posted November 04, 2004 06:43 AM         

- British model. Employees are well protected by Trade unions. Sometimes trade unions brings the entire business to bankrupcy. Sri Lanka, Australia, commonwealth countries follow this model.

- US model. Hire & fire. But still people prefer to migrate to US to work. Singapore follow this model.

- Japanese . Employees & employers are very loyal. They seldom fire. Most of the time whole family end up working in same company.

As an employee I prefer British model but looking at country's point US model is better.

posted November 04, 2004 07:38 AM            

If you have a skill and you believe you are good at what you do,why dont you become a small business owner instead of being an employee?

For some,beign in business for themselves is very rewarding and of course some get burned out very quickly

posted November 04, 2004 09:09 AM         

British model will mostly work for under skilled, you will have a steady job with an average salary for a long time. Big brother will protect you during both good and bad times. Many not be good for dreamers.

US model will work well for high achievers. A highly skilled worker can become a CEO regardless from who you are. If you can dream it, you can achieve it really works there. If you can’t perform year after year, you are stuck at one place forever. Great to flush out ineffective employees and replace them with the fresh.

Japanese model is good if you want to become a slave for your life, if you are a foreigner, no chance of getting to the top. Could work great fo some.

Sri Lankan model: Great for people with no skills. You get hired if you know the right person. Basically if you work for the government, you get paid for doing nothing and stealing from the public money, bribing etc.. In the private sector, they make you work hard even through the weekend.

LTTE model: They wash your brain, and they own you. You learn to work for free for your own country (even if that doesn’t exist). You wear the suicide jacket and die smiling to increase the life span of your CEO. Great if you want to skip kindergarten and vanish from earty before A/L. This is the best model, basically if you are given the happyness and know nothing else, you have no worries. Join eelam.inc. if you like to kill your fellow Tamils for fun.

posted November 04, 2004 10:38 AM         

American model - efficient. If the employer can hire & fire without having to resort to large severance payments/backlash from unions, he or she can run an efficient organisation. The employer will always try to maximise profit (this is one of the fundamentals of micro-economics) and the employer will streamline his/her business as per the market situation. This is, however, not ideal for the employee who's job is very much dependant on the market (assuming he/she is a capabale worker for the job). The employee will have much less security than within the British system.

British model - security. The employer is forced to think twice about hiring someone. This acts as some sort of filter so that the organisation ensures the applicant is the right candidate for the job. Once the employee signs on the dotted line, it becomes expensive to get rid of him/her. Employment statistics may suffer due to this, since employers feel restrained.

Japanese model - not much to comment here, but it explains why it is so difficult to get a job in Japan.

I personally agree with Negombo. The British system, for me, is the most satisfactory, both for the employer (you aim to get the right people first shot, develop loyalty,...) and the employee (security = better standard of life).

posted November 04, 2004 01:08 PM         

I like US system, employee has the say on what he/she makes (based on your skills and market). A very good employee can make as high as 2 to 5 times what a comparable British employee can make. The risk and reward go hand in hand, if that is what you want. It is kind of like making money off savings than from the stock market.

posted November 04, 2004 02:32 PM            

What system you all are talking about and you ever consider that Srilanka you are talking about. In Srilanka no system works. Srilankan got systems, but it never flow. you know why? People put their moneybags (sand bags) and block it.

You can try anything you like but it never works in Srilanka. (American, Japanesse, English)

posted November 04, 2004 03:00 PM         

I agree with you - the American system is indeed perfect if you are a risk taker. Do well, reap the rewards - but do poorly, and not only you but your family will suffer.

This is what the American system is lacking - security for the employee, and the lack of loyalty between employer and employee. This is something I consider very important.

Drwho, I think that in the British system, you have just as much potential to climb the corporate ladder as with the American system - the concepts are the same; if you work hard and show results, you get your rewards.

posted November 04, 2004 03:03 PM         

It is unethical behaviour practiced for personal gain.

Many might not agree with me but there are more bad apples in the basket than good ones. This is why I suggested that ethics should be brought into the class room as a subject at least to save the nezt generation.

Strict laws could work as a deterent but what happens if the enforcers of the law are corrupt.

posted November 04, 2004 03:26 PM         

But we have a problem in Sri Lanka. We have a dearth of quality people in Sri Lanka to run our organisations and institutions. And why do we have this problem? Because we don't pay our quality people enough. They all go abroad in search of a better life, and we are left with the rotten eggs. It is the same with doctors, engineers, managers...

What is the average salary of a 30 year old account with 5 years experiance in a private company? Rs 40,000? With that, he needs to send his kids to school, put food on the table, pay the rent - and then when he sees the rich spending Rs. 50,000 a night at the Blue Elephant in Colombo, of course he is tempted to make some money on the 'sly'. And this is the same with a policeman...only he is paid not even half of that, and he too has his kids to send to school, mouths to feed, and rent to pay.
Is it any surprise that there is corruption? Under the current conditions, I personaly am not surprised at all.

Start paying decent salaries in order to retain some quality professionals in the island.

posted November 05, 2004 02:47 AM         

Burt - I am well aware of the effects of wgae increases on inflation. You are quite right to state that increasing wages across the board is not a long term solution. However, I do feel that our professionals are not remunerated enough compared to other segments of the bread-earners. I strongly feel that in order to avoid the brain-drain Sri Lanka is facing, we have to ensure that our professionals are remunerated to be on par with the business community. In Sri Lanka, the hard reality is that the business community are the people with money, and the professionals take home peanuts! These businesses have to be supported by competent professionals who are paid enough to reflect the standard of their services. This is not the case at the moment. Many decades ago, the professional was the best paid person in Sri Lanka, and with it came responsibility and respect. Now, the business community has all the money and respect.

posted November 05, 2004 08:11 AM         

Do you get 5 ½ weeks per year as vacations? Fantastic. US workers get about 10 holidays per year + about two weeks of paid vacation time. Some people like less vacation and more money so that they can live in a bigger house or drive an expensive sports car or buying an extra cabin to spend weekends. US is not for those who want to enjoy their lives taking vacations, it is for people who are willing to challenge themselves beyond their peers. It could be the only place where a smart person can migrate from a poor country and can expect to become a multi millionaire during their life time. Those who complain about hard work or lack of vacations here may not get there. The life in NY and CA is tough, however it is not the case in suburban USA.

I believe 40,000 Rs per month is a good salary in Sri Lanka. I think most teachers are paid under 20,000 Rs per month. People should try to maintain their earning to expense ratio. If you try to copy the expense pattern of someone with a load of cash, you become frustrated. The salary is determined by the market value. People should not rely on their employers to get paid high, if they don’t like what they get paid, they should do something about it.