Private sector unfair to the rural masses, claims Plantations Minister

While Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a major role in an organisation’s achievement, it must also be inculcated in the education system as a career guidance programme, mainly for rural children. However private companies have not been fair to the rural masses when recruiting workers because of the language barrier and the lack of career guidance skills.

These comments were made by Minister of Plantation Industries, Navin Dissanayake speaking as chief guest at the National HR Conference on Wednesday at the BMICH in Colombo.

He said, “Since 1948 Sri Lanka haven’t had career guidance as a major tool in the education system that helps young children come up the ladder in their lives. If HRM can begin from the school level, it will make a huge impact in people’s lives. When private companies recruit employees they have not been fair with the rural masses.”

HR leaders, managers and policy makers have a huge challenge when formulating national HR goals into their macro picture. “It’s frustrating that Sri Lanka does not have a HR roadmap on how it can be formulated. A 10, 15 or 20-year roadmap of policy objectives with the right kind of leaders, educated people and task enforces is much needed,” he added.

Sri Lanka is one of the leading countries in the development of education and health sectors. The challenge is how to re-adjust the state sector with the private sector and to fine-tune the state sector to meet the aspirations of the masses in the country. “The fulcrum of HR policy must base itself on the education system of the country. We need to recalibrate the education system with the needs of the 21st century. While the medium of international language is English, the recalibration of English to the rural children of this country is not happening,” he noted.

Mr. Dissanayake also stated that in Sri Lanka “we do not have risk takers, we have a very culturally conservative approach to economic activities.”

Referring to his electorate Nuwara Eliya, he said that the poverty rate is high, social inequality is high, education levels are low and public expectations are high. “How to retain the tea plucker, rubber tapper and the coconut plucker is the most vibrant fundamental question. If company heads can formulate a policy outcome where these three sectors are given dignity, this can be achieved.”

While this year’s National HR Conference theme was ‘Transformation of HR in the Digital World’, Institute of Personal Management Sri Lanka President, Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri said, “Digitalisation is the currency and the focal point today, another phase the world is going through. Over the years we have moved from destruction to disruption. The only permanent thing in the world is change. We are living in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world. In such a world one solid rock is the power of human capacity, potential and resources.”

He pointed out the real challenge is to live among the multi-generational workforce. People who were born before 1960 are the writers who prefer registered post letters. People born between 1960 and 1980 are the e-mailers. The millennial who are born after 1980 is the generation that prefers text messages. The challenge is that in the same workplace there are the writers, e- mailers and texters. That is where digitisation can be a distinctly different experience. That is the choice you move with, either you extinct or distinct,” he noted.