CARRIER DEVELOPMENT: The decision for planters to stay is not ruled by money alone, it depends on how they are treated by
the company and the attention given to their career development.

12/03/2012 (Borneo Post) - Probably many young people looking for work would opt for a life on the plantation if they know more about it.

The plantations offer a different way of life. It is of the open air, walking under the palm trees to check the work each morning, and making changes with a fair degree of freedom probably not seen in any deskbound jobs in town.

I came into the industry virtu­ally by chance, for it was my plan to go to sea. For some time I was a seamanship instructor at the Outward Bound School in Lumut, Perak. It was during a canoe expe­dition up the Dindings River that I made a visit to the plantation where the estate manager M A G Oliver invited the school warden, Jack Tucker and me to dinner in his bungalow. I got to ask him what plantation life was like. Earlier I rode in his big Land Rover, green as in the army, and the way he drove he was a picture of complete self-confidence.

“I am building a new bungalow, a place up the hill. Next to mine is a bungalow for the estate assist­ant manager, and he one day will perhaps take over from me. I know that as expatriates we will soon be gone. So the prospects are bright for anyone who wants to come in. The pay is better than working in town. With high prices of rubber, the bonus is many months’ pay each year.”

It was only after I joined that I found out I had to study in great de­tail about weeding and the names of grasses in three languages – English, Latin, and Tamil. The Tamil workers in Perak had come direct from India, knew no other language, and I had to learn theirs in order to communicate.

Oliver arrived in the field each morning to test me on my Tamil, and he said if I did not learn then I should leave. Without choice I had to learn, and when I got a job as assistant in Tangkak, Johor, I had to sign a three-year contract. It said I had to pass all my exami­nations set by the Incorporated Society of Planters.

They included botany, soils, estate bookkeeping, surveying es­tate practice, and of course, Tamil. I was fortunate in having a friend, another assistant called Soo Fook Ngan, who was bright.

We studied, and as soon as one exam was done, we hit other textbooks to prepare for the next tests. Without him, I would not have taken all those papers so rapidly. Today as the plantations expand faster, it is important that companies view their training programmes differently. First of course they have to choose their people more methodically – young men or women who have a passion for working outdoors, who like the plantation life, and have the courage to lead people under them. More undergradu­ates should be invited to see the estates, so that more of them will decide to join.

When appointed, it is impor­tant for them to be provided with textbooks, and put on job rotation. In oil palm, they can learn about weeding, fertilising, harvesting, and transport of crop to the mills. In the mills the engineers should also get appropriate training.

At the same time the planter should be trained to see how his job is related to the profit of the business. At the next level he has to be prepared to handle a bigger budget, and understand that it is not only about keeping costs down, but how by spending more he can bring in more profit.

Of course such skills do not come easily. Courses have to be provided. For more exposure, I was made a personnel manager after attending some courses on industrial relations, and it has helped me in leadership skills.

For experience I was moved to Sabah for three years and later to Solomon Islands to look after coco­nut, cocoa and cattle. Before each move I was trained at a company training school in the UK.

In Sabah, among the first com­panies to realise the importance of training would be the Perlis Plantations Group now under Wilmar. A school was started by Dato’ Khoo Eng Min who led the plantations there. Previously the only agricultural centre was at Timbang Mengaris, a service provided by the government. Most other plantations would give training only on an ad hoc basis, which was far from adequate.

In Sarawak, Tradewind Plan­tations had been conducting classes with lectures being given including by Professor Dr Sheikh Awadz. A proper school is already operating in Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd, near Miri.

Sarawak Plantations Bhd is likely to build a training school to prepare graduates and non-graduates to be leaders in the plantations and mills. Without doubt the students from these centres will be in great demand by other companies. But that is the risk any good employer will have to bear. Fortunately the decision for planters to stay is not ruled by money alone. It depends on how they are treated by the company and the attention to their career development.

The owners, or directors also have a role. Some can go to great lengths to remember minor de­tails about the planter, and his family, and have long chats. I heard that the chairman of KL-Kepong the late Tan Sri Lee Loy Seng would drop in at an estate on a Sunday, and have tea with the planter and his family, and not talk about work at all.

He would ask how the children were doing in their studies, and got their names right. He knew what a good planter was worth and how to get him to stay.

Good planters are getting more difficult to find. In the past when there was no expansion, or when rubber prices were low, some expatriates were told not to come back from leave. Tenure of service was uncertain. Today job security is more assured, but the planter has to cope with new facets. He has to know word processing and spreadsheets, new labour laws and environmental issues, and he has to learn to get his workers to stay.

With rapid expansion, how­ever, many planters are promoted without proper basic foundation. Perhaps companies are not giving the right basic training, such as on calculations and knowing the value of an oil palm bunch, or the value of a harvester as an asset.

Often in the past, these gaps in knowledge were filled in at social gatherings, at the estate club, or at the manager’s house, as often he would like to talk. I remember there were long and quiet eve­nings. In a way this was mentor­ing and the young assistant went home after learning a thing or two each day. Today such discussions hardly ever happen as the journey to town is so much easier.

The young planters should join the Incorporated Society of Planters (ISP) and interact with planters from other companies. The ISP through its examina­tion syllabus can equip them with knowledge. By reading the textbooks their grasp of English can also improve. Book learning can combine knowledge with field experience. It is recommended that companies should engage good retired planters to train the young ones. The trainers can drive home the company’s mes­sage, and explain how mistakes can be avoided.

The planter, or engineer at the mill, can be trained about business as well, such as in marketing and finance, to prepare him early for more responsibilities.

Managers with high potential must be given opportunities to de­velop their characters. I know that some companies send their plant­ers to the Outward Bound School in order to develop their leadership skills. They should also visit the best estates and mills in Indonesia and try to achieve the same level of yield and extraction rates.

Companies can send their out­standing managers on fast-track courses here and overseas. They should be trained to give effective presentations. Some should learn how to train others, so that soon each company will have highly skilled managers at all levels.

Together they can raise produc­tivity again. Each improvement is magnified as plantations expand in Sabah and Sarawak. Doubtless, the improved performance can far outweigh the training costs.