Do Human Care and Knowledge Management Practices Really Matter in Determining Worker Productivity? Perceptions of Supervisory Level Employees in Tea Plantation Sector in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The tea industry is still one of the dominant industries in Sri Lanka due to its vast impact on the economic and socio-cultural environment. However, this significance is gradually declining mainly because of lowering worker productivity. This current study explored whether the decreasing productivity in Sri Lankan Tea industry can be turned around and sustained by implementing human care and knowledge management practices that enhance tea estate workers' quality of life and quality of work life. Un-structured interviews with a random sample of 75 supervisory level managers of well-established tea plantation companies reported that a range of human care and knowledge management practices contribute to enhance worker productivity via enhanced quality of life and quality of work life. The findings provide implications to the social exchange and psychological contract theories whereas policy makers should implement proposed knowledge management and human care practices for enhancing the worker productivity.