Scarce water, primary source on the planet, should be the concern of HR managers too
View(s):At a Colombo event last week dealing with human resource issues in the workplace, a top management specialist opened a new area of concern for HR managers – that their responsibility extends to an uninterrupted supply chain and whatever affects it.
Ravi Fernando, Chairman/CE, Global Strategic Corporate Sustainability Pvt Ltd and Executive in Residence – INSEAD Business School, France, delivering the keynote address at the National HR Conference 2017 held last week, organized by the Institute of Personnel Management Sri Lanka (IPM) in Colombo, warned that an impending water crisis will most likely affect the entire supply chain and HR managers need to understand and address these concerns.
He said it was also pertinent to remind the national leaders of this country of the stark realities of the water issue and how it was managed many centuries ago.He said the country was blessed with excellent rainfall harvesting (construction of tanks, etc) during the times of ancient kings like King Parakramabahu for instance while today only 21 per cent of the rainfall is used and the balance 79 per cent goes waste year after year.
He said that in most of the country’s upcountry plantations rainfall last year fell to 157 days compared to 197 days the previous year.
“If the planet is going to have a massive water crisis in the next four to five years with massive decline in fresh water resources should we begin to look at the 79 per cent of the water that goes waste and to bring in strategies to start rain water harvesting,” he asked.
Dr. Fernando was stressing these issues to emphasise that HR should sensitise the top management and the leaders of the company on these issues, rather than wait until it is too late.
It is a matter of concern for them as HR Managers as these adverse weather conditions affect the supply chain at every stage – production, packing to logistics and processing. Last year, he pointed out that with extreme weather conditions in Sri Lanka three companies were completely incapacitated – Coca-Cola, Fontera and Ceylon Breweries. He said that some of the people he had spoken to have indicated that last year there was 6 feet of water in their factory and this year it was 4 feet and he inquired whether anything has been done to avert such situations in the future.
Challenges also bring opportunities and companies like Google, Apple, and Amazon are examples and now use solar energy to run their plants. He said “Every HR Manager is an expert on talent development and unleashing talent and they should also be a business manager and if you want to play a role in your company in the future then be a builder of global mindset talent.”
On the role of HR professionals, he spoke of three aspects – builder of talent, HR as an enabler and third as a sensitiser. He said that the companies should be driven to the future rather than just running the company today. Many Sri Lankan CEOs are follow-up officers, but they should develop opportunities to create the future – trying to develop and deliver.
He said while Sri Lanka is still a commodity exporting country it should change into a value-added exporting country using technology as the country is blessed with the best resources, geographical location and human resources.
Dr. Fernando spoke about artificial intelligence which depends on science and technology and is beginning to change the game in terms of global strategy development and global performances, and it was high time Sri Lanka too picks it up before it becomes late.
Prof. Ajantha Dharmasiri, President, IPM, said that the HR Conference 2017 is one of the largest such conferences in South East Asia and this year’s theme is “High-tech High Touch.” He reminded Partali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development who participated as Chief Guest that the trend has been offering positions on connections and not on competence and urged the government to change this trend to give way to competence.
Mr. Ranawaka said that it is the quality and the capacity of the human resources that propels into national prosperity and productivity and competitiveness in the global arena that matters.