Defence and Urban Development Ministry gets lion’s share

Appropriation Bill presented to Parliament

October 18, 2011, 8:45 pm


By Saman Indrajith

The Appropriation Bill for the year 2012, was presented to Parliament yesterday by Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne.

The total estimated expenditure for 2012 is Rs 2,220 billion with recurrent expenditure up from Rs. 1,029 billion in 2011 to Rs. 1,109 in 2012 while capital expenditure will go up from Rs. 938 in 2011 to Rs 1,111 billion next year.

The new Ministry for Defence and Urban Development, coming under President Mahinda Rajapaksa, will get the highest allocation, Rs. 230 billion for 2012, up from Rs. 215 billion that was allocated to the Ministry of Defence in 2011.

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) previously functioned as a separate department under the Ministry of Defence with effect from November 2010.The Ministry of Economic Development headed by Minister Basil Rajapaksa will get more than Rs. 104 billion, up from 75 billion in 2011 while there is also a steep rise in the allocation made to the Ministry of Finance and Planning, which is also headed by President Rajapaksa. It will go up to Rs. 124 billion from the Rs. 72.5 allocated in 2011.

The Ports and Highways Ministry has got over Rs. 144 billion while in 2011, the Highways Ministry was given Rs. 102 billion and Ports and Aviation Rs. 28.6 billion.

Another sum of around Rs 6.1 billion has been allocated for the Office of the President, of which 2.85 is for recurrent expenditure while the rest is for operational and development activities.

There is also an increase in the allocations for both the health and education sectors with the Ministry of Health getting more than Rs. 73 billion, up from Rs. 62 billion in 2011 while the Education Ministry will get around Rs. 33 billion, up from Rs. 30.7 billion in 2011.

The Transport Ministry has been given Rs. 53 billion, up from Rs. 45 billion in 2011 while the allocations to the Ministry of External Affairs will increase marginally from the Rs 6.6 billion it was allocated in 2011.

The Ministry of sports will also have a slight increase in its allocations for 2012 – from Rs. 1.7 billion in 2011 to Rs. 2 billion. The allocation to the Ministry of Resettlement has recorded a sharp decline — Rs. 481 million. It received Rs. 2.4 billion in 2011.

The Secretariat for Special Functions (Senior Ministers) has been allocated Rs. 293 million, of which 253 million is recurrent expenditure.

Photos of the open discussion on "Private Universities in SriLanka"

Appropriation bill 2012 presented

Tuesday, 18 October 2011 17:37

The Appropriation Bill for 2012 was presented in Parliament by Prime Minister D.M. Jayarathne this afternoon.

The highest amount of Rs.229.94 billion (recurrent Rs.215.42 billion) has been allocated to the Ministry of Defence and Urban Development. The Health and Education ministries have been allocated Rs.74 billion and 33.25 billion respectively. Rs.2.1 billion has been set aside for the Ministry of Mass Media and Information.

The debate on the second reading will be held for seven days from November 22 to 30, and the vote on the budget will be taken on November 30. The Committee Stage debate will be held for 17 days including Saturdays except on December 10, from December 1 to 21.. The vote on the third reading is scheduled to be held on December 21.

The total estimated expenditure for 2012 is to be Rs.2,220 billion, necessitating an increase in Recurrent Expenditure from Rs.1,029 billion in 2011 to Rs.1,109 billion in 2012, and the Capital Expenditure from Rs.938 billion to Rs.1,111 billion. The total revenue will be Rs.1,115 billion. Public Investment has increased from Rs.453 billion in 2011 to Rs.541 billion in 2012 in order to maintain the momentum in the growth rate of eight percent.

The government is aiming to reduce the budget deficit to 6.2 percent of GDP while maintaining an eight percent economic growth and an annual inflation between six and seven percent in the 2012 budget.

President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Minister of Finance and Planning will unveil his proposals to bridge the gap when the Budget proposal is presented in Parliament on November 21. (Source: News.lk)

Jaffna Student Leader Assaulted

Jaffna Student Leader Assaulted

The Daily Mirror, 16/10/2011,

Jaffna University students association leader Subramaniam Thavapalasingam (24) was assaulted by an unidentified group in Jaffna town today afternoon, sources said.

According to Mr. Thavapalasingam he was attacked while he was traveling along Palm Road in Jaffna by a 10 member group. “They assaulted me while asking whether I want a separate state” he said.

Thavapalasingam has been admitted to the Jaffna Hospital. Jaffna police are conducting the further investigations. (By Kavi suki and Nawam)

Don't turn Universities into job training

Don't turn Universities into job training

National Post, 18/08/2011, By Patrick Keeney,

When Woodrow Wilson resigned as president of Princeton University to run for president of the United States, he was asked why he would choose to move to Washington and leave behind the comforts of university life. "I couldn't stand the politics," was his reply.

University politics can be fractious and unforgiving, especially when academics debate the fundamental questions: What, exactly, is the mandate of the university? And what is a university education for?

Canadian universities have undergone radical alterations in their mandate. As recently as 1983, the distinguished American scholar Edward Shils could confidently assert that the distinctive mission of the university "is the methodical discovery and the teaching of truths about serious and important matters." But in the current age of micromanagement, mission statements and diversity offices, this description seems a quaint echo from a bygone age.

Democratic societies have always entertained competing conceptions of the university. But at the heart of our current dilemma lies a straightforward conflict between a view of the university as an institution designed for the preservation and dissemination of scholarship and education, with that of a training school, which focuses on providing students with skills relevant to employment and the economy.

Simply put, is the university an educational institution or a vocational one?

As a society, we need to be vigilant in defending the ideal of a liberal education. This ideal goes back to the Greeks, who believed that a liberal education is the most appropriate kind of preparation for freeborn citizens. The basic premise holds that education consists of developing the mind through humane learning, and that all educational activities should be subordinate to that end. Various writers have defined this ideal, but Leo Strauss pithily captures its essence: "Reading with care what the best minds had to say about the most important questions."

There will always be debates about what those questions are, and who is best positioned to speak on them. But the overarching aim of a liberal education was never in doubt: free citizens need to develop their minds - as opposed to simply acquiring marketable skills - to achieve lives that are rich, meaningful and rewarding.

It is this ideal that, in one form or another, has remained a constant in the imagination of the West, and was, until recent years, the animating spirit in our universities. And most professors still acknowledge this ideal - or some version of it - as a crucial part of the university's mission. Yet this ideal is being eroded and undermined, if not deliberately bulldozed, in the name of a reckless, unrelenting economic pragmatism.

What is undeniable is that there has been a widespread drift away from the arts and humanities and toward professional, applied and vocational study. The notion of studying anything for its intrinsic value, for the sheer joy and pleasure that such study brings, is rapidly giving way to a new sort of industrial utilitarianism, where the only learning that is considered worthwhile is that which is directly linked to a job or a career. We seem to have forgotten Aristotle's observation that humans are, by their very nature, creatures who desire to know.

There are some university programs that undeniably lead students directly to specific career opportunities, particularly in the hard sciences (a student studying to become the proverbial rocket scientist isn't ignoring the value of a liberal education, after all - he's taking the educational steps necessary to accomplish a laudable professional goal). But it is easy to overlook the fact that liberal education has a practical side. True, it does not seek to train people for specific jobs, but it does aim to provide students with a good, general intelligence, which individuals can then apply to any career they see fit to pursue.

As Matthew Barrett, former CEO of the Bank of Montreal, once remarked: "Anyone who can detect themes in Chaucer is certainly capable of learning double-entry bookkeeping in my bank."

The ever-expanding list of courses in business and technology, along with the inclusion of work experience as a part of university study, breaks down any distinction between a university that educates and a vocational college that focuses on trades and skills. The reason that administrators value vocational courses and programming is straightforward: They attract students and bring in more money. Universities can charge higher fees if the student thinks there is a direct and immediate economic payoff. And business groups are, by and large, more likely to provide donations, grants, scholarships, bursaries and so on if the universities are offering courses which they believe will ultimately benefit the business world.

Yet to buy into this "bottomline" view of the university is to deny that universities exists for any reason other than job preparation; it is to allow economic considerations to set our educational priorities; it is to repudiate any vision of education beyond a pragmatic, hard-headed, business model; it is to squander the gravitas that a university education once bestowed upon its graduates; and it is to ignore that part of the human spirit, which desires to know simply for the sake of knowing.

Governments in various jurisdictions have been successful in persuading people to accept the view that universities should become more like vocational schools. It is time to ask ourselves if this hollowing out of a crucial institution and enfeebling of a cherished educational ideal is worth the price.

- Patrick Keeney is the editor of Prospero, a Journal of New Thinking in Philosophy for Education. He is currently an adjunct professor in the faculty of education at Simon Fraser University.

The Private Medical College - A point of view

October 17, 2011, 6:24 pm


by Edward Gunawardena

Many people of this country are keenly following the controversy that has arisen from the establishment of a private medical college. Being myself interested, having been the Advisor to the University Grants Commission during the dispute that arose over the setting up of the Colombo North Medical College and also having been a Member of the Sri Jayewardenepura University Council, who in the early nineties strongly supported the establishment of a medical faculty with Dr. H. H. R. Samarasinghe as- the first Dean, I have read at least a few of the arguments for and against the setting up of the PMC Malabe.

The argument that a private medical school cuts across the concept of free education and as such should not be allowed to operate is ridiculous. In fact free education does not exist anymore. Not only are fees being charged for every school activity but even bribery is rampant.

In the early fifties of the last century when the population of this country was less than 10 M and the economy booming with the Korean War "Free Education, the pearl of great price", as some journalists labelled it was a huge welfare initiative of the first government of independent Ceylon. Politicians short sighted as they always are, never thought of its sustainability. But understandably the beneficiaries of free education will keep on defending it inasmuch as the Sinhala only policy of SWRD Bandaranaike is being defended by some idiots even today!

The plain truth is that today the country is not in a position to provide free education to every child yearning to proceed beyond the Advance Level stage. Fifty years ago even in Medicine the specializations were perhaps only medicine and surgery. Today the medical specializations range from the scalp of the head to the genitals, anus and the toes. Very soon the MBBS will be replaced by degrees such as Bachelor of Cardiology, Bachelor of Oncology, Bachelor of Nephrology, Bachelor of Urology etc.

What a village midwife did some years ago is today performed by a FRCOG (London) assisted by a MBBS (Col) and a team of nurses in an air conditioned, Sterilized Theatre. And at what cost to the patient!

Why only medicine? What about Engineering, Architecture, IT, Computer Science, Finance, Food Technology and the numerous other modern disciplines ? The state just cannot teach all these free. Nor is the state competent to teach these.’ The only modern profitable employment in this country that does not need even a Montessori education is politics.

The vacuum has to be filled by the private sector. Today under the free and open economy the private sector has been called upon to actively participate in this nations development effort. And development is not something that can be confined to Factories, Hotels, Airlines, Commercial farming etc. The patriotic private sector involvement, more than the purely mercenary foreign interests in the educating of our youth in all the modern disciplines required for a knowledge based economy, including medicine has become a sine qua non for our progress -the path for which has been cleared and smoothened by H.E. the President himself.

No individual or an institution in its proper senses can say that allowing the establishment of teaching institutions by the private sector on Medicine, Engineering, IT, , Languages or even beauty culture will spell the down fall of free education. Basic education, subsidized by the fruits of privatized education is bound to remain free. A thriving private sector in education, as is the practice the world over will always be magnanimous enough to provide scholarships and bursaries to the deserving.

Unfortunately free education is a sensitive subject. As long as we have fools and opportunists in politics the abolition of free education will not be considered. Arguably, even our universities have slumped to low levels in world ratings because of free education. With Mahapola grants they are even paid to learn!

The most vociferous lobby against the PMC Malabe is the GMOA the trade union of the government doctors, most of them being beneficiaries of free education. Going by the article that appeared in the Sunday Times of 25/09 on the Malabe Medical College dispute there appears to be a serious lacuna in the definition of ‘Specialist doctors’.

The Health Ministry issuing a statement that media reports gave the wrong impression about the standard of specialist doctors serving in government hospitals has said, "All specialist doctors serving in the Health Ministry have obtained a post graduate qualification from the PGIM or gone for training abroad, assessed etc. and appointed as specialists."

The question that comes to my mind and I trust all right thinking people will agree with me is, ‘Do these qualifications alone make one a specialist doctor?’

It needs to be emphasized that the main pillar on which a profession rests is its ethics. I believe one of the main functions of the SLMC is to ensure the ethical conduct of the medical profession. This may extend to areas beyond the purely professional tasks. Even in trade union activities doctors unlike private bus operators or harbour workers are expected to act with a sense of decorum and dignity.

How many of these specialist doctors who. engage in private practice whilst working for a state salary are concerned about the care and convenience of patients ? How many of these consultants care for punctuality? How many care even to say ‘Sorry for the delay’? Is there a limit to their case loads? Don’t they give preferential treatment to patients in government hospitals who channel them? After charging Rs. 1,000/= or more and after subjecting them to a long wait how many minutes do these specialists devote to a patient? How many gladly welcome questions from patients? How many even care to smile or use a few soothing words? Even common courtesy is alien to many of these men with specialist qualifications.

The plain truth is that many of these specialists are hell bent on seeing as many patients as possible rushing from hospital to hospital till midnight with even their clothes smelling of sweat.

If the private sector begins to produce doctors this mad rush is bound to ease and the spoils will get distributed. This unquestionably is the primary motivating factor against the privatization of medical education. The SLMC too has failed in its duty by allowing medical specialists to become specialists in the exploitation of patients with no concern whatsoever for the sick who make the specialists rich.

It is in this background that one has to consider the PMC dispute. Even in secondary education marked differences are observed in the behaviour, manners demeanour etc. of children attending different schools. A private medical college with links to an internationally recognized educational institution will produce medical graduates not only with raw medical qualifications but also language and other useful skills and values. They are bound to be instilled with acumen primarily required of a doctor for the care and concern of patients.

Medicine has always been a profession looked up to in this country. I remember the days when our rustic village folks addressed them as Dostara Hamudurowo. Doctors of the time were full of manners, gentle and kind hearted and always smartly dressed. Their concern for patients was such that they even visited them in their homes. Much attention was paid to after care, particularly post surgery.

I was indeed surprised one day when I saw a middle aged man dressed in trousers wearing rubber slippers walking along a corridor of the national hospital with a stethoscope dangling from his neck. I was saddened to know later that he was a doctor !

All these add up to the standard of the profession. The MBBS alone is insufficient. Many of the MBBS graduates passing out of the state medical faculties are themselves doubtful of the quality and standard of their own degrees. I often wonder why they do not mention the name of the University behind the letters MBBS. Seldom do we see a EBBS (S.J.P.) OR MBBS (Ruhuna). A doctor with MBBS (Col.) proudly flaunts it. Some even have MBBS (Sri Lanka) when there is no such degree. Certainly there is some apprehension booming that MBBS (Nizhny Novgorod) or MBBS (NNSMA) will sound more impressive and command greater respect particularly abroad.

Another matter of concern is the grave danger that has arisen from the increasing number of quacks in the country. With large advertising boards displaying bogus qualifications these quacks practice with impunity. They even fraudulently earn millions treating sports celebrities using banned substances. The SLMC has failed miserably to counter this menace; and the GMOA has strangely remained silent.

Finally, the manner in which, particularly the GMOA has approached this issue does not reflect too well on the medical profession. The stated grievance of the GMOA is that no private institution can be allowed to function if it does not conform to standards.

This is certainly not an insurmountable criterion for the private sector. After all even the ranks of Tuscany will agree that it is the private sector that has provided golden opportunities for private practice in hospitals with state of the art facilities that state hospitals cannot afford. It is also the private sector that provides the sponsorship for doctors to sharpen their skills and improve their knowledge by attending world class seminars and workshops.

What the GMOA should do is to co-operate with the government and the private sector to achieve the desired standards and produce competent doctors as the country needs more doctors. Currently the GMOA could suggest the upgrading of some of the peripheral hospitals to teaching hospitals. The promoters of private medical colleges will I am sure gladly assist the government in this regard. The GMOA must appreciate the fact that the PMC Malabe is a courageous pioneering effort in medical education by a highly respected doctor and gentleman. And no pioneering effort is devoid of teething problems. Being a private enterprise it will constantly strive for excellence.

The confrontational attitude of the GMOA is understandable. It has a national reputation for threats and strikes at the drop of a hat with callous disregard for the sick ; and these are people who have received medical degrees at the taxpayers expense and who have taken the Hypocratic oath.

Deviating drastically from the ethical standards of debate the GMOA has sunk to abysmal depths of character assassination and defamation by referring to this sincere, laudable initiative as a ‘Sakviti’ type fraud; whereas no student or parent has made such allegation. Real "Medical frauds’ take place today in the private hospitals with the unconscionable inflation of ‘Doctor’s fees’ - a charge that psychologically prevents a patient from challenging. Patients pay without protest. What greater exploitation of the helpless sick? Sometimes doctor’s fees are not reflected in the official bill but collected by nurses. They also inflate their fees when the patient is insured. Thereby don’t the doctors defraud both the Inland Revenue Dept. and the Insurance provider?

The motive for this venomous approach of the GMOA, even dragging university students to the streets has today become obvious. It knows that the PMC Malabe with its affiliation to the reputed Nizhny Novgorod Medical Academy (NNSMA) of Russia under the entrepreneurial leadership of Dr. Neville Fernando will spark the emergence of a vibrant private medical education culture in Sri Lanka that will spell doom to the mafia type domination that the GMOA has enjoyed for decades.

 

Science Education Outreach on improving teaching methods

October 17, 2011, 9:33 pm


‘Science Education Outreach’ was the theme of a workshop organized the Institute of Chemistry, on October 13, in collaboration with the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Academy of Science Sri Lanka (NASSL), National Institute of Education (NIE) and the Ministry of Education.

The event was partially sponsored by NSF. This was the first ever such event in recent history where all parties related to science gathered in one forum to discuss issues related to science education and its improvement for a better tomorrow.

Many educationalist, university lecturers, institutional heads and school teachers participated at the event.

This workshop was co-ordinated by Dr. Vinitha M. Thadhani the group leader for science education of Global Young Academy, who is currently attached to Institute of Chemistry as a senior lecturer.

Enjoining order against GMOA extended

October 17, 2011, 9:07 pm

By Chitra Weerarathne

Colombo District Judge Ranjit Watupola yesterday, extended till October 30, 2011, the enjoining order issued earlier, restraining the Government Medical Officers Association from resorting to Trade Union action.

The defendant GMOA was given time till October 31, 2011 to file objections to the plaint filed by a patient Juliana Dahanayake of Nugegoda. The petitioner had said that, the Medical Officers were planning to resort to trade union action on the basis that the personal file of the President of the GMOA was taken over by the Bribery Commissioner. The plaintiff said that this was a matter concerning an individual only and could not be connected to trade union action. The impending action planned by the GMOA is arbitrary and detrimental to public interest. Hence it should be prohibited by the Court by a permanent injunction.

Chandana Perera appeared for the plaintiff.

* Sri Lanka university lecturers warn of union action if government fails to provide solutions in budget
Sun, Oct 16, 2011, 11:53 am SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Oct 16, Colombo: University lecturers in Sri Lanka have warned of severe trade union action if the government fails to grant the due salary increase in the 2012 budget proposals.
The Federation of the University Teachers' Association (FUTA) has said that the university academics' request should be included in the budget proposals.
FUTA Spokesperson Dr. Mahim Mendis has said the proposals made so far by the government were temporary and that the permanent solution needed to be included in the budget proposals.
He has warned of serious repercussions in the event the government neglects the salary issue of the university lecturers at the 2012 budget.
The FUTA has already resorted to several trade union actions this year demanding a salary hike.

Customer service:

*Look after employees, they will look after customers

October 16, 2011, 6:15 pm


Welcome

Welcome to the sixty first edition of this regular column. Here, we discuss a wide range of topics around Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), many aspects of Business, Education, Entrepreneurship, Creativity, Innovation and the Society at large.

Customer Service

Today’s topic is Customer Service. Yes, that’s something we all expect, don’t we?

Simply put, customer service is about providing services to customers before, during and after a purchase.

Customer service can also be expressed as a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.

Customer service happens in many ways. Face to Face, over the phone, through email/fax etc. Voice BPOs that we discussed last week, which are often called Call Centers, provide outsourced customer service over the phone. However, almost any organization has some element of customer service and it could be either outsourced or managed in-house.

Call centres are also called contact centres, because they act as contact points for customers of the client company. This could happen in two ways. The call centre may call customers to help or discuss certain things while the customers may also call the contact centre to obtain assistance with their specific queries. These two are identified as in-bound and out-bound.

Customer care is applicable in both cases but it is more applicable for in-bound call centres where customers call the centre asking for help. Out bounds usually engage in tele-marketing type of work to sell products and services to customers.

Following are few areas that are important to ensure customer satisfaction:

Timeliness – The time taken to respond to customer queries.

Flexibility – The options available for customers. If the customers are pushed for just one option, they aren’t going to be too happy.

Friendliness – Is the customer being dealt with in a friendly manner?

Honesty – Is the customer support agent honest in what can be done for the customer and what cannot be done?

Customer Expectations – Once someone gives a customer a promise, they set an expectation on the service. Is that expectation delivered on?

Quality of Service – Customers do expect correct information and quality service as they are paying the organisation for whatever the service they are getting. So, a level of quality needs to be maintained.

Value Addition – Do you add value to the customer in addition to what they are already paying for?

It is important to greet and welcome the customer when they call or visit the organsation. Then a good customer service professional needs to understand the customer’s problem and be empathetic towards the problem. Empathy is a word that I personally had a lot of trouble coming to terms with. What it means is not just to understand the other person but be able to get into their shoes and think from their perspective to really feel the way they are feeling. Once that’s done, it’s easier to help the customer from that point onwards and make sure they are ultimately happy with the service. If the customer feels that they were well treated and that they received value for their money, they will be ambassadors promoting your organisations. This is something to reflect on for businesses that provide customer support for their products and services.

Every customer is different in some way from others. Discovering and understanding these differences results in a high probability of delivering service in a way that is perceived to be satisfying to each customer. Its advised to get feedback from customers at all times and then listen, especially when it hurts.

Skills

Interpersonal skills, verbal communication skills, listening skills and basic computer skills are important for customer care professionals. In addition to that, they need to know about the service or products that the customer needs assistance with. For example, if they are helping customers of a bank, they obviously need to know well about the products and services of that bank.

A good customer care ‘professional’ needs to develop certain skills to be able to do their job well. I would like to emphasise the word ‘professional’ in the last sentence. There are people who think call centre and other customer support jobs are easy, or that you can do it without any training, support or professional development. However, a good training would make real professionals.

As mentioned earlier, customer care is one of the most crucial aspects of any business. At the end the day, all businesses exist because of customers, and their survival is highly dependent on how well the customers are serviced. There is this famous saying, "If you don’t take care of your customers, someone else will", and that is very true. So, if the customer care/support personnel aren’t well trained, how do you expect to manage that critical element?

Following are a few principles around Customer Service.

* Be approachable and welcoming.

* Ask the right questions to find out what the customer needs.

* Listen carefully and show that how the customer is feeling is understood.

* Take responsibility for meeting customer’s needs – don’t leave it to others or blame others.

* Treat every customer as an individual and treat them with respect.

* Be responsive. Go the extra mile to help the customer.

* Be reliable. Don’t make promises that can’t be kept.

* Turn a complaint into something positive by dealing with it effectively

A Few Quotes

A few quotes around customer Service would be a good read I guess.

The Customer is King. - Unknown

If you make customers unhappy in the physical world, they might each tell 6 friends. If you make customers unhappy on the Internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends. - Jeff Bezos

Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong. - Donald Porter

The goal as a company is to have customer service that is not just the best, but legendary. - Sam Walton (Wal-Mart)

People expect good service but few are willing to give it. - Robert Gately

Here is a simple but powerful rule - always give people more than what they expect to get. - Nelson Boswell

You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied. - Jerry Fritz

Although your customers won’t love you if you give bad service, your competitors will. - Kate Zabriskie

Customer service is not a department, it’s an attitude! - Unknown

Sales without Customer Service is like stuffing money into a pocket full of holes. - David Tooman

An Experience

I would like to share a personal experience that explains customer care in different perspectives.

When I was in Australia, I had to once travel from Sydney to Brisbane on Qantas airways. We were on the last flight of the day and unfortunately the airline had to cancel the flight. As a customer, I was in difficulty as I had booked the night flight so that I can be at my destination that night and be available for an event early the following morning. However, the cancellation of the flight was probably due to a reasonable matter, and I understood and accepted the situation.

Therefore we were put in a 5-star hotel for the night. And I was late to my event after taking the flight next day morning.

However, to make up for the inconvenience caused, they later inquired into the situation that took place, and sent us a valuable gift voucher to be used for travelling with them in the future.

Now this shows how an organisation tried to provide customer service to the best of its ability and when it had some lapses still took some action to ensure the customer was eventually happy. That’s what you call as good customer care.

Look after your employees, then they will look after the customers

Last week, I was invited by the Rotary Club of Colombo Metropolitan to make a speech to their members. And the topic revolved around Semco, the most unusual workplace in the world. That is a topic we talked about in this column too. People were interested to hear Ricardo Semler’s democratic ways of managing the organisation. If you remember the story, SEMCO has many schemes to provide flexibility to its employees. In fact their core effort is to provide employees with flexible work, allow them to do what they like to do and manage work-life balance. They believe it will ultimately help the business significantly as well as provide better service to customers because employees are happy and empowered.

A quote from Richard Branson (The Virgin Entrepreneur) from one of his speeches made at University of Sydney:

"Convention dictates that a company should look after its shareholders first, its customers second and its employees last. At Virgin we do the opposite. It seems common sense to me that if you start with a happy and motivated workforce, you’re much more likely to have happy customers – which, of course, leads to larger profits and happy shareholders."

Semco and Virgin shed light on another side of achieving better customer service.

I will save more of Sir Branson for a separate column.

See you next week!