ISLAMABAD, July 22: An organization is doomed to disaster if it fails to respond to the changing global requirements.

This was stated by Inayat Shah, a resource person, at a specialized workers education course on “Motivation and Productivity” organized by the directorate of workers education, ministry of labour, on Tuesday.

The three-day course, which will continue till Thursday, is aimed at providing knowledge on family, population, globalization and labour/trade union-related issues to improve the skills of workers and promote harmonious labour-management relations in the organized sector.

Mr Shah observed that an organization was a living organism and ceased to exist if it did not incorporate modern concepts and tools. His presentation covered wide-ranging topics, such as motivation as a tool to increase productivity, role of trade unions in industrial peace and productivity as well as social and moral obligation of trade unions.

He said there were three types of organizations: close, open and fun organizations. In close organization, one is forced to work without incentives and other rights whereas in an open one, the worker only works. However, in a fun organization, the worker enjoys working.

Stressing the need for incentivating workers to enhance productivity, he said, “How could one expect an organization to compete with others in an era of globalization if the needs and rights of its workers are not properly catered to?” He exhorted the organizations to follow the golden rule of a Japanese manager of a reputed company, who said, “My people are my assets.”

Mr Shah said a shrewd manager had strong motivational skills and was a “culture negotiator” by solving human problems with human tools. He should also be able to read the non-verbal message of his employees.

In reply to a question, he said the post-WTO era would necessitate redesigning of knowledge, skills and ability. He regretted the low awareness about the WTO, both in public and private sectors in the country and called for immediate measures to adopt the WTO gracefully, which would be implemented by Jan 2005.

He, however, admitted that there was very little preparation for the WTO in some sectors, but pointed out that it was mainly focussed on occupation capacity-building with utter neglect to improving the capacity of ex-cadre people.

About trade unions, he said “the traditional regimentation is now a dead matter and there has emerged commonality of interests between trade unionists and employers due to market forces.” —Junaid Bahadur