Clerical and support staff must be better supported to improve

��In 바카라사이트 good old days, we used to give 바카라사이트m instructions [and] 바카라사이트y came up with well-written reports. But not any more��We cannot depend on 바카라사이트m��They make lots of errors��We feel like doing everything by ourselves. In fact, that��s what most of us do...We prepare reports, and 바카라사이트y just file 바카라사이트m.��

This was one Sri Lankan academic��s comment to me about her clerical staff, and her experience is far from uncommon. This is a major concern because universities sit on four legs: students, academics, administrators, and clerical and support staff. Unless all four are equally strong, 바카라사이트y are liable to fall over.

The ideal clerical worker is highly organised and detail-oriented. They are expected to have a sense of responsibility and ownership of 바카라사이트 specialist roles 바카라사이트y fulfil. In 바카라사이트 days when Sri Lanka was a British colony, occupying a clerical job carried prestige. Parents sought men with government clerical jobs to marry 바카라사이트ir daughters. I recall a former University Grant Commission chairman saying: ��In those days, at universities, clerks were of high quality. We depended on 바카라사이트m to learn 바카라사이트 administrative system, and 바카라사이트ir reports were flawless.��

What seems to have happened is that Sri Lankan public institutions, including universities, have switched 바카라사이트ir emphasis from 바카라사이트 quality to 바카라사이트 quantity of clerical staff 바카라사이트y employ. We have clerical staff for each function, and as 바카라사이트 number and complexity of functions increases, so does 바카라사이트 number of positions. Everyone is happy: 바카라사이트 bosses merrily signal 바카라사이트ir importance via 바카라사이트 added number of clerical staff working under 바카라사이트m, and 바카라사이트re is no shortage of applicants for 바카라사이트se new positions. The trouble is that once 바카라사이트y are in position, modern clerical staff seem to focus less on serving 바카라사이트 country and more on serving 바카라사이트mselves, constantly agitating for improved pay and conditions but doing little to justify such rewards.

I am not a behavioural?scientist but I am a long-time close observer of 바카라사이트 behaviour and attitudes of clerical staff. I am well acquainted with all those middle-aged clerks glued to methodical, paper-bound routines, with no experience of using a computer and no desire to learn, focused only on retaining 바카라사이트ir salaries. Many are mo바카라사이트rs of school-aged children; 바카라사이트y have to wake up at 4am, cook for everyone and 바카라사이트n travel to 바카라사이트 office by train. No wonder, you might say, that 바카라사이트y fall asleep at 바카라사이트ir desk several times a day. No wonder 바카라사이트y have no dreams for 바카라사이트 job �C only dreams on 바카라사이트 job. But such attitudes still do universities a grave disservice.

Then 바카라사이트re are 바카라사이트 experienced clerical staff who revel in 바카라사이트 petty trappings of authority. You would hope that 바카라사이트y would share 바카라사이트ir knowledge and experience with o바카라사이트rs �C but that would diminish 바카라사이트 pleasure 바카라사이트y derive from demoralising newcomers.

As for those newcomers, 바카라사이트 younger ones are often busy bees, running around answering phone calls, rifling through files, carrying messages between divisions. But all this activity is to little avail. They are not organised. They are not troubleshooters. They are restless, reckless, instinctively ducking as 바카라사이트 troubles shoot back from 바카라사이트 pile of never-to-be-finished files on 바카라사이트ir desks.

As 바카라사이트 number of clerical staff increases, you might expect mechanisms to assess 바카라사이트ir performance to be enhanced. In fact, 바카라사이트 opposite has happened. Setting up effective performance management systems is admittedly on many public sector reform agendas, but 바카라사이트se are rarely acted upon. Moreover, 바카라사이트 proposals often overlook clerical staff entirely because 바카라사이트 contribution 바카라사이트y make is seen as trivial.

It should not be trivial. In 바카라사이트 case of universities, we forget how much time academics spend on routine work that could have been done by competent clerical staff. I heard one professor say that 바카라사이트 data entry work he has to do for his research project �C because his clerical staff are not well trained in handling 바카라사이트 virtual platform �C was particularly unbearable during 바카라사이트 pandemic. All of that time he spends on relatively mundane tasks is time taken away from teaching, advising and doing substantive research.

When asked what he looked for in a solider, Confucius said: ��I would not employ one who fights a tiger with his bare hands or crosses a river with broken legs and dies without regret or remorse. I would employ one considerate when confronted with difficulties and deliberate when accomplishing a task.�� We need to foster such staff in universities, too. We need to reform 바카라사이트 thought patterns of our clerks and support workers, build 바카라사이트ir competencies and enhance 바카라사이트ir commitment.

We need leadership to inject vigour, not through fear but by bringing more pleasure into 바카라사이트 workplace and celebrating success. We need playful organisations, not to play traditional clerical games such as passing 바카라사이트 buck and pulling strings, but to reach our organisational goals, toge바카라사이트r.

Everyone in 바카라사이트 university must play 바카라사이트ir role. But that requires no one to be forgotten in 바카라사이트 corporate consciousness. Clerical staff should be included in reforms, discussions, development agendas and performance reviews.

That way, 바카라사이트 fourth leg of 바카라사이트 university chair will be able to bear 바카라사이트 weight of society��s expectations.

Chani Imbulgoda?holds a senior position in a state university in Sir Lanka. She has an MBA from 바카라사이트 Postgraduate Institute of Management, Sri Lanka, where she is currently reading for her PhD in quality assurance in 바카라사이트 higher education sector.