Professionals call for shifting paradigms of the workplace at the EFC’s Annual Symposium

Creating a sustainable environment for businesses to thrive and an equally stimulating working environment which supports the aspirations of the modern day’s workforce is what many corporates are striving for. In this backdrop, the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) will unfold its 8th edition of the annual symposium on the theme, ‘An Agenda for Change’ on November 8 at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo creating a platform for the employers, employees and also policy makers to deliberate on how best ‘change’ could be championed.

Professionals representing a broad spectrum of sectors will share their expertise on three key areas of ‘Social Dialogue and Building Trust’, ‘Sustainable Enterprises’ and ‘Shifting Paradigms of the Workplace’. The dialogue will be facilitated though panel discussions and case studies, EFC said in a media release.

Director/CEO of Elpitiya Plantations PLC, Bhathiya Bulumulla who would lend a voice to Session 3 of the Symposium under the banner ‘Shifting Paradigms of the Workplace: Emerging Forms of Work and Managing Stakeholder Aspirations’, said that while some efforts have been made by the plantation sector which he represents to embrace the trends of the digital world, much more remains to be done to revamp the traditional management culture of plantations. “For example the use of drones for soil mapping, resource planning, fertiliser and chemical application are areas in which digital technology could be used. However, its adaptation has been slow. Further, efforts to digitise the entire salary statement and issue salary slips via mobile phones to give greater dignity to workers and also make the system more efficient are now being deliberated.”

Bridging the gap between the management and the workforce and thereby managing multiple stakeholder aspirations often become challenging in the traditional plantation industry. Yet in shifting the paradigms of the modern workplace, this becomes inevitable. “Diversifying the company’s asset base and moving into value added business that are more lucrative and providing greater dignity to the employees are imperative if the industry is to bridge this gap,” says the Elpitiya Plantations’ CEO who also cites increased value added business such as manufacturing of finished products including packaging, providing more training opportunities and enhancing skills levels and competence as further interventions that could follow.

As a result of globalisation, today businesses have the choice of ‘where to do their business,’ observed the General Manager, Retail Branding and Information Solutions at Avery Dennison Lanka (Pvt) Ltd, Lakshitha Dharmawansa. A panelist of Session 3 of the EFC’s Symposium, Mr. Dharmawansa further notes that, with digitalisation and autonomous production processes, cost of labour may not be the only deciding factor. “For businesses, choice of location is largely influenced by practicality and flexibility. In terms of domestic economic and labour policies as well as quality and attitude to skills available, Sri Lanka should create a balance between extreme employee-focused and ‘reasonably’ employer-focused approach. If not, the country is likely to continue to lose advantage over upcoming new locations in the eyes of investors.”