There's something very pure about winning bread by the sheer physicality of your being. The moment it gets cerebral, the work loses its innocence. The higher up one goes, the lower gets the job at hand.
And, just like all the other pure things in this world, say, a mother's love for example, there's a great deal of inherent irrationality in such mindless and mechanical approach to making a living. However, I have always believed in a 'sense' in most of the irrationals, like, pi, for instance. The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is a fixed number that's irrational. A constant ratio that can never be fully comprehended, and is doomed to be approximated, by the best of efforts. But it makes total sense once you don't think much about it.
And so it applies to the vast unskilled labour force in my country - forever irrational. Don't think much about it. Do it the way its been done. And, if you understand that much then you don't need to go any further in this piece. And, in the rare extreme case, if the methods to this madness seem to have a conscience-level problem with you then the cure is simple - stop using them. Figure out a way such that every job at your work is a skilled job. Automate the heck out of your system. Invest in computers and electronics to soothe your conscience - plain and simple.
Some of the ways that it is done today are -
DON'T PAY MORE THAN THE NEIGHRBORHOOD. You will attract loafers and thugs who have left their homes in some remote corner of our great nation to make a quick buck and see the world before they run back to their filthy swamp to wallow in relatively subdued happiness.
Neither carrot nor the stick works. The vast pool of labour resources in our country don't live in the past or the future. The sole reason that they are able to survive is because they live in the present. This makes such doubly pure. Spiritually very high-level but on the floor a serious pain in the ass. A reward in the future doesn't strike chord with them just as a reprimand for a mistake in the past. If you want to manage them, manage them in the present.
Create a system to control the churn. The unskilled labour is not looking for a career. They just need a job. The job at your wonderful and super unique organization, neck deep in the ultra sophisticated process of changing the world, is as good as the drudgery 500 kms away because of a number of trivialities such as a third cousin from the mother's side of your noble worker. They will leave for reasons less understood than divas and superstars. They roll in hordes and they are capable of turning your bustling vibrant factory into a ghost stable overnight. This is not a scary scenario from a fantasy tale. This happens way more often than commonly understood. So, there always has to be a system to check the churn. From delayed payments to brute force - the spectrum is largely murky. Guess what, ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely no clean-cut way of ensuring a low churn of unskilled labour. So much for all the management philosophies, theories and practices. This is especially true for start-ups when you can't afford to grant them super awesome hostels (hence confining them to premises under your control).
Much better playing legal when it comes to labour licenses, provident fund, employee insurance etc. Its a huge hassle given the state of our inscrutable bureaucracy but you need to play the ball just because you need to cover accidents at your workplace. Your unskilled workforce will have a serious proportion of very dumb and unskilled types who will create trauma out of the thin air. Don't be surprised to see the helper convulsing with his fingers in the plug socket. The way it works is - unless you have set aside a huge pool of money to take care of such nuisances that are bound to occur, you will need some sort of insurance. Now if you go to the private insurance guys, the bloody babus keep a constant tap on those. Next you will realize that you will have different inspectors - from labour to ESI (employee state insurance) knocking on your door and fixing their monthly rents. So better be legit and keep these suckers at bay. Downside is that the executor of your unskilled tasks cares only about the cash they receive in their hands. You cannot expect them to always appreciate how their forsaking a small percentage of money in the provident fund also attracts a contribution from you and is deposited in a government secured account that attracts interest.
The alternative to all this is a much more serious approach to business which my require dealing with the voice inside and possible unrest and lots of chaos.
And, just like all the other pure things in this world, say, a mother's love for example, there's a great deal of inherent irrationality in such mindless and mechanical approach to making a living. However, I have always believed in a 'sense' in most of the irrationals, like, pi, for instance. The ratio of the circumference to the diameter of a circle is a fixed number that's irrational. A constant ratio that can never be fully comprehended, and is doomed to be approximated, by the best of efforts. But it makes total sense once you don't think much about it.
And so it applies to the vast unskilled labour force in my country - forever irrational. Don't think much about it. Do it the way its been done. And, if you understand that much then you don't need to go any further in this piece. And, in the rare extreme case, if the methods to this madness seem to have a conscience-level problem with you then the cure is simple - stop using them. Figure out a way such that every job at your work is a skilled job. Automate the heck out of your system. Invest in computers and electronics to soothe your conscience - plain and simple.
Some of the ways that it is done today are -
DON'T PAY MORE THAN THE NEIGHRBORHOOD. You will attract loafers and thugs who have left their homes in some remote corner of our great nation to make a quick buck and see the world before they run back to their filthy swamp to wallow in relatively subdued happiness.
Neither carrot nor the stick works. The vast pool of labour resources in our country don't live in the past or the future. The sole reason that they are able to survive is because they live in the present. This makes such doubly pure. Spiritually very high-level but on the floor a serious pain in the ass. A reward in the future doesn't strike chord with them just as a reprimand for a mistake in the past. If you want to manage them, manage them in the present.
Create a system to control the churn. The unskilled labour is not looking for a career. They just need a job. The job at your wonderful and super unique organization, neck deep in the ultra sophisticated process of changing the world, is as good as the drudgery 500 kms away because of a number of trivialities such as a third cousin from the mother's side of your noble worker. They will leave for reasons less understood than divas and superstars. They roll in hordes and they are capable of turning your bustling vibrant factory into a ghost stable overnight. This is not a scary scenario from a fantasy tale. This happens way more often than commonly understood. So, there always has to be a system to check the churn. From delayed payments to brute force - the spectrum is largely murky. Guess what, ladies and gentlemen, there is absolutely no clean-cut way of ensuring a low churn of unskilled labour. So much for all the management philosophies, theories and practices. This is especially true for start-ups when you can't afford to grant them super awesome hostels (hence confining them to premises under your control).
Much better playing legal when it comes to labour licenses, provident fund, employee insurance etc. Its a huge hassle given the state of our inscrutable bureaucracy but you need to play the ball just because you need to cover accidents at your workplace. Your unskilled workforce will have a serious proportion of very dumb and unskilled types who will create trauma out of the thin air. Don't be surprised to see the helper convulsing with his fingers in the plug socket. The way it works is - unless you have set aside a huge pool of money to take care of such nuisances that are bound to occur, you will need some sort of insurance. Now if you go to the private insurance guys, the bloody babus keep a constant tap on those. Next you will realize that you will have different inspectors - from labour to ESI (employee state insurance) knocking on your door and fixing their monthly rents. So better be legit and keep these suckers at bay. Downside is that the executor of your unskilled tasks cares only about the cash they receive in their hands. You cannot expect them to always appreciate how their forsaking a small percentage of money in the provident fund also attracts a contribution from you and is deposited in a government secured account that attracts interest.
The alternative to all this is a much more serious approach to business which my require dealing with the voice inside and possible unrest and lots of chaos.
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