Who is motivated? -Lessons from “Dog Biscuit”.

Posted on May 13, 2012 by prashant bhatt

Who is motivated-I or the dog?

The dog wants the biscuit, but it is I who wants it to move

From “One more time, how do you motivate employees”

Frederick Herzberg, Harvard Business Review

12th May-International Nurses Day is observed on the  birthday of Florence Nightingale, one of the founders of modern Nursing practices. We had some interesting discussions and readings on the theme of Clinical governance through the nursing perspective. The issue of motivation of expatriate nursing staff of different nationalities came up in the context of public sector and private clinics in Libya.

Job enrichment or KITA

The surest way of getting someone to do something is to deliver a kick in the pants-put bluntly the KITA. But while a KITA might produce some change in behavior, it doesn’t motivate.

An employee with an internal generator does not need a KITA.

In case of expatriate workers who have left something behind with a particular aim , there is usually some level of internal generator.

Professionals association

One veteran remembered how they would organize training and orientation programs on International Nurses Day in Tripoli. Things are in limbo due to the current situation. However, the professionals do meet regularly, discuss issues in different chapters and there is an ongoing effort to get things more organized. The association is mainly organized by Philippino staff but other nationalities also help.

KITA or Dog biscuit?

What is the model your “Mudir” uses ? Or can you fit him into any particular category?

The question led to some interesting responses from the expatriate workers of different nationalities.

The universality of issues facing working people irrespective of their nationalities came up.

Clinical governance: Who is motivated-I or the dog?

Clinical governance regarding ward arrangements, coordination with different treating specialties, pharmacy, operation room, and the interfaces involved was one issue which nursing professionals brought up. The different levels of training and motivation of the staff in the care area and the lack of any guiding program by the senior local nursing directors was an area where they can work upon together.

While musing on these issues, one veteran was wondering who is the “dog” to be motivated? The nursing professional who is giving care  or the administrator who is overseeing visa-salary and gratuity-leave issues or the patient-relative who is trying to work through the system.

 The dog wants the biscuit, but it is I who wants it to move

“It all depends on the situation, and who is on the receiving end” one veteran summarized.

“ But for many of our staff contract related issues, the refrain is Bukra-tomorrow, when it comes to their service issues-it is Tawwa-immediately”

Motivation in such circumstances will be better effected by trying to collectively discuss and formulate a joint action plan. Sharing clinical knowledge and experiences and also the different local administrative issues will help. The professionals association is divided into chapters depending on local districts and each chapter has around 25 members. Charting their “Everyday histories” can be a way forward.

Lessons from “Dog Biscuit”

12th May-International Nurses day  we tried to map out different processes related to service and contract issues in the context of present day Libya. The motivation and training issues are blended into the complex dynamics of expatriate workers issues, (visa, salary transfers, travel, gratuity). Who wants to move and how do we try to define the “Dog biscuit” can be an interesting creative joint exercise.

Other related posts

Examining Pygmalion Effect –How do your managers treat you?

https://prashantbhatt.com/2012/04/23/first-line-managers-pygmalion-effect/

Enquring Cascade Effect- Do vocal persons walk away with agenda in your organization?

https://prashantbhatt.com/2012/04/25/cascade-effect-in-organizations/

Issues of Reverse Migration in context of Arab world workers.

https://prashantbhatt.com/2012/05/04/rip-van-vinkle/

Posted in Diary, Health Policy, Learning | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Reverse migration-Workers as “Rip Van Vinkle”

Posted on May 4, 2012 by prashant bhatt

Reverse migration is an issue which every worker living in Arab world faces in some way or the other.

In our discussion on May Day, after reading out excerpts of Hay Market

https://prashantbhatt.com/2012/05/01/the-eight-hour-day-remembering-hay-market-in-tripoli/

and the struggle for the 8 hour working day, the discussion went into trying to gauge the common characters of the community-Expatriate workers and Indians in particular.

Reverse migration is a reality as people living in Arab countries like Libya which does not give any residency rights to long term workers have to face this reality in different ways.

Is this similar to the Rip Van Vinkle effect?

He awakes in unusual circumstances: it seems to be morning, his gun is rotted and rusty, his beard has grown a foot long, and Wolf is nowhere to be found. Rip returns to his village where he finds that he recognizes no one. Asking around, he discovers that his wife has died and that his close friends have died in a war or gone somewhere else. He immediately gets into trouble when he proclaims himself a loyal subject of King George III, not knowing that the American Revolution has taken place; George III’s portrait on the town inn has been replaced by that of George Washington. Rip is also disturbed to find another man is being called Rip Van Winkle (though this is in fact his son, who has now grown up). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rip_Van_Winkle

Differences and similarities between different sectors.

Indians are generally seen as adaptable, working honestly. The previous generation of teachers in the University taught well, and gained a good reputation. This leads new immigrant workers to have a good reputation. The managers in construction companies have a good reputation –but the issue of these workers living in isolated camps rather than within the population as is the case with workers in health and education sectors came up. In health sector, doctors, paramedic staff, nursing professionals interact with the local population at a more intimate level than the workers who live in construction company camps.

On returning

The yearly sabbatical is one thing, the prospect of returning for good to your home country is different. Having interviewed some who have returned, some who try out the market conditions in their home country and return and some who do not leave these cushions gave an interesting mix.

Is the global  work space more a reality?

How many workers know about Haymarket, someone asked.

The ripple effects of Haymarket are there to stay, whether one knows about it or not.

What is the relevance of 8 hour day for persons who live away from families, as in the army or in desert oil operations?

These were some interesting lines of enquiry and discussion as we wound up our discussions on International Workers Day.

Posted in Arab Spring-Libya, Diary, Learning, life | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Eight Hour Day –Remembering Hay Market in Tripoli

Posted on May 1, 2012 by prashant bhatt

            Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what we will

                                                                        Rallying slogan of the 8 hour working day

                                                                        Movement of Chicago 1886.

The first secular holiday of Libya under the transitional council is the International Worker’s day.Earlier, other than Islamic holidays, the only secular holidays were those relating to the important dates on the calendar of the previous regime.

Remembering Hay Market

“No single event has influenced the history of labor in Illinois, the United States, and even the world, more than the Chicago Haymarket Affair.  It began with a rally on May 4, 1886, but the consequences are still being felt today. Although the rally is included in American history textbooks, very few present the event accurately or point out its significance.” –Bill Adelman

See related  links http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/haymarket-tour-intro.html

http://www.illinoislaborhistory.org/resources/labor-heroes.html

Links to the Anti-slavery movement and American Civil War

How, Sylvis, a leading labor organizer,  asked, could a republic at war with the principle of slavery, make it a felony for a workingman to exercise his right to protest, a right President Lincoln had once celebrated as the emblem of free labor?… If the ‘greasy mechanics and horny-handed sons of toil’ who elected Abraham Lincoln became slaves to work instead of self-educated citizens and producers, what was to become of the Republic? (Suggested further reading http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/may2009/haym-m19.shtml)

 

Some important dates linked to Haymarket

The Haymarket tragedy on 4th May 1886 led to the sentencing of its anarchist leaders, four of whom-Albert Parsons, August Spies, Adolph Fischer, George Engel were hanged on 11th November 1887. The eight hour day struggle also brought out interesting differences between the trends of anarchism and communism in leading the working people’s struggles. These debates go on till today.

Conversations with an Unknown Worker-In Tripoli

In the post-Gaddafi Libya of today, we see how different groups and tendencies vie for position and power. There is a debate of who was more important –NATO or Islamists. Which law should be the model? Should religious parties be banned?

In this context I had an interesting discussion with a worker whose oft repeated slogan during the days of the conflict was

“Maphish Kahraba,  Maphish Benzene, Maphish Manjaria…   Muammar-Bas”

“No Electricity, No Benzene, No food-Only Muammar”

In his own small anonymous ways, he helped undermine the regime of Abu-Shafshoofa.

Abu Shafshoofa Tamlek-Graffiti in Tripoli

Abu-Shafshoofa-Tamlek- Bye Bye Abu-Shafshoofa-Graffiti in Tripoli

Why are you positioning for the grants from the government, I questioned him.

“We have been without proper salaries for several months. Some of our family never returned from the fighting. This is a support we can get in the interim period till things settle down.”

He clarified that only those who stayed behind during the whole period of conflict will be getting the grants.

“Those who went to Tunisia and waited it out cannot return and claim to be revolutionists and expect these grants.”

Dear Dom and Gaddafi -related conversations: A complex multifaceted history.

Another interesting conversation was related to the controversy generated by the movie “Dear Dom” and the legacy of Mintoffians in Maltese labour movement and politics of the country.

Malta has had historical ties with Libya.

“It is a complex history,” one veteran working in private health care sector explained the nuances. “When the British left Malta in 1979 they thought that we will starve. They did everything possible to make things difficult for the Maltese. It was Dom Mintoff’s vision and the support he got from quarters such as Libya which helped pay the salaries, develop the industries and services.”

“What about the political violence in the Mintoffian times?”  I asked him after reading the comments and debates

See links

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120416/opinion/We-know-what-Mintoff-did.415675

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120331/local/Controversy-rages-over-Mintoff-film.413428

The veteran who has seen both Libya and Malta from an insider’s perspective while being of Syrian origin  summed it up like this,

“Personalities and rulers like Gaddafi and Dom did some things for their country.

But there was a darker side of their regimes which the people will have to face up to, so that their societies can heal. He recalls the days when Dom would be yelling in the offices at Castille or the stories of disappearances during the Gaddafi period. The public face, the international relations machine showed one picture. The other picture is also there, which has to be addressed if these societies have to heal and move forward”

* * *

As we studied the complex histories of Hay Market, recalling the words of Albert Spies which we had remembered while pledging to stand by the Libyan people during their most testing time for a generation.

August Spies echoed back through time…

“The Time will come when our silence will be more powerful

than the voices you strangle today”

(Death in the Haymarket-1886)

https://prashantbhatt.com/2011/02/27/evacuations-in-tripoli-touch-and-go/

The native informant, be it the unknown worker who is trying to seek his position in the post-Gaddafi Libya where many powerful forces are jostling for power, or the health care worker who is seeing the complex history of Middle-East and Mediterranean unfold, through direct experiences of Mintoffian and Gaddafi years, gave some interesting insights into this region.

While remembering some of those who did not survive these years the words of the writer Julius Fuchik came to mind

“I press the hand of every comrade who lives through this last battle, and those who come after us.

A handclasp for Gustina and for me; we who did our duty.

“And I repeat, we live for happiness, for that we went to battle, for that we die.

Let grief never be connected with our name.”

http://www.trussel.com/hf/heros.htm

Does the 8 hour day remind us of the universality of the issues and rights of the working people across national boundaries?

Posted in Arab Spring-Libya, Learning, life | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments