Plantation companies came to life in the year 1992 with the privatisation of the state own plantations. Twenty-two companies were formed and most of them were managed by the private sector companies, they are called Regional Plantation Companies. Early plantation era which is commonly known as the colonial era was not a proper example for modern HR practices for obvious reasons. When we study the history of the plantations which was started in 1867, it clearly shows that Sri Lankans were reluctant to work in them. Mainly because of feudalism.
method of personal management in early SL plantations
As a solution to this problem, the British Government decided to bring labours from south India. At the time living conditions in some areas in south India were similar to the biblical hell. Hense they saw this as an escape plan. They could not have been more wrong! The story of Indian labour's travels to the Sri Lankan Plantations was much more similar to African slave transport to America. Once they reached the plantations, they were given 10 by 10 rooms which were in a barrack mode "lines" which had about 10 to 15 line rooms. One per family, despite the number of people in it.
The point of this brief history was to give an idea as per to how the people were managed when all this was started. This approach is aligning with theories of Taylorism. People were considered as machines, not resources. There was no problem with the supply of new "machines". This can be considered as a classic example of direct recruitment. No interviews or selection criteria of any kind just a supply mechanism for the demand.
This was the initiation of the Plantation personal management and up until very recent developments in the late 1980s, the situation in the plantations was very similar to the beginning of the industry. Once they were given the rights to vote and the development of the trade unions, gradually living conditions were lifted. And the payments were made to match their contributions.
Even in the present, some Plantation sector employees are struggling to fulfil their day to day needs with the minimum facilities they possess. As a person who deals with them daily, the author can assure that this is not due to lack of income. Most of the employees in plantations collect a decent salary considering the hours they put into the work. Most of them have after-hours work in a nearby town, owns or rented a vegetable garden(in upcountry estates). They make some good money comparing to most of the jobs which categorize as "good jobs" in Sri Lanka. Trouble is they have very poor financial management. Fact that most of these work other than the estate work pays money on a daily basis also make them spend them without any savings.
A labour carder of this calibre is not a population which are interested in Human Resource Management practices. Most of them do not care about whether the business is making profits or not, they only care about how much money they can get the end of the day. Modern Planters have found ways to make them aware of the profits and importance of the company making profits to their benefits etc. But with current plantations management companies taking poor decisions to improve profits by cutting down important agricultural practices and other important aspects for the smooth running of the estates, they have successfully discouraged the ground level planters as well. With this approach, planters are also not much interested in making necessary changes to introduce HR practices to plantations. One of the main reasons for this is, they are not sure whether the company is willing to absorb the cost into their portfolio by the end of the operation. Such type of operations require prior approval and with the past experiences, the planters are not even asking for these approvals anymore.
But some companies have identified the importance of HRM and currently taking steps to improve their work environment using HRM theories. Certifications such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ also require a vast range of standards which involves HRM theories. The author will discuss these practices and how effective they are in future articles.
This was the initiation of the Plantation personal management and up until very recent developments in the late 1980s, the situation in the plantations was very similar to the beginning of the industry. Once they were given the rights to vote and the development of the trade unions, gradually living conditions were lifted. And the payments were made to match their contributions.
Even in the present, some Plantation sector employees are struggling to fulfil their day to day needs with the minimum facilities they possess. As a person who deals with them daily, the author can assure that this is not due to lack of income. Most of the employees in plantations collect a decent salary considering the hours they put into the work. Most of them have after-hours work in a nearby town, owns or rented a vegetable garden(in upcountry estates). They make some good money comparing to most of the jobs which categorize as "good jobs" in Sri Lanka. Trouble is they have very poor financial management. Fact that most of these work other than the estate work pays money on a daily basis also make them spend them without any savings.
A labour carder of this calibre is not a population which are interested in Human Resource Management practices. Most of them do not care about whether the business is making profits or not, they only care about how much money they can get the end of the day. Modern Planters have found ways to make them aware of the profits and importance of the company making profits to their benefits etc. But with current plantations management companies taking poor decisions to improve profits by cutting down important agricultural practices and other important aspects for the smooth running of the estates, they have successfully discouraged the ground level planters as well. With this approach, planters are also not much interested in making necessary changes to introduce HR practices to plantations. One of the main reasons for this is, they are not sure whether the company is willing to absorb the cost into their portfolio by the end of the operation. Such type of operations require prior approval and with the past experiences, the planters are not even asking for these approvals anymore.
But some companies have identified the importance of HRM and currently taking steps to improve their work environment using HRM theories. Certifications such as Rainforest Alliance and UTZ also require a vast range of standards which involves HRM theories. The author will discuss these practices and how effective they are in future articles.
