New Employment Compact for Emerging Sri Lanka
President, Mahinda Rajapaksa, addressing the Commonwealth Business Forum at the 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Colombo, stated “….We are able to display the new emerging Sri Lankan brand, where our people are focused on the creation of new wealth in our country, through a robust hub strategy, where the maritime, aviation, knowledge, commercial and energy sectors, together with tourism, are designed to propel Sri Lanka towards a middle income nation by 2016…”.
The emphatic optimism couched in these words augurs well for Sri Lanka. The road towards achieving these development goals are challenging. We need to do something different to what we have been doing all this time. We need to translate policy statements into affirmative action.
Three weeks ago, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, held its Employers Symposium on the theme “Working out of the box”. The symposium was focused on looking at new work arrangements that are needed for today’s world of work. The sessions at the symposium very clearly indicated the need for a new Employment Compact, for us to penetrate into the knowledge economy, if we are to reach the status of a middle income country.
Why should we need a new Compact? A new Employment Compact is needed primarily because the current employment regulation framework in Sri Lanka is not at all conducive to the requirements of both employers and workers today. This was very clearly revealed at the panel discussion that was part of the symposium between the business leaders and the young millennials. It was encouraging to note that some of the work arrangement practices that companies wish to introduce are similar to what the young graduate job aspirants are looking for in employment. Flexible work arrangements, work life balance, performance based pay, recognition and career development were some of the key factors that were identified by the young millennials as being important for them in identifying a perfect employer. It was encouraging to note that the younger generation preferred a task oriented work arrangement rather than a time oriented one.
Our employment model, which is
There is a paradigm shift, and the younger work force cannot be bonded and expected to work looking at their wrist watches. The young task force is hungry for success and appreciates the flexibility to manage their time. There is a positive corelation between flexibility in the work place and employee productivity. Flowing from the reality that a knowledge worker needs to be managed and evaluated differently, it is obvious that his work arrangement also should be somewhat different to that of the manual worker
very much based on the English common law, presumes unequal bargaining strength between employers and workers. In other words, it envisages a situation that existed in 18th century Britain at the time of the industrial revolution when workers were exploited in factories without any regulation. Human rights were a far cry during this era. It was the aftermath of the industrial revolution that was brought about by a laissez faire State which introduced labour laws and regulations based on the concept of social justice. Today, the employment model has changed dramatically. Although Sri Lanka is still primarily a country which manufactures and exports products, it has tremendous potential to exploit opportunities in the knowledge economy, provided we have the people with the relevant skills.
At a recent workshop organized by the World Bank, Dr Harsha Aturupane, Lead Education Specialist of the World Bank, making a presentation on “Transforming general education in Sri Lanka” raised several issues in relation to acquisition of skills for employment. In his presentation, he emphasised that the skills required for economic development are undergoing a worldwide transformation. Employers are demanding a high level of soft skills more than ever before. He revealed a very startling reality: He said “We are currently preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist …. using technologies that have not yet been invented …. in order to solve problems we do not even know are problems yet”. This encapsulates the complexity of ‘future work’.
One of the biggest challenges for employers today is to find and retain the right talent. We need to have a different strategic approach to retain our millennials whose aspirations are quite different to others. A global study of “The growing popularity of flexible work arrangements” reveal that flexible workplace arrangements are increasingly being used as a mechanism conducive to both, changing life styles and business needs. It revealed that 81 per cent of firms globally offer their employees a level of choice about when and where they work. 60 per cent of business globally believe that flexible work practices are more cost efficient than fixed office working.
The survey findings in relation to work arrangements practices in the IT/ITES sectors, presented by Price Waterhouse Coopers at the symposium revealed that flexible working hours, part time work and career breaks were some of the more popular types of work arrangements that are being practiced by some employers.
How do we move forward in creating an enabling environment that would benefit both employers and workers?
Firstly, we need to acknowledge that changes need to be made in our employment model. The post industrial revolution employment model based on security of employment through labour regulations per se is not sufficient to provide true security of employment to employees of today. We do need basic regulations. But we need more flexibility in work arrangements that would cater to the modern world. It is important to realize that knowledge workers cannot be managed as if they were manual workers. What we need to realise is that knowledge work actually comes primarily in the form of projects and not routine tasks. There are fluctuations in the volume of work. Knowledge workers produce decisions, and to ascertain the productivity level of it is our challenge.
An Indian Company, Marico (Mumbai) does not keep leave records of employees. They allow them to manage their own leave. This trend is apparent in divisions (Eg: finance) where the employer is concerned about the end result. There is a paradigm shift, and the younger work force cannot be bonded and expected to work looking at their wrist watches. The young task force is hungry for success and appreciates the flexibility to manage their time. There is a positive co-relation between flexibility in the work place and employee productivity. Flowing from the reality that a knowledge worker needs to be managed and evaluated differently, it is obvious that his work arrangement also should be somewhat different to that of the manual worker.
We need to use the task rather than the job as the basis on which knowledge workers work is evaluated. In other words, a knowledge worker cannot be evaluated in terms of time. He needs to be evaluated in terms of output in relation to his decisions. We see that professional service firms have grown so fast because they are organised around projects rather than permanent jobs. Proctor and Gamble is one good example which follows this approach.
It was encouraging to note the conclusions that were drawn during the last session of the symposium. The most interesting feature was the clear convergence of demands and interests among employees and employers which warrant the consideration of all stakholders, and the authorities in particular, to reshape employment relationships in the current context, in the overall interests of employment creation and socio economic growth and prosperity.
The new Employment Compact must be innovative and flexible. It needs to accept different forms of work arrangements, depending on the requirements of business and the type of worker. We need to break through the shackles of the traditional 8 hour, 5-1/2 day monthly contract employee working within the four walls of an “office”, if and when required.
The new Compact must have both the employer and employee seeking to add value to each other – employees investing in the company’s adaptability and the company investing in the employees’ employability. It may be unsentimental, but it depends on trust - parties seeking an alliance rather than exchanging money for time.