Plantations And Faithful Employees

Sri Lankan Plantations has a rich history of talented leaders. Pioneers of the industry were all Europeans who migrated to Ceylon in search of new business avenues. These men Established some high standard plantations. And they brought their European culture with them to Ceylon. They have established Planters clubs, Plantation Bungalows, European style stablishments, etc.  which proudly stands, up until today. These stablishments carry significant cultural values. In the early era of Plantations, there were tough leadership selection criteria which can be explained using trait theory. Planters were selected very carefully and trained in required skills in a long and comprehensive training schedule. Which mostly reminds of military training. These youngsters were from elite families of the country. Their upbringing was a very important factor for the employer. They believed that the leaders were born or made and they should carry elite traits. The employer believed that these traits were only developed in elite families. Most of these young planters significantly contributed to the plantations and made their name in the industry.

A Plantation club in Upcountry

Obviously, Englishmen were forcibly occupying Sri Lanka. During their time in Ceylon, they have done some really horrific things to our ancestors. While doing so, they robbed our rich natural and cultural resources. Hense the Europeans saw an opportunity to come and start new businesses in their Kings' colonies. Which triggered the spread of the plantations, all over the wet zones in the country.

Employee Engagement in the Colonial Era

For obvious reasons, these early plantations had significant employee engagement. The Plantations were ruled and controlled by an employee. Hense he had (Planter, is an all-male profession even at present SL only have one lady planter) the single ruling authority over labours and the staff of the plantation. This factor made the planters effectively and enthusiastically engaged in their job. The long and comprehensive training under seasoned planters made these young leaders very confident in their responsibilities. Which in return profitably contributed to the employer. These early planters were more concerned about standards rather than profits. These high standards made some high yielding plantations. All the proper agricultural practices were followed to the dot. Which in return assured the longevity of these plantations. This early era planters were sincerely engaged to their job. Considering the stories about rich lifestyles they had, it's safe to say that these employees were highly satisfied with their jobs. This picture of an upcountry bungalow which has been occupied by the planters throughout the history will give an insight into the luxurious lifestyle of a colonial-era planter.

Aerial view of an upcountry Bungalow

How did Employee Engagement evolve in Plantations

With time the plantations had undergone some significant developments. These developments were based on several factors. Under Mrs Sirimawo Government(1970-1972) state took over almost all the privately-owned plantations. This made most of the European planters who were still in the plantations leave the industry and return to their own countries. With this, started the transformation which made "Planter" a paid profession rather than an authority to run the plantations. Even though early state-owned plantations were run with the same integrity and authority. Prominent figures such as Minister Ranjan Madugalle once was a planter. Then came the privatization of the state-owned plantations. With this 22 Regional Plantation Companies were established along with various Government bodies to support them.

In the early years of RPC's the employees had the same authority to run the plantations. With low labour costs, companies were making considerable profits. And the plantations were practising good agricultural practices. With high standard estates and comprehensive replanting programmes, the future of the plantations was secured. The employees were actively engaged in their jobs. Planters used many techniques to improve the standards

Then started the beginning of the labour trade union uprising and the demand for higher wages and lower outputs from the labours. Initially, labours had only one trade union to represent them and it possessed the power to stop or disrupt work in the entire plantation industry through union actions within hours. This power made plantation worker a valuable asset to the plantations and the union as well. Well managed Estates often tend to give extra benefits to the labours rather than taking all as profits for the companies. This had serious adverse repercussions in the future. Shares from the benefits must go to their employees this will improve the employee morale highly. But when the companies making loses can employees bare those loses? The labour carder of the plantations does not have any idea neither they care about the company's profits they only know and care about their lifestyle and their survival. Considering the evolution of the plantations it's not a surprise and cannot blame the labours for their attitudes.

These benefits then became something called "walame" which is the Tamil word for "tradition" different estates had unique walames. These are very difficult to change. Trying to do so will call for an immediate trade union action. Within the plantation labours, employee engagement is an idea which can bring harm to people who act on it. The workers who work on their own accord to improve profitability are considered traitors to their community. They always work for the tasks and time limits which are demanded and won by the trade unions. Some of these rules are very unreasonable and costly to the modern-day plantations. High outputs and lower costs are the biggest challenges planters face at the ground level. With all their demands and lower education levels, estates have talented manual labours. When they get a good leader these labours tend to follow them and give maximum outputs regardless of the rules and regulations. They even cooperate in changing long-standing walames. This all depends on the leader on the estate. Author have experienced that they expect a leader with a mix of autocratic and transformational type leadership traits. When labours get such type of a leader all those negative attitudes become positive and their employee engagement gives high benefits to the estate. Author find this phenomenon, a fascinating change of behaviour due to the leaders' influence.

But modern-day plantation companies have successfully managed to discourage ground-level managers and the industry is in the all-time low standards since its begining. But there are some companies in the industry which maintain high standards despite the cost and others made huge profits with low standard estates in the past whilst they were making lower profits. At present, they are making much higher profits than those who only thought of profits. A sustainable plantation is a huge benefactor for the long run of the Plantation industry.

Performance management techniques have played a big role in lowering employee morale in the industry. When they were compared unfairly with others they tend to let go of the efforts made to improve the outputs. This has been discussed comprehensively in another article. This also made employee engagement challenging in the industry. But several companies have managed to adapt proper systems which encourage employees rather than discouraging to the benefit of the company.

Answer to the question raised in the topic is not something which can be provided easily. In the plantations industry, if the companies have unfaithful employees especially ground-level planters, it is very difficult to manage plantations. If the company does not properly manage plantations it's impossible to maximize outputs and make profits. Understanding this and re-evaluate the company policy is beneficial to the industry in the long run. Because of some leaders' short-sighted decisions, modern-day plantation industry is suffering a lot. With the proper adaptations of HRM practices, this can be revamped and can secure this valuable industry's future.