EFC Forum highlights strategies for implementing change in the workplace

By David Ebert

After two days of intense deliberations, the final session of the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon’s symposium was held last Thursday at the Water’s Edge, with a mix of personalities from the business, academic and trade union sectors billed to be a part of a panel discussion on how to make innovation a way of life.

The panelists drew comparisons from all their experiences in their respective professions to highlight how they view the need for innovation in all aspects of industrial sectors and academia, not only in how they operate, but in how the management connects with their stakeholders as well.

The first speaker of the session was Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission Chairman Prof. Dayantha Wijesekera, who made his presentation using the 2009 National Education Commission report as reference, which called for greater development of the state universities as well as vocational and technical education institutions in order for the country to stay abreast of its development goals.

Wijesekera also pointed out that the recommendations made in the report are of paramount importance for the country to be able to employ a workforce that is both professionally and practically qualified to take on the task of driving the country and its industries forward.

He also lamented the lack of motivation in promoting alternative higher educational avenues through the various professional bodies available and highlighted the great need to promote dialogue and create linkages between the state universities and vocational and technical institutions.

Prominent trade unionist and General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Nidahas Sevaka Sangamaya Leslie Devendra in his address called for employers to look at building bridges in order to create dialogue with trade unions which would help create a balanced relationship and lead to less strife within an organisation.

Devendra also stated that there has to be a dignity of labour prevalent in organisations, where there is respect for labour standards and laws maintained at all times which would build a good relationship based on trust between the management and the unions.

Meanwhile, Devendra went on to say that part of the blame for companies resorting to trade union busting due to the prevalent negative viewpoint that most corporations have of trade unions, can be attributed in part to irresponsible trade union practices by some unions.

He explained that the only way to avoid such instances is if both the employer and employees bring in new thinking and innovation in how they interact and coexist with each other for their mutual benefit and defined the role of unions, stating: “The role of the trade union is not to hamper a company’s operations but to assist them in maintain and respecting proper labour standards.”

Taj Hotels Ltd. General Manager Rohit Khosla, speaking from a private sector perspective, offered insights into change in an increasingly competitive hospitality sector in an emerging economy that is expected to boom in the coming years.

Khosla said: “There are three types of people in any business – those who drive change, those who watch change and play catch up at some point, and the third type are the ones who wonder what happened. The final types of people are the ones who refuse to accept change, get left behind and end up being referred to as dinosaurs in the business. We have to choose which of the three types of people we want to be.”

He also pointed out that change in any industry is a necessary constant that all companies have to do, where implementation is just as critical as the development of change because innovation is not a buzzword anymore, it is a survival instinct that a company needs to possess in order to compete in this day and age.

Khosla went on to state that the differentiation comes down to not only about being a part of an industry, but more importantly how a company stands apart from its competitors. “The competitive landscape of the hospitality industry in Sri Lanka is going to change drastically in the next two to three years with new entrants increasing both capacity and choice, so the challenge is going to be all about how to sustain growth in an increasingly competitive environment with constantly changing customer expectations and emerging technology.”

The solution Khosla offered was differentiation of product, service, the business model, the processes and how a company deals with its stakeholders and their concept of change. “You will have to change for the good of the business and the people who are a part of it, because the future belongs to those who are going to maintain this differentiation.”

Inter Company Employees Union President Wasantha Samarasinghe’s speech focused on how important it is for both the employers and its employees to foster a more rational approach to communication and problem solving in a crisis.

“The personnel and HR managers of a company have a very important role to play in the sustainability and growth of a company because it is their role to keep the employees informed of what the plans are of the business and its goals as well as maintain a good employee relationship; otherwise it becomes difficult to implement your strategic plans.”

“The other point I want to make is the importance of an educated workforce in planning and achieving a company’s goals that understand the complexities of the issues that a company faces. If not, you end up having to implement your plans by using your authority which will not help you achieve your targets.”

Samarasinghe then pointed out that most employees fear a loss of employment if they set up trade unions within their workplaces, which means that even if they do need to approach a company with regards to their grievances, they would not know how to effectively do as such.

“This leads to many misunderstandings and bad practices because they have no idea how to organise and utilise a trade union. So in a dispute they resort to trade union action instead of discussion, which creates a lot of problems and damages the productivity of the business making it impossible to achieve your targets and implement your plans,” he explained.

He also stated that a good employer-employee relationship is paramount to maintaining not only the sustainability of the company but of the country as well.

The final speaker of the day was Ladies College Principal Nirmali Wickremesinghe, a veteran educationist both overseas as well as in Sri Lanka, who brought up the need for schools to change their mindsets on how to deal with an increasingly sophisticated student, who is exposed to modern trends and technology.

“I would say that Ladies College is a trailblazer because our vocational school is now 27 years old and through the years we also have been very creative and innovative where we try to design and make available courses that would suit the present needs of the students.”

“We started with teacher training and I firmly believe that teacher training must be dynamic all the time and the education reforms that were suggested in 2001 directly dealt with student-centred learning and educational tools that were current because people use social media constantly and they even expect all the excitement of the virtual world in their workplace and companies have recognised this need and dealt with it.”

She added: “I think it is the same with schools, children are constantly living in a virtual setup now with games and Facebook and such, so all their senses are being subjected to a lot of excitement all the time. Therefore, it is necessary even in the world of education that we bring in that excitement into their lives.

In a world that is moving forward, a teacher-centred learning system is no longer acceptable and we need to move forward and that’s what we are doing now in our vocational school, we’re trying to move forward with our programs by trying to get teachers excited about more child-centred learning techniques using alternative tools such as drama, research oriented projects and presentations.”

Wickremesinghe also brought up the need for more companies and schools to accommodate more individuals with special needs into their employment system: “We have students in our school that have down syndrome, autism and with visual and hearing impairments and we are training teachers to be able to deal with such students.

“In addition we have even employed some of them in assistant teaching positions more suited to their capabilities such as dancing and art. So I ask that children who are not included even in a mainline school should be thought of in our workplaces. This is why I am in support of skills-based programs for these children so that they can someday go out into the world of employment.”

Pix by Lasantha Kumara