,000-15,000, the number of female workers leaving for foreign employment during the last few years has increased tremendously. In 2006, over 100,000 women left Sri Lanka to work as

housemaids mainly to Middle Eastern countries. Out of the total employment migrants, the housemaids accounted for 50%. According to the Foreign Employment Bureau, up to end 2007, there were over 460,000 Sri Lankan women working as house maids (Figure 2.8)

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Series of Decisions Involved to quit.

Evaluation of existing job

Expected job satisfaction/dissatisfaction

Thinking of quitting

Evaluation of cost of quitting

Intention to search for alternatives

Search for alternatives

Evaluation of alternative

Comparison of alternative with present job

Intent to quit/stay

Quit/Stay

(Source: Intermediate linkages in the relationship between job satisfaction and employees turnover, Journal of Applied Psychology Vol. GL 1977)

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2.4.2 Poor Turnover

This mainly refers to not attending to work or the absenteeism from work. Here the worker still remains as a registered employee. This situation mainly affects the planning process as these workers are expected to be at work but have not taken part in their stipulated job. This creates a shortage in OWF. It is common in plantations that after the muster (where the work is disbursed in the morning) when a worker feels that the job he got for the day is difficult, he refrains from attending to that job. For these instances the field office or the person who offer the job, should motivate and encourage the worker to perform that task efficiently and effectively.

To overcome this situation, the manager could encourage outside workers to work in the estate by offering permanent residencies and assuring more work and more income. In a plantation, more work means more number of days work offer. By law, an estate should offer a minimum of 24 days work to the female pluckers and 22 days to men workers. At Laxapana Estate, as an average a female works for 26 days and men for 24 days, during the high cropping seasons pluckers work for all 30 days. On Sundays, Poya days and other Mercantile holidays workers are paid 1.5 times the daily wage, therefore from the managements view it is better to avoid such days in order to keep the costs low. Instead working on such days, management could employ casuals and other outside workers to harvest the excess crop.

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2.4.3 Lack of Motivation

Motivation is the secret behind getting work done effectively. It is up to the supervisors to use their skills to motivate the workers to perform their work efficiently. Motivation, creates a liking to perform a job and there the worker enjoys his work, and as a result performances will improve.

Lack of motivation or no motivation is a grave problem in most of the plantation operations. Therefore it is a prime requirement to teach the supervisors, methods to motivate the workers as well as to encourage the executives to implement motivation tactics in plantation operations. This will help the productivity, improve PR with workers and result in smooth and efficient operations in the estate. Motivation methods have been explained in detail under in Chapter 2.2.3.

2.4.4 Union involvements

Unions are the cause for most of the Plantation related problems. It is the responsibility of the Superintendent to have and maintain a good relationship with the union representatives. The most important aspect in handling unions are to give them the due respect and to listen to their requirements. If the request is reasonable it is always better to entertain and fulfill the request for the benefit of the workers. A good relationship with the union representatives will always help the mangers to settle their problem within the estate without taking them outside.

A good superintendent uses various tactics to keep the unions under his control. You could discourage the members joining a bad union showing your support to another union. It is always better to remember that the plantation unions are highly politicised. Even though they show that they are for workers most of the

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union leaders are selfish and look for various gains. It is also a fact that some union leaders demand for light work or wages without work to be less troublesome in the estates they work.

Some unions influence religious activities and in community matters specially to gain political mileage. Most of the times these influences end up in clashes and tense situations where the management has to get involved to settle the disputes. This affects the harmony and smooth operations in the estates. There is a considerable amount collected as union fees (Rs. 65) monthly from the members of each union. (Figure 2.9)

2.4.5 Training and Development.

Even though training and development is vital in operations, it is a challenge in plantations due to the: Poor education standards Not accustomed to participation in training Time and other constrains Training programmers fail to attract the worker

If an off the job training program is conducted in a simple and more professional ways it will attract the participants. It is always better to use modern methods such as projected presentations, visuals and practical examples than using handouts and write ups. The training program must be conducted in their mother tongue so that all understand the program. By offering refreshments, course materials and a certificate to confirm the participation it will encourage the participation among the workers. Training program should be conducted in a

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convenient location in the estate itself and must get the staff officers and executives participation.

It is better to have a common program for all the works like awareness program or on a common subject, on a day like the pay day that all the workers get together in a common place. This training has to be mainly on volunteer basis without pressurising the workers to participate in order to avoid administration issues.

2.5 Methodology

The best method to get the OWF attracted to estate work is by motivating them to perform their work efficiently and effectively. It is the duty of the management to assess the performances and reward them accordingly for their achievements.

Better welfare facilities, training and development, good communication skills, incentives and rewards, etc. are the factors that influence workers to be in the estates and to contribute in the estate operations. Those factors are also an attraction for the new comers to join the workforce.

However, if the operations are planned and organized properly and well in advance there may not be any major problems with regards to the shortage of workers for estate operations.

Tea plantation operations are seasonal in nature and most of the operations are repetitive. Therefore it is easy to pre-plan the operations. The planning will be much easier if the weather patterns and other factors which influence the plantation operations are followed and studied properly. Most of the problems that occur during the operations could be arrested using common sense and basic

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agricultural practices. In planting, decision making has to be very quick and tactical, especially in sensitive issues related to the workers. According to the senior planters, planting is 75% HRM and only 25% agriculture. Therefore in tea plantation the most difficult and important operation is to manage the OWF.

2.6 Analysis

Here, we shall analyse the most important operations in an estate with the available workforce.

Total Availability of Workers at Laxapana Estate (Figure 2.11)

With casual workers - Men Women Total

544 692 ---------1,236 ======

Available workers as an average per day @ 80% out turn Men Women 989 435 554

Available workers per month @ 25 days work Men Women

24,726 10,875 13,850

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Women worker requirement Plucking: Total area for plucking = 397.3ha (Figure 2.17)

VP tea (226.4ha) average 5 rounds per month (Figure 2.16) @20 LPH = 22,640 SD tea (170.9ha) average 4 rounds per month @ 15 LPH = 10,254

Total Women required for plucking/month = 32,894

Shortage of women for plucking for a month = 19,044 (32,894 13,850)

Men worker requirement Assumptions: Manuring 4 applications for a year 397.3ha x 4 Therefore monthly applications Worker requirement @ 6 LPH = 1,589ha = 132.4ha = 794

Weeding

Total plantation: 526.70ha 3 manual weedings/year @ 15 LPH = 23,701 Monthly worker requirement = 1,975 3 chemical weedings/year @ 4 LPH = 6,320 Monthly worker requirement = 527

Folio (manure) spraying for tea extent = 397.3ha 4 rounds of spraying/year @ 3 LPH = 4,768 Monthly worker requirement = 397 Pruning 1/3 of the plantation is pruned annually Therefore per year pruning extent = 132.4ha Worker requirement/year @ 55 LPH = 7,284 Monthly worker requirement = 607

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Factory operations @ 50 workers/day x 25 days work Other men requirements are such as welfare, Kanganies, bungalows, transportation etc. Per day average 40 workers x 25 days Total men workers available for a month Excess of men workers per month at Laxapana Estate (10,875 6,550)

1,250

= =

1,000 6,550

4,325

Total Worker deficit per month at Laxapana Estate (Women shortage 19,044 - Men excess 4,325) : 14,719

(Figures: 2.11, 2.12, 2.16, 2.17)

2.7

Conclusion

Today, there is a scarcity of labourers in every industry where it requires more skilled and unskilled workers. In todays world more people expect white collar jobs, even though there is a huge requirement for blue collar jobs especially in plantations with more attractive benefits.

A remedy for this issue is to provide maximum welfare facilities to uplift the living standards of the workers. This will be a retention method to stop the outflow of workers from the estates. This will also attract the new people from other areas to join the estate cadre.

By introducing incentive packages and rewards we could motivate workers to improve efficiency for higher output. New management systems will enable them

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to perform at a low LPH rate, especially for plucking operations where the highest workforce is needed (refer Motivation 2.3.3).

In conclusion, if human resources are planned and managed properly, and used effectively and efficiently by introducing and implementing above methods, the managers could solve the OWF shortage and most of the human related problems on the estates.

2.8

Recommendations

2.8.1

Improve more on Welfare facilities.

Even though there are many welfare facilities provided by the estate, it is vital to provide as many extra facilities to retain people in the estates and to build a better bond with the management.

In plantations, it is the Superintendent who is there for everything for the estate people. A good superintendent is given the status of a God in the estates. Therefore it is the right and the duty of every estate Superintendent to look after his estate people in a more humane and sympathetic manner, and to get the maximum output while treating them well. This will be a win-win situation for both parties.

There are many ways and means that a superintendent could attend to the welfare activities in an estate for the benefit of his workers without spending much funds. A few such activities are as follows:

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For the welfare of the children Children are the future of plantations; if the estate looks after them well, my belief is that in future they too will contribute to the estate in some way. The estate crche has to be a clean and attractive, important place in the estate. The superintendent has to give the best support to keep the place clean and tidy and to attend the other requirements like good toilet facilities and water. The crche attendant has to be a competent person, with experience to handle the little children. There has to be a good assistant to help her, or to release her for an emergency. There are many NGOs and religious groups which are willing to help the children. With them, estates could upgrade the pre-schools, give them better facilities, education materials, foods and nutrients and health facilities such as immunization vaccinations, various aids for differently able children, etc.

Welfare of the Youth Each estate could promote sports and leisure activities to the youth. With the patronage of the estate manager, the estate could form a sports/youth club. Though the club, we could encourage the young workers to engage in sports activities after the work. Generally, in an estate, men finish their work by 2.00pm. Thereafter people can engage in sports like volleyball, football, cricket, elle etc. or indoor activities like carrom, checkers, playing cards, etc. These activities will keep the workers active and happy, physically and mentally.

Superintendents could organize classes on computer, electronics, tailoring, masonry, carpentry, or any other useful subject; or have a library to develop their reading habits and knowledge; have a TV to watch educational programs and news etc.

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Through the youth club we could develop, workers talents e.g. art, drama, dancing, singing, etc. By this, we could identify the hidden talents of the estate workers and encourage them to develop their talents. With the Club, the estate could organize an annual sports meet, talent show and appreciate and evaluate the workers talents.

It is always better to have an annual event with the estate sponsorship for the workers. It will enhance the bond and better relationship between the management and the workers, as well as workers themselves. This will enable the workers to be in the estate after work and to spend their free time in some productive work, rather than wasting their valuable time on non productive ways. By organizing these kinds of activities, we could promote good values among the workers. When the workers are occupied, they will have no time for gossiping and to organizing bad activities like strikes in the estates etc. This is a better way to eradicate drugs, alcoholism and smoking habits amongst workers.

Welfare of the Adults Adult workers are more concerned about their children and their daily household chores. Most adults spend their free time in their gardens. We could help them by educating or by helping the workers to find finances to rear cattle, chicken or other useful animals, and also to promote their own cultivations, especially vegetables. This will help them to have nutritious meals and to earn some extra income. Children will be able to have fresh milk, eggs, and vegetables.

Another possibility is to operate an estate welfare or a co-operative shop to provide provisions to the workers at a reasonable price, in most instances workers have to pay extra, travel to towns to get their provisions.

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If the superintendent could take an interest to introduce the above welfare activities in their estates, we could be sure of having a better, much healthier new generation, working in the future plantation sector to face new challenges.

On the estate level, we could think of a micro-financing system for the workers. For this the superintendent could form a committee with the workers, supervisors, and union leaders at estate level or with the help of a bank. They should have a constitution and regularize the methods of disbursement of funds and the recoveries. The manager has to overlook the operations and advise them as and when the committee needs; the accounts have to be transparent and the committee should have regular meetings at least once a month. This is not only to lend money but to promote the habit of savings among the workers.

Lending has to be strictly on the recommendation of the committee and on two guarantors (estate resident workers) signatures. It is better to keep the maximum lending amount to about 6 months pay, recoverable within a maximum of two years, and should be given for specific requirements such as, agriculture and animal husbandry development, housing, to purchase household equipments and furniture, to buy bicycles and for childrens education, etc.

Some plantations have started a plantation bank called Wanisa Estate housing development Bank, where the operations are similar to what I have mentioned above.

Welfare of the Elderly pensioners They are the people who worked hard to bring the estate to this condition, and the main contributors to the national economy. Therefore it is the duty and responsibility of the Superintendent to look in to their welfare and needs and wants. Many workers give up estate work to look after the elderly. Managers

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could start up a caretaking place for the elderly, preferably in connection with the estate dispensary. The children could go to work leaving the elders with the care taker and in the evening take them back home.

For this purpose too, the estate could get the help of the NGOs and religious parties. It is necessary to provide the meals and medicines they require.

Workers Health It is the responsibility of the estate manager to maintain the estate dispensary, and the health related work of an estate. Most estates have a medical officer and a couple of assistants to look in to the health aspect of the workers. At Laxapana there is an EMA, mid wife, welfare supervisor and two labourers to assist them. The Manager has to make sure that, all the required drugs are available and equipments are in good order. It is also the responsibility of the Manager to check the work of the medical staff by going through the medical book.

The estate manager could organize free medical camps with societies and clubs like Lions club. These should include specialist treatments and distribution of drugs. For this they could avail the services of a few medical consultants. Special check-ups (e.g. diabetes), distribution of drugs and vitamins, checking of eye sight and dental treatment etc. are some services that can be organized. This is a very useful and needy service much appreciated by the workers and it comes with no cost to the estate. I have personal experience in organizing such events for the estates. It is better to have a free health camp at least once in two years.

It is vital to keep the estate Ambulance in good condition and be ready to move at any emergency. The ambulance at Laxapana is in a good condition with basic facilities, and is used to transport patients who need emergency treatment. The closest base hospital is in Maskeliya, a town about 10 km from the estate.

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Community places There are many places of worship on the estates. Laxapana Estate has 5 Hindu Kovils and 2 Churches. The estate community is generally God fearing and respects their religions, therefore it is the duty of the Superintendent to assist and encourage them in all the religious activities. The attendance of the Superintendent in the religious activities on the estate is appreciated by the workers very much. The manager should show his interest and respect to those activities.

By developing and participating in religious activities and getting the participation for religious affairs by all of the estate workers, Managers could build a better relationship with the workers and improve unity and harmony among workers. Spiritual development keeps the worker away from bad habits and bad behavior.

Other public areas such as the workers community center used for training and development, the Estate salon, crche, co-operative, muster shed etc. must be maintained well and kept in good condition.

Today, most of the international buyers look in to the welfare of the estate workers of the plantations where they purchase tea from. Some of the buyers pay visits to the estates to verify for themselves the condition of the community centres and the treatment of workers. Therefore it is paramount to pay more attention in developing welfare facilities and to the estate workers.

2.8.2 Training and development

Training is another area where we could improve for the benefit of the plantations. By effective T&D, we could improve the efficiency and effectiveness

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of the workers. In plantations, I have noticed that the worker participation in achieving organizational objectives are very poor, in fact, workers have no knowledge about the companies objectives, mission and vision and the targets to be achieved. They are not aware about what they get from the companies and what the companies expect from them.

Since the present generation is more educated and knowledgeable, it is an easier task than in the past. It is also recommended that the Superintendent take part in these training programmes as his presence will encourage the workers to participate and feel that T&D is very important in operations.

Training for workers could start from the orientation phase. A competent person, preferably a senior executive or an expert on the subject should conduct the program in their mother tongue. By having an orientation programme we could build confidence in the organisation, and ensure that the new worker may not form false impressions regarding their work place, promote a feeling of belonging and loyalty, and to know about the facilities that they could enjoy, remuneration, incentives, motivators, rules and regulations and other details like work times, tea and meals breaks, weighing times etc, and all what they want and need to learn about the plantation as a whole.

The next step is the job training, this is very important as the workers career and future depends on the way that this training is conducted. It is always better to use a competent person from the community, with the guidance of a good staff member and a senior executive.

This training could be useful to the new workers as well as the others. Training programmes could be conducted on the operations of the estate such as, plucking, manuring, weeding, spraying, pruning, planting, manufacture etc.

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Plucking - we could teach the importance of proper harvesting on time, with minimum handling of leaves, leaving buds and very young leaves for the next pluck and to harvest the best quality leaves and the maximum quantity. The quantity of harvest will definitely affect worker income. A quality harvest will enhance characteristics of high grade quality teas and will be in demand. It is also vital to teach them the proper ways of storing, transporting and handling the tea leaves. On the practice of the estates, it could give training on new methods and use of equipments such as shears, machines etc. for plucking. As plucking is the main income generator in an estate, it has to be done in the most effective and efficient manner.

Manuring - Most of the manurers are not aware about the use of the fertilizer and the effect it has on the plantations. This training is vital as the manuring operation is the most important and expensive operation in plantations.

The manurers should be taught the importance of manuring, the chemical components and its effects, effective application methods, application quantities, transportation and storage, safety and precautionary methods. Proper application of fertiliser is the reason behind good harvest and higher yields. Effective manuring results in a healthy plantation, which is resistant to diseases, infections and pests.

Weeding This is also a common operation in plantations. Weeders must be educated on the kinds of weeds, how to eradicate them, the effect of weeds on the plantation, ways to remove the weeds, stacking, transporting and using weeds for mulching and composting purpose. If the chemicals are used, the correct variety of weedicides for each growth, the correct quantities of chemicals for effective results, how the various chemicals affect different kinds of weeds, the intervals to use chemicals, chemical storage, mixing, transportation, filling into tanks,

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spraying methods, use of correct sprayers and nozzles, maintenance of the spraying tanks and the negative effect of sprayers etc. It is very important to teach the workers about safety and precautionary steps to follow when handling chemicals.

Pruning - For this operation, workers skill is important. By training we have to teach the pruners pruning methods, techniques, height and the cut, use and maintenance of tools (knives) and after care operations and methods. It is important to teach them about taking the remains out of the site leaving all the leaves on the field etc. For this training we could get the help of a senior worker or a kangani who is experienced on these operations.

Planting - This is considered as capital work in the plantations. The main operations involve, preparing the site, draining, marking contours, making holes, application of manure, selecting of good plants, transporting, planning, thatching, pegging, planting of shade trees etc. All of these operations have to be carefully done since a minor error could affect the future tea bushes. It is better to get a senior executive, field officer, and kanganies specialised in different operations to train the workers. It is important to teach the workers on technical aspects such as the varieties of clones used for planting, depth of the holes, removal of unwanted materials from the planting site etc.

Manufacturing - This is the most important operation where machinery is used. Most of the workers are not aware how the tea comes to their cup of tea and how to make a good cup of tea.

Manufacturing training starts at the factory from the time tea leaves arrive. The transporting staff must be trained that leaf transport from the fields should be

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done with great care to minimize the crushing and damage of leaves, stacking the correct weight in bags and to the vehicles and transporting.

Next, training is on the green tea leaves brought to the factory. The process commences by weighing and spreading the leaves in the troughs for withering, which, after a few hours (it takes the moisture out) the withered leaves are sent through the rollers. What comes out from machines is called dhool and it is sent for fermenting. Fermented dhool is sent for firing where the chemical reactions in tea leaf stops. What comes out of the driers is called black tea which is what we drink.

In this training we have to teach the staff and the workers the different functions of the machinery, its operations and maintenance. It is better to teach them on the chemical reactions and the process, transformation of green tea leaves to black tea. In manufacturing, timing is considered as a crucial factor as incorrect timing spoils the quality. The training must also cover methods of power and fuel saving and techniques for cost reduction.

The manufacturing process is done under the careful supervision of many staff members and the factory officer. All the functions of the factory are managed by the factory manager who is also a senior executive on the estate.

2.8.3

Mechanisation of Operations

This is a practical method of finding a permanent solution for the worker shortage problem in plantations. Like in other countries it is recommended to use mechanical plucking where ever possible, especially in flat areas.

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There is an option for automating and mechanising most of the factory operations. Starting from leaf collection, a conveyor belt system can transport the leaves to the troughs. This method solves the problem of leaf getting damaged by human handling. The same can be applied on rollers and other machines. We could also computerize the machine for automated operations. At present one person is employed to each machine operation. Under a computerized factory, a few operators may handle many functions.

In plantation operations such as weeding, manuring, spraying, pruning etc. we could make the maximum use of machines and power tools. This will enhance the productivity and efficiency of the workers whilst reducing the worker requirement.

For new plantations we could introduce drip irrigation/sprinkler systems enabling the plants to grow healthy and strong. We could use the same system for manuring and other applications. With this the management could tryout high yielding tea clones which are susceptible to drought and deceases. If these

methods prove successful the production and yields could be increased dramatically.

2.8.4

Outside workers for estate work

With the high un-employment rate in Sri Lanka, it will not be a difficult task to get outside workers to fill the shortage of estate workers. As explained earlier we could attract more village people and unemployed in the area to work in the estates by offering them attractive benefits. With the increased wages and

provision of transport, housing and other benefits it will be much easier to get outside workers. I have observed that the benefits and the facilities enjoyed by the

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estate workers are very much greater than what the poor people enjoy in their villages. There are many such villages and colonies around the Laxapana area where we could obtain workers to the estate by using village headmen and other politically influential people.

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(D) Chapter 03

i) Appendix

ii) List of References

iii) Bibliography

iv) List of Abbreviations

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i)

Appendix 1

Tea

Figure 1.1 Volume and Value of Tea Exports Sri Lanka (up to 2006)

Figure 1.2 Production and prices of SRI LANKA major crops (up to 2006)

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Appendix 2

Worker related

Figure 2.1 Sri Lanka population, labour force, unemployment etc. (up to 2006)

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Figure 2.2 Sri Lanka labour force and employment etc. (up to 2006)

Figure 2.3 Sri Lanka labour force and unemployment etc. (up to 2006)

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Figure 2.4 Average daily labour wages in Sri Lanka (up to 2006) Note: In October 2007, plantation workers wages were revised, accordingly tea plantation workers average daily wages as follows:
Per day Male Female 200.00 30.00 20.00 70.00 10.35 Rs.330.35

Basic Salary 200.00 EPF 15% 30.00 PSS (Price Share Supplement) 20.00 Attendance incentive 70.00 Over kilo with EPF 15% Total Per day Rs.320.00 Average monthly wage (24 days work) Total Rs. 7,680.00 Additional payments (Annual) Sick leave payment (Per day) Maternity payment 1st and 2nd Child 3rd and above Attendance Bonus Full , above 85% attendance Half, above 75% attendance

Rs. 7,928.40

110.00

18,000.00 9,000.00

850.00 750.00

Figure 2.5 Workers wage calculation (2007 Collective Agreement)

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Employment by Economic Activity

Figure 2.6 Sector-wise employment in Sri Lanka (up to 2006)

Figure 2.7 Wage indices Sri Lanka (up to 2006 taking 1978 Dec. = 100)

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Foreign Employment

Figure 2.8 Departures for foreign employment Sri Lanka (up to 2006)

Figure 2.9 Strikes in private sector industries Sri Lanka (up to 2006)

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Division Lax Val Sal Sau Ham Total

CWC

UCWF

NUW

LJEW

CPWU

UNW

WLF

N/U *

Tot

88 155 4 60 57 364

28 21

79 13 123 54

4 38 2 42 4 11 55

11 70 30 14 18 143

210 351 159 138 127 985

18 41 108

215 54 42 4 * N/U means non union members

Figure 2.10 Union strength at Laxapana Estate as at 31st December 2007

DIVISION

Permanent staff Dec-2007 M F 120 192 82 75 61 530 TOT 217 340 142 133 112 944 63 130 M 04 22 41

casual staff Dec-2007 F 27 43 38 11 43 162 TOT 31 65 79 11 106 292 M 101 170 101 58 114 544

Total Labour Force Dec-2007 F 147 235 120 86 104 692 TOT 248 405 221 144 218 1236

Laxapana Valamalay Lower Upper Hamilton Total

97 148 60 58 51 414

Figure 2.11 Laxapana Estate workforce as at 31st December 2007

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DIVISION M Laxapana Valamalay Lower Upper Hamilton 101 170 101 58 114 544 44%

Total Labour Force Dec-2007 F 147 235 120 86 104 692 56% TOT 248 405 221 144 218 1236

Cultivated Workers Extent Ha

118.15 139.25 114.00 91.40 63.90 526.70 per Ha 2.10 2.91 1.94 1.58 3.41 2.35

Total

Figure 2.12 Laxapana Estate Extent and Workers per hectare December 2007

Laxapana Estate Population as at December 2007

DIVISION
M Children below 14 years F 172 265 148 132 115 832 TOT 371 516 259 238 224 1608 Unemployed and Eligible for employment M 3 6 2 2 3 16 F 4 11 4 3 4 26 TOT 7 17 6 5 7 42 M 101 170 101 58 114 544 Others Workers F 147 235 120 86 104 692 TOT 248 405 221 144 218 1236 M 158 196 160 125 136 775 others Dependants F 143 163 134 109 127 676 TOT 301 359 294 234 263 1451 M 461 623 374 291 362 2111 Total Population F 466 674 406 330 350 2226 TOT 927 1297 780 621 712 4337

Laxapana Valamalay Lower Upper Hamilton

199 251 111 106 109 776

Total

Figure 2.13 Laxapana Estate Population as at December 2007

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DIVISION
CWC UCWF 28 21 0 18 41 108 11% NUW 79 13 123 0 0 215 21.8%

Union Strength CWC LJEW 0 54 0 0 0 54 5.5% CPWU 0 0 0 42 0 42 4.2% UPW 0 0 0 4 0 4 .4% WLF 4 38 2 0 11 55 5.6% N/U 11 70 30 14 18 143 TOT 210 351 159 138 127 985 UCWF NUW LJEWU CPWU UPW WLF N/U : : : : : : : : Ceylon Workers Congress Upcountry Workers Front National Union of Workers Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union Ceylon Plantations Workers Union United Plantation Workers Workers Liberation Front Non Union Members

Laxapana Valamalay Lower Upper Hamilton Total Percentage

88 155 4 60 57 364 37%

14.5%

Figure 2.14 Laxapana Union Strength/Percentage as at Dec. 2007

Last 10 Years

Year
1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000 2000/2001 2001/2002 2002/2003 2003/2004 2004/2005 2005/2006 2006/2007

Yield
2044 1800 1794 1586 1561 1750 1479 1575 1795 1813

NSA
131.71 121.64 120.62 144.60 151.43 165.87 163.03 201.54 238.77 271.32

COP
75.19 86.69 87.80 103.49 116.85 123.95 142.63 162.96 152.05 172.96

Figure 2.15 Laxapana Estate Yield, NSA, COP for last 10 Years

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Avgerage Labour Utilizations (Per hectare) Plucking - VP Fields 20 Plucking - SD Fields 15 Chemical Weeding - VP 3 Chemical Weeding - SD 3 Manual Weeding - VP 7 Manual Weeding - SD 5 Spraying 2.5 Pruning - VP 55 Pruning - SD 45

Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour Labour

Figure 2.16 : Laxapana Estate Estimated Labour Utilisation 2007

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Reconciliation of Extents (Hectares) for Year 2007 LAXAPANA ESTATE

Budget Year '07 In Bearing VP Seedling 226.40 170.90 226.40 179.10 0.00 -8.20 226.40 170.90 Previous Year '06 Variance Total at the end 2007

Extent in Bearing
IMMATURE

397.30

405.50

-8.20

397.30

Replanting
Infested 1st Year Upkeep 2nd Year Upkeep Planting Year Rehabilitation Sub Total 1.00 3.00 10.25 18.95 10.25 15.95 4.70 4.70 1.00 0.00 -1.00 1.00 3.00 0.00 3.00 4.70 0.00 1.00 3.00 10.25 18.95

Infilling
Uprooting Planting Rehabilitation Sub Total Nurseries Sub Total 6.50 6.50 0.90 0.90 3.00 3.00 426.65 4.00 0.50 2.00 6.50 0.90 0.90 3.00 3.00 431.85 -4.00 -0.50 4.50 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -5.20 0.00 0.00 6.50 6.50 0.90 0.90 3.00 3.00 426.65

VP Inter-cropped coffee
SubTotal Total in Tea

Other Cultivated
Thatch Bank Sub Total 12.00 12.00 14.00 14.00 -2.00 -2.00 12.00 12.00

Fuelwood Timber Extents

Above 7 years Below 7 years Coppice Diversified into fuelwood Calliendra Planting [ Pure Stand ] Sub Total 20.25 34.85 6.25 15.70 7.00 84.05 4.00 4.00 20.25 34.85 6.25 12.70 5.00 79.05 4.00 4.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.00 2.00 5.00 0.00 0.00 20.25 34.85 6.25 15.70 7.00 84.05 4.00 4.00

Conservation of forests
Sub Total

Total Cultivated
Buildings / Worker housing Roads Line Gardens Abandoned Land suitable for planting Sub Total

526.70
1.00 32.95 4.00 13.30 159.10 210.35

528.90
1.00 32.95 4.00 11.10 159.10 208.15

-2.20
0.00 0.00 0.00 2.20 0.00 2.20

526.70
1.00 32.95 4.00 13.30 159.10 210.35

Grand Total

737.05

737.05

0.00

737.05

Figure 2.17 Laxapana Estate, Total Extent details in hectares 2007

122

ii)

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List of Abbreviations

BOP BOPF COP CTQC EMO FLO Ha HACCP HR HRD HRM ICBT ILO IR ISO ITC JEDB JS Kg Km Lbs LPH

Broken Orange Pekoe Broken Orange Pekoe Fannings Cost of Production Ceylon Tea Quality Certificate Estate medical officer Fair Trade Labelling Organisation Hectares (equals to 2.472 acres) Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. Human Resources Human Resource Development Human Resource Management International College of Business and Technology International labour Organisation Industrial relations International Standards Organisation International Tea Committee Janatha Estate development board Job satisfaction Kilograms (equal to 2.205 lbs) Kilometers Pounds (British) (equals to 0.454kg) Labours (workers) per hectare

132

MBO Mn NSA OD OWF PA PM SHRD SRI LANKA SRI LANKATB SPC T&D TP TQM TRI VP

Management by Objective Million Net Sales Average Organisational Development Operational workforce Performance appraisal Personnel Management Strategic Human resource development Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Tea Board State Plantation corporation Training and Development Tea plantation(s) Total Quality management Tea Research Institute Vegetative propagated

133