Human resources department can\\\'t work properly

In many cases, owners recruit their relatives in important positions. They are less qualified than the professionals. Owners rely on their relative-employees' information to gather secrets about happenings in the organisation. Those relatives become shadow owners of the organisation. Genuine professionals suffer from uncertainty and conspiracy if anything makes those relatives unhappy. The professionals eventually compromise with the situation. Ultimately the organisation suffers and employees are deprived of their legal and reasonable benefits.

The team responsible for HR (human resource), Admininstration and Compliance has to perform in the core areas of the company. This team determines required manpower against each job or department. According to employees' skills and activities, HR determines their wage grades based on those declared in the Gazette at different times by the Minimum Wage Board and the Ministry of Labour and Employment.  They need theoretical knowledge and practical experience on job skills, performance evaluation, time study, etc. The team has to comply with labour law and/or factory rules on workers' recruitment, compensation, health and safety issue, penalty, etc. Environmental impact assessment is another important field of the team. Electrical fire safety assessment and building integrity are two major issues which require engineering knowledge. This team with shallow knowledge is no match to external compliance auditors. Their role in factories is like that of the police in the country.  All these are possible because of weak and helpless HR. As a result, the factory suffers from overcrowded workforce with under- employment. Placement of the right person in the right place is not possible because the HR can't judge impartially and objectively. Finally, they are to compromise, in many cases, with illogical and unjustifiable requirements from auditors.

The non- or mal-functional HRD (human resource development) harms an organisation in many ways. One of the most serious case is that it creates a situation where sincere and dedicated employees leave the organisation. In an organisation, generally three types of 'yes man' are very common. They are: flatterers, duffers and inefficient., -

 The main task of the flatterers is to satisfy their boss(es). They keep themselves busy for their own development. Organisational interest is in the least priority for them. Any action or step they take is for the sake of their personal interest. They do not care for any collective or organisational development but for their own interest. Bosses are also, in most cases, happy with them.

   The duffers do not have any power of judgment about good or bad. They can't differentiate the right from the wrong, what is to be done and what is not to be. They accept things as it is. The boss is always right to them.

  The inefficient people always try to hide their inefficiency, incompetence and weakness.  They are always in the fear of losing their jobs. To save their valued jobs, they always say 'yes' to their boss(es).

 Apart from the above three categories, there can be one more type of employees in an organisation. These people are silent in nature, comparatively efficient and committed to the organisation. They do not express anything about their dedication and performance. Their direct boss or department concerned like HR is not aware of their sincere efforts behind the growth of the organisation. As a result, they are not evaluated rightly. Rather their contribution usually gets robbed by the above three categories of people. If the numbers of the fourth category persons are more than that of the other three categories and if the persons belonging to the fourth category are underrated and deprived for long then these people get frustrated. Since they work in a private limited or ownership company/business house, there is no scope for them to revolt or burst out in anger as workers can do. Continuous misevaluation and maltreatment reduce their efficiency and their loyalty to their boss starts to decay, sincerity in work and commitment to the organisation get lost. Sometimes deprived individuals argue with their boss and the boss terminates his/her job on account of misconduct. But many such individuals leave their jobs showing personal or family reasons even at a lower package with the hope of a better working environment elsewhere.

 On the contrary, when the members of these three types are more than silent and devoted workers in any organisation, these individuals of small group wait for a better opportunity. They work sincerely but not whole-heartedly. Since they can't feel themselves to be a part of the whole team, they do not try to grow bondage of belongingness to the organisation. As and when an opportunity comes, they heave a sigh of relief submitting their resignation letters telling the same story of personal or family problem. In both the cases, actual reasons behind their departure are not known by the organisation. As a result, no corrective or preventive measures can be taken. So dominance of flattering and inefficient people remains unchallenged for years after years. The organisation suffers from not achieving its expected growth and someday it collapses. It is the primary responsibility of the HR people to protect the organisation from those harmful elements of the three types. If the people of the HR department themselves are of those categories, then how can it be expected that they will make a safe fence for the organisation? It is most important to note that when a person leaves an organisation, he/she actually leaves his/her boss only. Generally people do not change their profession. They change their office only. For example, from a readymade garment factory one employee migrates to another similar factory, because his/her expertise can't be sold to a non-RMG trade.

 To understand the RMG industry in our country one should, first, try to understand the background of the workforces before knowing about their management. Who work in the core value stream? The people in core value stream in the industry are from below poverty line, under privileged and less educated, i.e., the marginal group of the society. They are women who have lost their husbands and girls who have lost their fathers or fathers have left them and got second marriage and also people who have lost their only homestead in river erosion. Where job is scarce and getting employment is a big problem even for the people with highest level of education, what can happen to the have-nots" ? So, only choice for them is to run after the garment industry.

The defeated soldiers in the battle of life are bound to accept the only opportunity that is available for them - the RMG industry. The owners of the industry take advantage of the vulnerable state of these people and many of them create a working condition in their factories which is hardly fit for human beings.  When survival is the only consideration for them and they want a means to live, they can't afford to look for any other meaning of life. When basic human rights are ignored, arrangement for decent office, better working environment, labour rights, humanistic behavioural approach, etc. are apparently far cries to them. At the early stage of the garment industry, lack of awareness among the workers helped the owners keep those human machines blind to their right.

The writer is working in the                 RMG sector for decades and                     also a PhD student.                            [email protected]