Performance Management in Plantation Sector

Performance Management is a controversial subject. As it has contradicting research outcomes, present Organizations are having the doubt of whether to continue this costly exercise. An employer should have a mechanism to monitor or evaluate his or her subordinates. This way, the employer knows about his or her employees and what are the actions which should be taken about any employee. When employees also have access to these evaluation results, they also know where they stand and what are the areas they should improve upon. 

Considering these facts, this is a very good and effective system. But there are research findings which indicate performance management will not result in higher performance, IPM (now the CIPD): (1992). However, these studies indicate the employer's awareness of companies' performance. This obviously has an impact on employees' performances. This can be either negative or positive. Based on how the employee handles the pressure. Sometimes a very talented employee can come under pressure and underperform due to this public evaluation. Also, another employee would perform much better due to the recognition he or she is getting.

Another positive outcome of this is that bonuses and incentives also can be based on these evaluations. This way no one can complain about what they are getting. Since the high performing employees are publicly highlighted, they are also well compensated. Which gives a fair reward for their efforts.

There are 3 main components in PM. (Henderson,2010)

1.     Planning for performance.

2.     Supporting performance.

3.     Assessing performance.

let's consider these aspects in an organizational context.

Performance Management in Plantations

In Sri Lankan plantation sector, like most of the industries in SL, there are scientific methods to evaluate and grade performance. These have drastically evolved from the colonial era where there was no any kind of Performance Evaluations. Even though this industry is based on agriculture, Key Performance Indicators are mostly based on profits. All the agricultural indicators are also directly related to profits. Some of the main Key Indicators are as follows.

• Profit per Hectare.
• Profit increase/decrease percentage against 3 years' average profit.
• Plucking/Tapping average.
• Yield per Hectare. 
• Revenue labour output
• Factory labour output per kilo  

These are some of the main indicators which the performance evaluation is based upon. Even though the last four indicators seems not related to profits, they are directly connected to profit margins.

Planning for Performance

In an Industry based on agriculture, most of the plans and forecasts are based on several exterior factors. Such as,

• Weather patterns.
• Climatic conditions.
• Political demography of the country. 
• Availability of skilled employees.
• World political arena which affects the Sri Lankan market.

Clearly, these are factors which cannot be controlled by Organizational entities. Which makes planning for performance even more challenging. To overcome these challenges Research Institutes and seasoned professional Planters have come up with several ideas.

• Planning in advance and be proactive according to weather patterns.
•  Giving Instructions to practice timely agricultural practices based on detailed weather pattern & climatic condition analysis.
• Executing pre-planned social practices according to countries' demographical fluctuations such as election periods, terrorist attacks, religiously important time-periods etc.
• Investing in R&D departments to catch up with the fast-developing technological advancements in the world.
• Training employees on various relevant programs to maximize their inputs to the organization.
• Introduce attractive payment schemes to skilled workers to attract them to the organization.

One of the worlds’ largest outspoken topics at the present is Climate Change and its effecting Sri Lankan Plantation Industry as well. In the early days, weather patterns were predictable, and planters knew when there will be rains and which will be the drought period. Hence, they made their agricultural plans according to these predictions. But at present, all these patterns have gone haywire. Which made planning very difficult.

Also being ready to face a sudden terror attack is not an easy task. when the civil war was taking place in the country Planters had pre-planned systems in place to face such incidents. But after the killing of terrorists’ leader Prabhakaran, Island nation never thought that it would face suicide bombers again. Even though, due to the clear incompetence of the Government we as Sri Lankans had to face terrorism again.

Such type of unpredictable factors makes planning for performance very hard in the plantations industry. Even though, Planters always find ways to sustain and secure the future of the industry.

Yet the biggest challenge is to sustain the Industry while losing the worlds largest buyers due to conflicts in Middle East countries. This is something Sri Lankan plantation companies do not have any control upon.

Supporting Performance

For all these plans to become a success Plantation companies need to provide,

ØTimely advice.

ØTimely approval of funds.

ØMonitoring progress of agricultural practices.

ØSupporting fast recruitment process.

ØHave goodwill of the ruling entities of the country.

ØProvide proper legal advice and legal personal (company paid lawyers).

Ø Make estimates based on scientific methods.

With all these done by the plantation companies, still, the industry is facing its biggest challenges since its beginning. Losing markets in the Middle East is the main problem in the tea industry at present. Due to this, "sale averages" (selling price) are drastically coming down. Most estates are running under losses due to the higher production costs than the selling prices. This is where the Government interventions are much needed to,

• Find new markets.
• Market the “Ceylon tea” name and the unique qualities via embassies & Government agents etc.
• Stop the illegal rackets from ruining “Ceylon tea” name by blending Ceylon tea with “refused tea”(unconsumable tea) and exporting them under “Ceylon tea” name.

These are some of the key factors which the industry can be profited by the Government interventions to support performances.

Main commercial crops in Sri Lanka(Tea, Rubber, Coconut, Oilpalm)

Assessing Performance

If all the above-mentioned criteria are met, then the assessing company performance and evaluate employees based on the outputs is justified and fruitful. The real questions are that

v do plantation companies have taken actions to fulfil those two initial steps?

v Have the Government provided that necessary support for performances?

It's fair to say most of the companies are trying to fulfil those two initial steps. But have they taken care of all those requirements? That’s a question for its employees to answer. Then again, the problem is, are the employees’ grievances/difficulties considered when assessing performances?

Whether these supports are provided or not, performances are analyzed and key decisions on employee’s future have been made based on them. Bonuses are decided based on these numbers. Employees’ capabilities are judged based on them. This might be one of the biggest mistakes in Sri Lanka’s Plantation industry. Also, this is a good case study to provide evidence to the fact that the Performance Management would not affect performance. PM is effective to a certain level when the exterior factors are satisfied but when the exterior factors are overwhelmingly out of control from the employee, is it fair to asses him based on the same key indicators as in the past?

How can a company have a personal development plan when employer haven’t recognized employees’ talents and weaknesses?

When considering any sensible employer, he or she has a personal development plan for his or her employees. This will benefit the employer in the long run. If the employees are performing at exceptional levels the company will thrive. To develop individual employees in plantations there are many programs in specialized institutions. Young Planters are required to follow these programs and enhance their knowledge. These programs spread from certificate level to masters’ level. Obviously, these programs are useful to improve knowledge of planters. But selecting which program to follow is the problem. If the company decide them solely based on the Performance analysis, would it be a proper or fair selection? Fortunately, in most cases, senior planters who are at the top management, make these decisions by truly recognizing young planters’ talents and weaknesses. This is one of the biggest advantages in the industry. Veteran planters tend to recognize their subordinates’ talents and weaknesses at a more personal level. But when these seasoned Industry professionals step down, would this trend continue? There are many examples as to this trend had perished with those Seniors.

In conclusion, the problem comes to authors’ mind is

Does Performance Management as effective as expected in the Plantation Industry?

I believe the answer has been provided ..