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Employee Well-being and Burnout: A Strategic HR Imperative for Tea Plantations

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  Introduction The rhythmic action of picking tea leaves masks a harsh reality: workers are subjected to long hours, repetitive strain, poor earnings, and seasonal peaks that cause them to get exhausted. There is a widespread prevalence of burnout in the tea plantation industry, which is marked by feelings of emotional depletion, cynicism, and decreased efficacy.  Bridging my industry experience with academic research, this article posits that investing in employee well-being is a core business strategy. It is directly linked to enhanced operational productivity, long-term retention, and the elevation of tea export quality.     The Burnout Epidemic in Tea Plantation and Export Supply Chains Tea plantation workers face a lot of pressures, such as working from dawn to dusk during flush seasons, steep terrain, exposure to agro chemicals, and not being able to get medical care. Burnout is a major problem for supervisors since they have to meet export quality stand...
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Sustainable HRM in Sri Lanka’s Plantation Sector: Balancing Productivity and Worker Well-being

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Introduction The plantation business in Sri Lanka, particularly the tea and rubber industries, continues to be an essential component of the country's economy. Nevertheless, it is coming under growing pressure to strike a balance between environmental sustainability, ethical labour standards, and higher levels of production. Organizations that prioritize performance over employee well-being often experience long-term declines in engagement, productivity and retention (Pfeffer, 2018). The Human Resource Management department plays a crucial part in this environment by ensuring that the goals of the firm are aligned with the well-being of the employees. A critical examination of how sustainable human resource management (HRM) can revolutionise plantation management techniques while also resolving long-standing social and economic concerns is presented in this blog.     Sustainable HRM: A Strategic Imperative From the perspective of Ehnert (2019), sustainable human resource m...
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Performance Management in Sri Lankan Organizations: From Traditional Appraisals to Continuous Feedback Systems

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  Introduction Sri Lankan organisations have used the yearly appraisal   a ritualistic, backward-looking procedure with a single meeting, a standardised form, and a supervisor's subjective rating—for decades to oversee performance. Critics say this colonial-era administrative paradigm, reinforced by public sector circulars, demotivates personnel, promotes bureaucratic conformity rather than progress, and fails to drive organisational effectiveness. Sri Lankan corporations are adopting a global trend toward continuous feedback systems, which include real-time coaching, frequent check-ins, and agile goal-setting. Cultural and institutional issues complicate the transformation. This article critically explores performance management in Sri Lanka, asking if continuous feedback is a realistic option or a Western import doomed to fail.   The Legacy of Traditional Appraisals in Sri Lanka In Sri Lankan companies, whether they are state-owned enterprises (SOEs) like the Ceylon Pet...
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The Rise of Flexible Work Practices in Sri Lanka: Myth or Sustainable HR Strategy?

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Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic pushed companies all around the world to stop using rigid, presenteeism paradigms and adopt more flexible work practices. In Sri Lanka, the story of a "flexible work revolution" became quite popular, especially in the urban, knowledge-service sectors. Three years after the first lock downs, nevertheless, a big question comes up: is the rise of flexible work in Sri Lanka a real, long-term Human Resource Management (HRM) strategy, or is it just a transient myth that is kept alive by post-crisis talk? The Sri Lankan situation is different from what happens in the West because of things like the economy crashing in 2022, power outages that happen all the time, poor digital infrastructure, and a culture of hierarchical presentiment. This paper contends that although flexible employment is not a fallacy, its longevity necessitates strategic human resource management initiatives customised to Sri Lanka's socioeconomic context.     The Reali...
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