Human Resource Management in the Tea Industry

Human Resource Management in the Tea Industry Tea industry is one of the most mature industries in Bangladesh and till today it is bearing its heritage. In Bangladesh tea cultivation began in 1857 and Malnicherra is the first tea garden in Bangladesh. Though globalization and economic liberalization contributed greatly to set up new industries in Bangladesh, a large portion of our national income comes from this industry. In our country huge amount of human resources are involved in the Garments industry and Tea industry. In Sylhet there is large number of T.E. that is why we select T.E. for our study and in this report we will try to cover one T.E from Moulavibazer, and two from Sylhet district and one from the sreemangle. In this report we give emphasis on the present practices of human resources in the some selected T.E of greater Sylhet and through this research we will make us acquainted with the real Human Resource Management operations in the tea garden of Sylhet, Moulavibazer. Some organizations are violating the human rights. Usually violation occurs at the bottom level- labors do not get sufficient wages, compensation, training facility, good working condition, and other facilities. As a result output or productions are not increasing according to expectation and the overall development is being sluggish. The owner, authority, and stakeholder should realize that neglecting the human resources in the work place a sustainable development is not possible. Execitive Summary The colonial British administration took up tea plantation in the Indian subcontinent at the beginning of the nineteenth century. Since then, the sub-continents tea industry has slowly established its position as a major producer of tea in the world. At present, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka account for 52 per cent of the world tea production. At the global level, the tea industry is increasingly finding it difficult to meet ends caught between rising costs on the one hand and stagnant, sometimes even declining prices of tea on the other. Globalization and economic liberalization contributed greatly to these factors since more and more countries are undertaking tea plantation. Moreover, globalization links labor standards to trade policy. This also contributed greatly to the rising cost since tea plantation is a very labour intensive activity. It requires workers round the year. Hence, labour standards gain more importance for the tea plantation to be competitive in the world marke t. Improvement of labour productivity is acknowledged as an essential means of raising level of competitiveness of the tea industry in the world market despite its low price. It has been found that besides technology and skills training, labour productivity itself is dependent on maintaining fair labour standards relating to working conditions, wages, health and nutrition status, housing and education facilities. Thus maintaining a fair labour standard is one of the key factors affecting the competitive viability of the tea industry in the world market. In India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, labour legislation for the tea plantation sector is more than 50 years old. In addition to the labor laws of 1995 and the Factory Rules of 1979, Which are applicable to all work places in general, the government of Bangladesh has exacted several legislations, namely (a) Maternity Benefit (Tea Estates) Act. 1950, (b) Plantation Employees Provident Fund Rules, 1960, (c) Tea Plantation Labour Ordinanc e, 1962, (d) Tea Plantation Labor Rules, 1977, (e) The Tea (amendment) Ordinance, 1986 and (f) Bangladesh Cha Sramik Kalyan Fund Ordinance, 1986 particularly for the tea plantation sector to ensure workers, right to safe, secure and hygienic working conditions. However, even after the enactment of all these legislations, tea workers, right of safe, secure and hygienic working conciliations have not yet been ensured. Very few micro-level studies on tea plantation workers have been done so far. Still the findings of these studies show that the tea plantation workers are living a subhuman life both in the terms of working conditions, living conditions and health security. It is mainly due to the fact that workers organization representing the workers right in the social dialogue is not strong enough to negotiate with the employers. Hence, there is an acute necessity of first organizing the tea plantation workers, particularly women workers so that they can attain the power of collectiv e bargaining and thereby strengthen their organization. A workers organization is an essential factor not only for promoting workers well being but also an important factor affecting efficient use of the labour force. The Global market for tea is becoming increasingly competitive since more and more countries are entering into this sector. This competition is challenging the comparative advantage of Bangladeshs cheap labour. Hence, to meet the challenges of globalization, the unit labour cost of production needs to be reduced by raising labour productivity. An organized labour force is the most essential factor affecting labour productivity. Learning Objective of Human Resource Management We, the students of BBA in Leading University, are undertaking a course on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"Human Resource Management. There must be some objective of this study. There is no exception in our study. The main objective is to focus on different things, which are given below- To know about their HRM strategies, weaknesses, opportunity and threats. INTRODUCTION Bangladesh is a small tea producing country sharing 2% of the worlds Tea production. Tea is an agro based, lab our intensive and export oriented sector and plays an important role in the national economy through export earnings, trade balancing and employment generation. Our Tea industry dates back to 1857 when the first tea garden was established at Malnicherra in Sylhet District. Today we have 163 Tea Gardens with a grant area of 1,15,757.41 hal of which 52,317.21 hal or 45% is under cultivation. Though our tea industry suffered a serious setback in 1971 but we could succeed in reversing with the help of the government, foreign assistance and hard work of our planters. It is hoping to increase our production to an average of over 1500 Kg per hal in a few years time. We have undertaken measures to improve our quality of tea by extending the area with new varieties of hybrid clone, modernizing factories and improving infrastructure. We now annually produce 60 million Kg of Tea and we hope to increase our production to 90 million Kg in the next 15 years. This paper attempts to devise a strategy to promote effective social dialogues between the tea plantation workers and their employers. It also attempts to determine the practicality of providing social protection to women workers through their own organizations and thereby enhances their labor productivity. Systematic training for the members of the workers organization has proved to be a breakthrough in terms of skill development, consciousness rising, and blossoming of self -confidence. Hence, the possibility of providing skill training to the workers, particularly women workers through their organization, has also been explored in this paper. The art of tea cultivation in Bangladesh began over a century and a half ago in the 1840s near the Chittagong Club. The first tea garden to be established was Malnicherra in Sylhet in 1854. Its commercial production began shortly thereafter in 1857. Today, the main tea-growing areas lie to the east of the Ganga-Jumma flood plain in the hill areas bordering Indias Cachar tea-growing district. Most of Bangladesh tea grows at only 80-300 ft. above sea level northeast of Sylhet in the country. During its initial stage, plantation in Bangladesh faced acute shortage of labor. No local workers were willing to do this job since it is very hard and labor intensive. The colonial British Government deployed indentured immigrants to meet this shortage. Tea plantation workers in Bangladesh came mostly from the backward class and tribal areas of central India and regions of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. The present work force in the tea plantation sector of Bangladesh is the fourth generation of those indentured immigrants. Indentured immigrants were in fact new forms of bonded labor. Their bonded nature revealed in their geographical confinement within the boundary of the tea estate. For more than a century they were confined within the same geographical boundary; most still are. CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Human resource management defined as the process of accomplishing organizational objectives by acquiring, retaining, terminating, developing and properly using the human resources in an organization. Organizations have to work with different resources like physical, financial, organizational, and information resources but proper utilization of all other resources largely depend on human resources. Accomplishing objectives is a major focus of any form of management. Unless objectives are met, the organization eases to exist. Experiencing the Dutch à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Tavern garden teasà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, the English developed the idea of Tea Gardens. Here ladies and gentlemen took their tea out of doors surrounded by entertainment such as orchestras, hidden arbors, flowered walks, bowling greens, concerts, gambling, or fireworks at night. It was at just such a Tea Garden that Lord Nelson, who defeated Napoleon by sea, met the great love of his life, Emma, later lady Hamilton. Women were permitted to enter a mixed, public gathering for the first time without social criticism. As the gardens were public, British society mixed here freely for the first time, cutting across lines of class and birth. Tipping as a response to proper service developed in the Tea Gardens of England. Small, locked wooden boxes were placed on the tables throughout the Garden. Inscribed on each were the letters à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“T.I.P.Sà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which stood for the sentence à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“To Insure Prompt Serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. If a guest wi shed the water to hurry he dropped a coin into the box on being seated à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“to insure prompt serviceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Hence the custom of tipping server was created. The success of any human resource management program requires the cooperation of managers, who must interpret and implement policies and procedures. Line managers must translate into action what a human resource management department provides. Without managerial support at the top, middle and lower levels, human resource management programs cannot succeed. Therefore manager need to understand clearly how to mesh their responsibilities with those of the human resource department. In Theory à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Yà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? it is supposed that people do not dislike work, work is natural part of their lives, they are potential, and the have the capability to perform the works effectively. If people are properly trained, guided, and motivated they can excel the organizational goals. Acquiring skilled, talented and motivated employees is an important part of human recourse management. Each company develops its own human recourse management program after considering such factors as size, type of skills needed, number of employees required, unionization, clients and customers, financial posture and graphical, location. Developing human resources involves training, educating, appraising and generally preparing personnel for present or future jobs. These activities are important for the employees economic and psychological growth. Self-realization needs cannot be satisfied in an organization that does not have an efficient set of development activities. The proper use of people involves under standing both individual and organizational needs so that the full potential of human resources can be employed. This aspect of personnel management suggests the importance of matching individuals over time to shifts is organizational and human needs. The contribution of human resource management to organization effectiveness is so important that managers must use the knowledge and skills of human resource management specialist. In context of Bangladesh Human Resource Management have many things to do. Human Resources can be trump card for the overall development of the country only when these large populations will be ready to utilize and when they will be utilized. In case of some industries like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Garments and Teaà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? human resources are not being treated as human rather they are being treated as machine. Some organization is violating the human rights. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, Shen, Nug, an early emperor was skilled ruler, creative scientist and patron of the arts. His farsighted edicts required, among other things, that all drinking water be boiled as a hygienic precaution. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. In accordance with his ruling, the servants began to boil water for the court to drink. Dried leaves from the near by bush fell into the boiling water, and a brown liquid was infused into the water. As a scientist, the Emperor was interested in the new liquid, drank some, and found it very refreshing. And so, according to legend, tea was created. Because of the success of the Dutch navy in the pacific, tea became very fashionable in the Dutch capita, The Hague. This was due in part to the high cost of the tea (over $100 per pound), which immediately made it the domain of the wealthy. Slowly, as the amount of tea imported increased, the price fell as the volume of sale expanded. Initially available to the public in apothecaries along with such rare and new spices as ginger and sugar, by 1675 it was available in common food shops throughout Holland. As the consumption of tea increased dramatically in Dutch society, doctors and university authorities argued back and forth as to the negative and/or positive benefits of tea, known as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“tea hereticsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, the public largely ignored the scholarly debate and continued to enjoy their new beverage though the controversy lasted from 1635 to roughly 1657. Through this period France and Holland led Europe in the use of tea. By 1650 the Dutch were actively involved in trade throughout the Western world. Peter Stuyvesant brought the first tea to America to the colonists in the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam (later re-named New York by the English). Settlers here were confirmed tea drinkers. And indeed, on acquiring the colony, the English found that the small settlement consumed more tea at that time then all of England put together. Great Britain was the last of the three great sea-faring nations to break into the Chinese and East Indian trade routes. This was due in part to the unsteady ascension to the throne of the Stuarts and the Cromwellian Civil War. The first samples of tea reached England between 1652 and 1654. Tea quickly proved popular enough to replace ale as the national drink of England. JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY Human resource Management most of the times deals with the external environment (political, Economical, Social, Technological). We have studied many theoretical aspects in our classes. To get more knowledge about actual conditions we need to study in practical. We tried to find out the sectors, where human resources are largely involved. In Bangladesh, there are many tea gardens, cannels, sugar gardens; etc where human resources are very much necessary for the organization and its implementation as well. In Sylhet district, there are huge amount of tea gardens that is why, we have selected tea gardens for our study. We were assigned to cover some tea gardens from Sylhet, Moulavibazer, and Sreemangle district. We have considered the significance of different tea gardens in case of historical value, communication system, management system, labor management process, remuneration system and some other issues. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY This research was aimed to make us acquainted with the real Human Resource Management operations in the selected tea gardens of Sylhet, Moulavibazer and Srimongal. Some other objectives are as follows: To become familiar with the human resources available in the tea gardens in Sylhet Moulavibazer and srimangal. Understand the goals of their tea garden and know their role in accomplishing these goals. Forecasting the demand for labor. To analyze the history and development of tea garden. To investigate the contribution to the economy of tea garden sector in Bangladesh. To know about the problem and barriers management department and labors are facing from different sources. To know what are the benefit and services the employees are expecting from the tea companies. To have some practical exposures that will be helpful for my Job experience. To recommend some suggestions to overcome the problem of tea garden. Assessing the working and living conditions of the tea plantation workers in Bangladesh. Identifying the major problems faced by the tea plantation workers. Assessing the organizing capability of the tea plantation workers. SCOPE OF THE STUDY In our report, we gave emphasis on compensation program of human resources of the tea estates. We also tried to find out the selection process, recruiting process and training process of the human resources. In selection process many steps is here but tea estates follow only interview process. In executive level they give training to improve their performance. We also focused on their remunerations and living conditions. In fact every organization needs the right people, at the right time in the right position and in this case Human Resource Management can assist the organization. We have also tried to find whether they are enjoying their human rights or not. METHODOLOGY Our present study is basically based on the human resource management. Whatever we studies in the Subject of HRM, now we try to find out its impact on practical field (specifically in the field of tea garden). What types of rules and regulation, a procedure does the management follow for their lower level employee and how they manage their employee, how much effective is it. The main objective of this survey is to collect information regarding awareness of the tea workers about their right and their involvement in trade unionism. Along with this survey data, this study brings together quantitative data drawn from combination surveys of the tea industry in Bangladesh. It will be collected through dept interview and fieldwork. All the data will be collected through researching web site, some data we have collected from the journal, and newsletter of each tea garden. The rest was based on observations. We also take the interview both manger and employee. SOURCES OF DATA Analysis in this study primarily depends on qualitative data drawn from in-depth interviews and discussions with the members of tea plantation workers at the grass root level as well as the management level. Qualitative data have also been collected from focus group discussions with the tea plantation workers. For making this project we have used both the primary and secondary data. The primary data are collected from the selected tea gardens by asking different types of questions to the labor and the employees available at the gardens. The secondary data collected from different journals on tea gardens published in newspapers (namely Sylhet-er Dak), and other publication provided by different gardens and Governmental organizations (namely Project Development Unit), and also by searching some web sites (namely virtualsylhet.com, google.com, etc.).To collect information from the workers, four tea gardens were randomly selected. Among these four gardens, tow belongs to A category, two belong to B category and the other one belongs to C category of gardens. A total of 100 workers (40 female and 40 male lower level employee and 20 management level employee) were interviewed through a structured questionnaire. The main objective of this survey is to collect information regarding awareness of the tea workers about their right and their involvement in trade unionism. Along with this survey data, this study brings together quantitative data drawn from a combination of existing empirical research and surveys of the tea industry in Bangladesh. AN OVERVIEW OF THE GROWTH OF TEAPLANTATION INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH Tea occupies an important place in the national economy of Bangladesh. It accounts for 0.81 per cent of her GDP. About four lakh people live on the plantation industry of Bangladesh. This sector provides employment to 0.15 million people, which accounts for nearly 3.3 per cent of the total industrial employment in the country. Tea is also an important commodity in the international trade since it is an important export item of Bangladesh. During the 1970s and 1980s, this item earned a large portion of her foreign exchange. But after the emergence of the garment industry, tea lost its dominance in the foreign exchange earning. In 1998, it earned only 0.80 per cent of the total foreign exchange earnings of Bangladesh. However, at present, Bangladesh earns a substantial amount of revenue in terms of s consumption of tea is increasing at the rate of about 1 million kg per annum. Revenue is also earned in terms of excise duty. Tea plantation in Bangladesh is concentrated mainly in her hilly zones of four districts namely Sylhet, Maulovibazar, Habigong and Chittagong. Now there is a tea estate in the district of Brahmanbaria also. In total, there are 158 gardens of which only 25 gardens are situated in Chittagong, Sylhet, Maulovibazar, Habigonj (which constitute the greater Sylhet District) and Brahmanbaria accommodate the rest 133 gardens and contribute about 96 per cent of the annual production. Out of the total number of gardens, Bangladeshi companies and individual proprietors own 132 gardens. However, among these gardens, individual proprietors own only a little more than 20 per cent of them. All gardens are divided into three categories namely A, B, and C depending on amount of production and percentage of land under tea plantation. About two-fifths of the total gardens belong to each of A and B category of gardens, while the remaining one-fifth belong to C category. All the gardens belonging to Sterl ing Companies are A category gardens and occupy about 39 per cent of total land under tea plantation. But Sterling companies occupying only 39 per cent of land produce more than 49 per cent of total tea production of Bangladesh. Thus, productivity of Sterling Companies gardens is far more than that of the gardens of Bangladeshi Companies. Production of tea per hectare is 1,437 kg. Whereas the same for the Bangladeshi companies and proprietary estate is only 961 kg. Total acreage under tea plantation has not increased much over time. As can be noticed from Table 1.1, that over the period of 1990-1998 land under tea plantation increased only by 4.39 per cent, whereas total production rose by 23.61 per cent. As a result, production per hectare rose significantly from 967 kg in 1990 to 1,145 kg in 1998 accounting for about 18.41 per cent increase over nine years time. During the same period, total production of Bangladesh rose from 45,160 metric tons to 55,824 metric tons made tea. It i s encouraging to notice from table 1.2, that the growth of total tea production in Bangladesh over this nine years period is higher compared to the major tea producing countries in South Asia like India, China and Sri-Lanka (see Table 1.2). But still Bangladesh could not increase her share in the world market since her domestic consumption has also increased significantly. It can be observed from table 1.1 that, in 1990, a little more than 40 per cent of total production of tea in Bangladesh was consumed domestically. But this share of consumption increased to more than 60 percent in 1998. Figure 1.1 clearly shows how domestic consumption of tea increases sharply and exceeds total exports of tea in 1994 and 1998. Due to high rate of domestic consumption, her export dropped from 26,970 thousand kg in 1990 to 22,220 thousand kg in 1998. TEA PLANTATION WORKERS AND THEIR SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND HEALTH CONDITIONS Tea Plantation Workers Results of our survey of 100 plantation workers reveal that only a little more than 46 per cent of the workers had visited the nearby Thana headquarter of Srimangal at least once in their life. Among the women, only 35 per cent had visited Srimangal. They do not know anything about what is happening outside their boundary and are isolated from the rest of the country. As a result, their aspiration is very low. With low aspiration they cannot demand anything big. Through our survey we collected information about their aspiration regarding their childrens education and career. It was interesting to find out that only about 2 per cent of tea workers aspire that their boy child would study more than SSC. None of them aspire for their girl child to study beyond SSC. It is even more interesting to know that about 37 per cent do not want their children to go out of their tea garden area. The highest aspiration they hold is that their boy child should be a clerk (Babu) in the garden office. Capital field development involves three activities: new planting, replanting and filling of vacancies. Generally men are employed in all these activities. But the extent of all these activities is marginal. It can be noticed from Table 4.1 that over a nine-year period (1990- 1998), total area under tea production increased by only 4.39 per cent. Annually, only 160 hectares are newly planted. Also in India and Sri Lanka, new plantation is marginal. Replanting in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh is also very slow. As against a targeted rate of 1.5 to 2 per cent per annum, it is only about 0.4 per cent in Bangladesh and India and 0.7 per cent in Sri Lanka. Filling, which is carried on to increase plant density per unit area, is also very slow. But male labor absorption in the plantation industry is much higher than that of female workers over the last few years (Table 1.4). It can be noticed from Table 4.5 that over the period of three years (1996-98), employment of men increased far more than their population growth. But employment of women increased less than their population growth. During the last few years, more and more men are employed in the plantation sector since being geographically isolated they do not get any job opportunity elsewhere. The table shows that both adolescents and children are increasingly being thrown out of the labor market as time passes on, although the right to employment for heirs is ensured by an agreement. The problem of unemployment between adolescent and children is very acute. During our survey many respondents reported that their children are forced to get involved in illegal activities due to unemployment. Moreover, because of this unemployment, dependency ratio is very high among the tea plantation workers. As can be seen from Table 1.4, of the total population of 3, 53,407 persons, 1, 12,251 are employed representing around 68 per cent dependents. It means that one earning member has to maintain more than two persons . Socio-economic and Health Conditions of the Tea Plantation Workers Socio-economic and health conditions of tea plantation workers have important bearings on their productivity. Analysis of these conditions also gives an idea whether the tea worker are enjoying there right to decent work and living. Social dialogue to improve the conditions of tea plantation workers cannot be promoted without having an idea of the socio-economic conditions of the tea workers. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this section to examine the socio-economic conditions of tea plantation workers. Socio-economic and health conditions of tea plantation workers have important bearings on their productivity. Analysis of these conditions also gives an idea whether the tea worker are enjoying there right to decent work and living. Social dialogue to improve the conditions of tea plantation workers cannot be promoted without having an idea of the socio-economic conditions of the tea workers. Therefore, an attempt has been made in this section to examine the socio-economic conditions of tea plantation workers. Age and experience have direct bearing on the pluckers productivity. Findings of a study show that good pluckers have over 20 years of experience and their age is seen as a helpful attribute. To have 20 years of experience a workers must be at least 35 years old since a tea worker does not start work before the age of 15 years as child labor is almost absent in the tea sector. Findings of our survey show that about 51 per cent of the workers are below 35 years old. The average age of the female worker is a little more than 33 years, while that of the male workers is about 37 years. Hence, efficiency of male workers is supposed to be more than that of female workers. For young workers, training is a means of improving their productivity. A BRIEF DISSCUSION ABOUT OUR SELECTED TEA GAERDEN Parkul tea estate- Parkul tea estate is one of the gardens in Bangladesh from the163 gardens. It is situated in the habigong district, chunarughat Thana. It is more profitable garden that starts its journey in Bangladesh from 1858. It is a national tea company (NTC) where the owner is recognized on the basis of shares, however the owner of 51% shares of that garden is government and 49% shares are for the public. The area of this garden is about 1550 hector that involves several villages. This garden is consisting of 803 permanent labors, 3 executive and 26 staffs. More than 300 temporary workers are also working in this garden. By consulting with the authority the annual plan is prepared here, however in this current year the garden is producing 350, 000 kg in average and the production cost for per kg is 70 tk. It is one of the efficient branches of NTC that maintain a good management system. This garden follow the argument in case of fixing the salary of management level, clerical level as well as l ower level employee. Each worker can harvest 60 to 70 kg of lives per day which costing per kg 1.30 tk. Normally their plaguing task is 23 kg for earning 30 tk. Plaguing season starts from the April to December and during January to March is the time for odd work. During this time they plant, mulching in the young tea plant, drain work, a sardar is appointed to aid them in work. The number of sardar is varying from the garden to garden. In the Parkul tea estate, one sardar is elected for per 25 workers while in the Daragon tea estate for per 50 workers one sardar is appointed. All the employee and clerical staffs are sent to BRTI for getting training, which is situated, in sreemangal. Employee also has their union in sreemangal that create pressure to the management of this garden for the fulfillment of the demand of the labors. Lackatoorah tea estate- The lackatoorah tea estate has started its journey in Bangladesh from 1875 A.C. This tea garden is situated in the airport road of sylhet. This tea garden is one of the most profitable tea garden in our country. The name Lackatoorah is derived from the wood collection of Shajalal shrine. For the annual festival of Shajalal shrine, people collect the wood from this tea estate. The firewood is locally called Lakri and this Lakri becomes Lackatoorah once upon a time. The total area of this tea garden is 1293 hector, but all the area is not only under the tea plantation but also many other things like (rubber garden, cannel, ponds, blank area etc. ). The total number of registered labors in this garden is approximately 1200 but the number of temporary labors is more than 3500-4000. Most officials have chosen this job because of the facilities, as, more salaries, li