Email Marketing for WordPress with Jetpack CRM, Contact and Subscriber Form
Contact Form (WordPress)
You can use the form block. Click the + sign, search for form and add the form block. You can read more about it here: wordpress.com/support/wordpress-editor/blocks/form-block/.
Subscribe Form (WordPress)
Just to confirm, the contact form is specifically our own form block? This is typically used to send you messages through your site, but you could possibly add the email addresses of people who contact you, to your subscribers list: en.support.wordpress.com/import-subscribers-to-a-newsletter/
We have spam protection through Akismet which is a built-in plugin on your website. Akismet is a dedicated plugin only to protect from Spam. So it not just protects from spam form submissions but also spam comments. Other plugins like contact7, wpform etc they do not have a built-in mechanism to protect from spam. They give you DNS records to add for spam protection and its not 100% fool proof.
Mailpoet Email Campaign
It somewhat depends what you need! Should these email campaigns be separate from blog posts? While our “new post” notification emails can possibly work as a newsletter, there’s a sibling product called Mailpoet which may be useful for you to check out: mailpoet.com. Mailpoet are a separate product from WordPress.com, but in the same family! It’s also a service which stores the email addresses of your subscribers locally on your site; so they’re not being moved to a separate server.
Features
HOSTING Self Hosted Stand Alone CRM SIMPLE TO USE Welcome Wizard Welcome Page Modularised Features CUSTOMERS Default Fields (Name, Address, etc) Add Custom Fields Customer Tags Customer Search Standalone CRM Customers Add/Edit Statuses (Lead, Customer, etc) Delete Default Fields Attach Files Segment Contacts Sync with PayPal, Stripe, WorldPay & More QUOTES (PROPOSALS) Quotes for Customers Quote Templates Online Quote Acceptance Quote to Invoice INVOICES Itemised Invoices Download Invoice as PDF Email Invoice as HTML Partial Payment Invoice Templates Power Tools (Export) Pay online with PayPal Pay online with Stripe Recurring Invoices Additional Payment Gateways CLIENT PORTAL Allow clients to access their own area Accept Quotes via Client Portal Pay Invoices via Client Portal Share files with clients TRANSACTIONS Assign Transaction to Invoices Log Incoming Transactions Transaction Tags Log Outgoing Transactions DATA TOOLS Import CSV Export CSV TEAM CRM Overall Admin Custom Team Roles Custom Roles for Customers B2B SALES Enable B2B Mode Create Companies Assign Contacts to Companies Assign Transactions to Companies LEAD GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT Lead Generation Forms Conversion rate tracking Gravity Forms Integration Contact Form 7 Integration Lead Automations REPORTING Individual Customer Activity Log Summary Dashboard Sales Reports Growth Reports Average Revenue Per Customer New Customers Per Period EMAIL OPTIONS Email a contact directly Send Targeted Emails Send Group Emails (Mail Campaigns) Emails sent individually (not bulk ‘to’) Setup Custom SMTP Delivery Routes Customisable Email Templates Enable/Disable System Emails Automatic Open Tracking API & DEVELOPER SUPPORT Connect other services to the CRM API Connector Plugin GitHub/Code Examples INTEGRATIONS Zapier Integration (connect hundreds of apps) PayPal Integration Stripe Integration WooCommerce Integration MOBILE READY Responsive iPhone App Android App MULTI-LANGUAGE, TRANSLATIONS, & LOCALISED Use the CRM in your own language
04:23:33 35468 [Note] InnoDB: Initializing buffer pool, size = 128.0M InnoDB: mmap(137363456 bytes) failed; errno 12 04:23:33 35468 [ERROR] InnoDB: Cannot allocate memory for the buffer pool 04:23:33 35468 [ERROR] Plugin ‘InnoDB’ init function returned error. 04:23:33 35468 [ERROR] Plugin ‘InnoDB’ registration as a STORAGE ENGINE failed. 04:23:33 35468 [ERROR] Unknown/unsupported storage engine: InnoDB 04:23:33 35468 [ERROR] Aborting
View Memory Usage
root@server [~]# free -m total used free shared buff/cache available Mem: 1995 776 375 106 844 955 Swap: 0 0 0
How to input SSH Terminal
There are different types of tools which is used to access in SSH mode. Putty is most popular among them. To use it follow below steps
First download Putty.
Then install it.
Then run it.
Enter your Server IP in Host Name
Set Port : 22
Click Open
Input user Name
Input Password
Now Ready to input SSH Command according to your requirement
Useful SSH Commands on Putty
free : It shows free and occupied memory in your server in kb
free -m : It shows free and occupied memory in your server
free -h : It shows free and occupied memory in your server in Mb
sar -r : To see previous memory log
swapon -s : To see swap devices and sizes (where swapon is installed)
top -c : Command to check the sever load and CPU usage
mysqldump database_name > new_filename.sql : For backup
backupdb aertgar1_hefgynp 162.221.233.112 : Blue host backup database
exit : To close putty
clear : To clear screen
ls -l : details of the files, e.g. size, modified date and time, the owner, and the permissions
ls -a : shows hidden files & directories.
cd home/TestDirectory/AnotherDirectory : To switch directory
cd ../.. : To access home directory
mkdir myfolder : To create a folder
touch myfile.txt. : To create a file.
rm myfile.txt : Remove a file
rm -r home/hostinger/myfolder : Remove all files
history : for SSH history
free -m Command Explanation
Category
total
used
free
shared
buff/cache
available
Mem:
1995
776
375
106
844
955
-/+ buffers/cache
Swap:
5119
348
4771
total (Mem)= 1995 : It means you have 2Gb physical RAM. (excluding small bit reserve by kernel in startup)
used (Mem)= 776 : It means OS using 776Mb RAM
free (Mem)= 375 : It means not in use physical memory 375Mb RAM
shared (Mem)= 106 : It means shared by server kernel system/ specific purposes 106Mb RAM. It is include in used
buff/cache (Mem)= 844 : It means memory used by kernel buffers & memory used by the page cache and slabs 844Mb RAM. It is include in used
available (Mem)= 955: It means estimate of how much memory is available for starting new applications, without swapping
total = used + free = 776+375 = 1151Mb
The second line gives first line values adjusted. It gives the original value for usedminus the sum buffers+cached and the original value for freeplus the sum buffers+cached, hence its title. These new values are often more meaningful than those of first line.
The last line (Swap:) gives information about swap space usage (i.e. memory contents that have been temporarily moved to disk).
total (Swap): this is the total amount of disk space reserved for swap. used (Swap): the amount of swap disk space that is currently being used. free (Swap): the amount of swap disk space that is currently not being used
How to Backup Database & Host
Step1 : Connect to your server via SSH. Step2 : In the command line enter the following code: mysqldump -u dbusername -p databasename > nameofdbbackup.sql
mysqldump -p -u autogar1 autoga_hqrnp > nesfile.sql Be sure to replace: dbusername = with the database username for the database you want to export. databasename = with the name of the database you want to export. nameofdbbackup = enter a name for the exported database. Step3: Hit the Enter key and it will ask you for your password. Type your password and hit the Enter key again, it will begin exporting, this may take some time to complete, depending how large your database is. Your SSH client will take you to a new line when this process completes.The database will now be available for download in your home directory
WordPress Managed Backup
Q: So how can I get backup in Managed WP at your server?
A. Billing and account > back up account > back me up
Q. So how can I download it in my pc
A. Just click on both files, will download automatically
WordPress > manage WordPress menu
where is my WordPress files
panel > domains > manage domains > webFTP
Restoring your database from your backup on the server
If you need to restore you database from the backup you have made using the instructions above, make sure yo are in the root of your website and enter the below command again making sure to change the strings to match your information. Again, you will be asked for the database user password, so make sure you have it ready.
mysql -u username -p tablename < backupfilename.sql.
Backup all files and directories
Obviously you will need to take a backup of for files as well as the databases from your site To make a backup of all of the files and directories, connect via SSH and cd to the root of your website. Once there you can run the below command, make sure to swap out the red string with your prefered backup name.
tar -vcf backup-name.tar .
TIP: When moving around into different directories via SSH, you can print out all of the files and directories in the current directory you are in so you can be sure you are in the right place. To do this simply type ls
Mail Server Configuration
Problem: I migrated hosting server 1 month ago. Everything works fine except email send and receive. My webmail is ok. Problem is in WordPress application. I have 200 WordPress users where users can not change their password themselves. I have install project management plugin. When I assign task and check on notification, expected users dont get notifications.
Solutions:
However, I could see that the email services of xyz.com is still pointing to old shared server
Please access the link for more information: https://dnschecker.org/#MX/xyz.com
I would humbly request you to set the MX record of the domain as “mail.xyz.com”
Login to the Cpanel of xyz.com. Search for the option, “Zone editor”
There you can update the MX record of the domain
Set priority as : 0
Destination: mail.xyz.com
Propagation time can vary depending on the geographical location. Normally, the domain DNS takes 0-8 hours and is known to take up to 48 hours maximum to completely propagate.
VPS Hosting Management
Questions: What is the meaning of VPS Hosting:
Answer: In a VPS hosting arrangement, a single server is partitioned as multiple servers, each of which can be independently rebooted
Question: What is the meaning by 1 IP address in VPS/Dedicated HOSTING?
Answer: 1 IP address is the main IP address of the account.
Question: What is the meaning by 2 IP address in VPS HOSTING?
Answer: In VPS Hosting having 2 IP address you can two different cPanel
Question: For example, I am running 10 website in your shared hosting. Now I am going to upgrade my service into VPS. Science VPS hosting which have 1 Chanel, then how can I run other 9 websites into one VPS account.
Answer: You can create separate subcPanel account for the domain in VPS/dedicated account, so that you can manage each domain cPanel account separately (b)
Question: What is the meaning by 2 Core in VPS HOSTING?
Answer: Cores of VPS are the number of Virtual Central Processing Cores you will receive , with the services you are purchasing. Each core operates in conjunction with other circuits such as cache, memory management, and input/output Operators. (s)
Question: Should we get Physical server under VPS Hosting?
Answer: Yes, you will get server for one user. (b)
Question: Should we get Physical server under Dedicate Hosting?
Answer: Yes, you will get. (b)
Question: If I purchase dedicated server from you, and if I change password to all admin user account, can you access there ?
Answer: Yes, we have access to the account to check if there is any issue with the account (b)
Question: What is the meaning of 1 TB Bandwidth? I mean how many Visitor = 1 TB Bandwidth?
Answer: It depends on website build, However 1 Tb is usually more than enough to handle more than 500,000 visitors per month. (b)
Answer:There is no option to convert them, because we are unable to provide the exact amount of bandwidth will be used by each vistiors. (s)
Question: Normally How many visitor can access at time with 2 Gb RAM?
Question: What is SiteLock Security? Please explain elaborately which services are included in SiteLock Security?
Answer: SiteLock Security is a Open source software, such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, can be vulnerable to attacks by hackers. While keeping software up-to-date is a good defense, services that also monitor and protect your website is a more effective approach. SiteLock offers a range of products to ensure your website is always safe from malware and other malicious attacks. It provides daily scanning, automatic malware removal, web app firewall, etc.
Question: What is Codeguard Basic? How long backup will take by you.
Answer: Codeguard is a one-click website backup and restore solution that is integrated into your hosting account for ultimate efficiency and peace of mind. For basic plan Up to 5 websites, 1GB of storage. In codeguard basic the backup can be stored in daily, weekly and monthly basis. In codeguard you can search for the last six month if there is any. (b)
Question: Would we get cPanel/WHM feature in VPS hosting?
Question: Are you offering basic codegurard with VPS?
Answer: Yes that is the basic plan price for the codeguard. The next plans of the codeguard are Professional Up to 10 websites, 5GB of storage, Premium Up to 25 websites, 10GB of storage, Enterprise Up to 100 websites, 25GB of storage (b)
Question: Would we get free CDN feature in VPS hosting?
Answer: Yes you get free CDN feature in VPS hosting.
Question: If I purchase VPS hosting, with the configuration of 1 IP, 2 core, 2 GB RAM and 1 TB Bandwidth, So how many visitor can access at a time?
There is no limitation on the visitors on the website. However, you can increase the max user connection value on the server to higher numbers so there won’t be issue with users. You can have 5000 users
Question: If I purchase VPS hosting, with the configuration of 1 IP, 2 core, 2 GB RAM and 1 TB Bandwidth, So how many visitor can access per montth?
I do understand your concern. There is no average since everyone’s sites are so unique and it is difficult to estimate how many visitors your site can handle, Simply too many variables, there is just no way to know how your site will run until it is on the server, It depends on what you upload to your site each thing consumes resources, Plugins, Themes, Databases, Scripts etc.. It is more up to the developer to determine the resources they need based on the content.
Question: My question, If I upgrade into VPS, who will manager my server and issues ?
Answer: We provide fully managed VPS services and we do not provide support with unmanaged services. However, since you will have the root access to the VPS, it needs to be managed from your end . We do provide assist with the server upgrades only. We do provide support with the VPS server issues if nay (s)
Question: Would you help to install additions software like anti malware , security service etc in VPS?
Answer: No, We do not provide support with the additional software installation, however, you may install the same from your end. Since the root access will be having the root access, you will have the access to install the modules, we do not provide support with the software installation or related issues (s)
Question: If I install a sofware , as a result a problem is occured . In this situation would you solve this issue
Answer: We can try providing the settings required for the installed software from server end (b)
Question: If I upgrade into VPS can I get this basic software and feature by default?
Answer: Unfortunately, on the VPS server, the softaculous feature is not installed and you need to purchase the feature separately (s)
Question: Can you tell me some software names thats are installed in our current shared server?
Answer: Softaculous is a software installation application, that is used by the customer across our platform. Using the sofatculous feature the accounts such as WordPress Drupal, Joomla,. Moodle etc are installed. Also, I am sorry for the incorrect information, the Softaculous will be installed on the VPS service as well, free of cost (s)
Question: Any other software is installed in our current shared hosing server except sofatculous ?
Answer: Softaculous is the main software installer, as a backup software installed quick install is also provided on the shared servers (s)
Dedicated Hosting Management
Question: What is the difference between VPS and Dedicated Hosting.
Answer: Users of VPS hosting have allocated resources just like Dedicated hosting users, however the amount of available resources on VPS servers may still not be what a website needs. For example, VPS servers often start at 2GB of RAM, whereas Dedicated servers often start with at least 4GB of RAM available. In short, Dedicated hosting allows for the same full customization and control of a VPS server, but with even more horsepower. (b)
Question: If I purchase VPS hosting now, Can we upgrade into Dedicated server anytime?
Change Log
Limit failed login attempts Make the root user inaccessible via SSH by editing the sshd_config file Don’t use a default port, edit the port line in your sshd_configfile Use Captcha Limit logins to a specified IP address or range Two factor authentication Unique login URLs Monitor server logs
===============
I have successfully updated “max_user_connections =20000” at /etc/my.cnf file.
Garment Industry – Among the basic elements of industrial production–man, machine and materials–managing human beings is the most complicated one. It is at the core of the matter. Unfortunately, in most of the cases, this core element does not get proper attention from the top rank in the hierarchy of a management. Like any other organisations, the activities of readymade garment factories can be divided into two key functions:
Line – those are directly involved with production, the key function of the industry and Staff – those who provide assistance to production. Read more about RMG in Bangladesh- A Study on Social Compliance
According to the wage grade (Bangladesh Gazettes in 2006, 2010, 2013 on Minimum Wage Board) employees of the readymade garments (RMG) industry are divided into two categories, a) workers – those are differentiated into seven grades (1-7) according to their skills and experiences and b) employees – who are not directly involved in production but they help in production, delivering their services, divided into four different grades (1-4). There are many other important functions which have been skipped in the wage grade.
Readymade garment is a labour-intensive industry. Proper labour management is very important for the industry as cost of wages and salaries is the single highest cost in the manufacturing process.
The aim of human resource department (HRD) in an organisation is to improve performance of the employees as well as the organisation. The main focuses of human resource department are the following:
l Selection of the right person in the right place at the right time. The HRD is to prepare job description and specification against each position and to identify the required number of employees in any particular job to avoid over staffing.
l Training and development – To provide the employees with knowledge and skills needed to do a particular task or job and to make them ready for future challenges, adapting attitude with changes.
l Organisational development – To increase effectiveness and efficiency of an organisation and well-being of its members through planned interventions applying behavioural science concepts.
l Career management – To help the individuals to make their career plans according to their skills, ability and potential.
In any discussion or in an article on the Bangladesh RMG industry without mentioning the Desh Garments Ltd (DGL), the very first factory designed for 100 per cent export, would be incomplete. The state of HRD during the last decades in our RMG industry and its status at the DGL back in 1979 can be reviewed to set a present-time benchmark for the HRD in the RMG industry. An organisation is known by its management and it performs as its members do. Organisational culture is the culture of its owners. The man behind the initiatives at the DGL then had a clear vision about the industry. Mr Noorul Quader (Khan), a valiant freedom fighter, who discarded his title ‘Khan’ in protest against the role of the Pakistani rulers during the liberation war of Bangladesh, started with a single garment factory which ultimately produced hundreds of future entrepreneurs in the industry. The standard that he engraved in the HRD in his factory back in 1979 can still be the cornerstone of the present RMG industry.
Through an advertisement in the national dailies, Mr. Quader then recruited a group of meritorious students from different disciplines from across the country. Some of the engineers whom he had recruited had overseas degrees and a few of them had overseas job experiences. A handsome remuneration package was offered at that time to attract the future entrepreneurs in the industries. Mr Quader arranged training for all his recruited staff in South Korea for six months under joint collaboration with the Daewoo Corporation. An orientation course was conducted at the ‘Institute of Business Administration’ (IBA), the University of Dhaka, the most prestigious academic institute in the country. This single example is more than enough to justify his HR approach. The DGL produced a number of successful RMG business leaders. Unfortunately many of them did not take any lesson from Mr Quader’s HR approach.
There were many favourable conditions, both national and international, behind the ‘hockey-stick growth’ of the industry. In 1984, the number of export-oriented readymade garments factories was 384 and within a decade in 1994, that number shot up to 2,182.
The dramatic decline of jute’s share in Bangladesh’s export earnings had a huge impact on the livelihoods of poor jute growers in the country. Uncertainty of regular works for the day labourers in agriculture sector had pushed them to urban areas where many alternative sources of employments were available. At the same time, growth of the RMG sector had pulled workers from rural areas to urban centres with a strong possibility for employment there. The supply of surplus workers from villages helped in the rapid growth of the RMG factories. All these had happened when ‘human side’ of the workers was hardly in consideration.
A chronological diagram can be drawn to explain the past and present status of the HRDs in readymade garments industry in the country.
The period from the beginning until 2000, was a heaven for the production manager and hell for the workers.
Though garment business is always positive in terms of profit, the perception of the society about the sector still remains negative on account of working environment, workers’ wage etc. Once the term ‘garment factory’ was perceived as a place where anything was possible in terms of mismanagement. Breaking all the norms, values and principles of labour rights, maximum utilisation of labour with minimum expenses/benefits was given top priority to ensure highest possible profit. Qualified and adequate number of staff used to be considered as a waste of money by the businesses. A tendency continued to run the business with minimum possible number of staffs offering them lower package, never considering their quality and hard work. It was accepted to the management if any staff engaged himself/herself in line function contributed directly to the production and helped earn some extra profits to the owner.
From the very initial stage of the industry until the compulsion of compliance, as a precondition of business, there was nothing about human resource development (HRD). To maintain the payroll, a job of time-keeper was created to record workers’ ‘in-and-out’ time and to keep record of over time (OT) work. This core activity, associated with payment, was being controlled by the production manager (PM) concerned, the then most powerful and unchallenged authority. In most of the cases, the PM and the FM (Factory Manager) was the same. Keeping behavioural approach, human psychology, legal rational demand etc aside, most of the owners were dependent on so-called managers. When dependency and authority go to the persons of less capability and capacity, abuse of power and position could appear as a regular phenomenon. Unfortunately, those incidents in our readymade garment industry gave a negative message on work environment of the industry. No restriction on workers’ age, no control of working hours, disregarding of norms and values on working condition etc took the upper hand in the industry till the year 2000. Sexual harassment, deduction of workers’ hard-earned over-time (OT) hours, marking them absent even for a five-minute late arrival as a punishment and using them as personal workers were the managers’ common weapons to control the factory administration. In many cases, workers were asked to pay a percentage of their earnings from extra overtime (EOT) duty to their bosses. Both management and workers thought that the EOT was the privilege for the workers to earn more, so those workers who maintained a good relation with their bosses only were allowed in the extra earning net. For the workers it was difficult, even three decades back, to meet very basic needs without OT work. From the selection process to duty assignment to wages determination, all the activities related to personnel management were the functions of the production manager. In the first decade of the industry, in most of the cases, the production manager himself or his trusted one was assigned to keep the record of workers’ daily attendance and working hours. So, the production manager, apart from production duties, used to control the personnel issues as well.
Human Resource Development – Workers think that job is a favour from their owners. Lack of nutritious food, sufficient rest, hygienic residence, etc. makes the workers socially, physically and mentally weak. Working extra time and seven days a week create a distance between them and their families, friends and relatives. They accept mismanagement and malpractice as management practices.
Many marginal workers depend on micro-credit firms. They take loan with high interest rate to meet their expenditure beyond their budget. Once they take loan, it throws them into a loan trap. Such inhuman conditions were common until the enactment of the Labour Act 2006 which spurred the movement for social compliance.
Workers always fight a losing battle. Even when the owners’ association unilaterally declare a three-day layoff, workers do not find any voice to protest rather they have to forget about any of their logical demands.
The RMG industry has turned out to be a temporary field of employment for the employees. It does not have any life-time plan for its workers. With a temporary plan for its workers, the industry’s sustainable development is not possible.
The owners are compelled to recruit the HR (Importance of Human Resource Planning in RMG) people to face the compliance audit as a partial fulfilment of buyers’ demand. As a result, a functional HR is hardly found in the industry. It is found that even the companies which have expanded their production units, both vertically and horizontally, and have achieved extraordinary export growth, lack management system. They are more focused on export and give less attention to develop their human resources. As a result, the companies have not developed a corporate system. Some of them, after three decades of operation, have to stay in the office very late in the night to sign the bills, vouchers even for a hundred taka or to exercise authority. Some of them are too dependent on their hired management and they themselves do not know how their factories are being managed. For the sustainable growth of the industry, it is a must to develop a sound management system. It is relatively easier to increase exports, both in quantity and value. But to develop a sound management system, an organisation needs time and nourishing a good culture. But changing culture is not possible overnight.
The big companies in the RMG sector generally suffer from the lack of modern concept of management. They should learn a lesson from the debacle of the jute industry. They should take a number of measures enumerated below:
In a garment factory operators are the lifeline both in number and in operation of the industry. A supervisor or line chief is the person who makes the bridge between the operators and the management. They supervise the operators’ functions and are responsible for production targets. The supervisor is the 1st line management in a RMG manufacturing unit. They play a very crucial role and make the communication bridge between the workers and the upper management. Supervisors convey to the operators any decision from the factory management, mostly production related. Supervisor or line chief is the experienced operator who has the voice and controlling power.
The relationship between the management and the workers of a factory depends mostly on how supervisors behave with the operators. Normally an experienced male operator is promoted to next higher position as Junior Supervisor. Though the women are more in number in the industry, yet not many of them are found in supervisory or in mid or senior management positions. This is an example of discrimination/ domination by male bosses – supervisor, production manager and factory manager, who have the supreme power in the factory. It’s a total failure of human resources department of the industry.
Since supervisor is an experienced operator, he believes in whatever he has experienced throughout his life. When a grade eight passed or even less qualified operator becomes a supervisor he can’t accept any changes either in operating process or in behavioural approach. Industry efficiency is highly dependent on those supervisors. When cost is the biggest concern, it will be a luxury to continue with traditional way of doing things. If a factory can attract technically educated people for the supervisory posts then it would be easier to compete with our competing countries with regard to efficiency. To create a congenial working environment and to ensure a long-term growth of the sector, the HRD must initiate change from supervisory level.
Voluminous discussions on minimum wage create a perception among the common people that paying the minimum is the only objective of the RMG sector. It is a failure of the apex bodies of the sector to bring it to public knowledge that it is the highest payer of wages in the private sector of the country. To reduce dependence on traditional production managers, some companies are trying to involve the Industrial and Production Engineers (I&PE) in their production departments. But in most cases, the relationship between the traditional managers and the modern engineers is not functional. As a result, the expected outcome is yet to come.
On the other hand, our RMG business is highly dependent on buying houses, a third-party beneficiary. No doubt, direct marketing and sourcing can add more value to the industry. At present, around 100,000 foreign nationals are working in this sector mainly in marketing and production departments. Ensuring a working environment and empowering HRD, the industry can look for local talents from all disciplines, as the sectors’ pay and perks for the deserving ones are more than any other sector. This way the industry can minimise dependence on foreign nationals.
The KPI (key performance indicators) have to be identified against each position. Each achievement will be expressed/transformed into numeric values. The organisation will follow transparent appraisal method instead of confidential appraisal system. One can evaluate his/her performance by himself/herself. To achieve better score he/she can make efforts. In this process, grievance, dissatisfaction and frustration will be minimised and a healthy competition will prevail among the members of an organisation.
If the supervisor is the 1st line management, then assistant production manager or floor in-charge is the in-line management. Department heads, production manager and factory manager are in mid-level management. Soon after any incident takes place in any factory, the owners and leaders of their associations put the blame on the mid-level management. But have the industry leaders or factory owners taken any noticeable initiative to improve their competence? The owners hold the HR and mid-level management responsible for any failure. They assign work load to a particular person or department but they will not delegate proper authority to them. Without authority, no one can exercise his/her responsibility. For the functional HRD, delegation of authority is extremely needed.
Trade Unions – Mohammad Hasan In its long journey, readymade garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh has been making a headway quietly but steadily. The industry has always enjoyed a silent support from all the sections of the society as the sector has ensured the highest job opportunities, specially for the least privileged women in this country. As a foreign currency-earner, the industry ranks number one and has been maintaining this status for years. The RMG sector nowadays has become the focal point of economists, intellectuals, journalists and bureaucrats for discussing its current affairs and future prospects. Obviously the recent incidents and anarchy in the industry have triggered this interest among these quarters. Expert opinions are filling the columns of almost all daily newspapers and late- night TV talk shows galore on various channels.
We guess many of these commentators have not ever stepped into a garment factory themselves Here this writer would like to refer to a fairly recent comment of a cabinet minister who said that labour unions would be allowed to operate in the garment factories in order to get the industry out of labour unrest. This writer has been serving the garment sector for the last 18 years as an employee. From his own experience this scribe wants to humbly oppose it. Implementation of such a decision in our RMG industry would be suicidal. Immediately after the independence almost all of our industries, banks, and financial institutions were nationalised as the government of that time was more or less influenced by the practices in the USSR (now Russia and its neighbouring countries) and in India.
Trade unions with political affiliations are hardly bound by logic and reason. Union leaders compel the organisations recruit more workers/employees than actually required and thus make the industries/organisations less profitable or losing concerns. Trade union leaders become the supreme authority and they try to become boss of their bosses. They arrange job transfers, promotions etc. among the workers/employees not on their merit or skill but their loyalty to the union. Thus the organisation gradually becomes sick of the union leaders who become rich and richer. In the mid-seventies, we entered a total capitalistic economy and the government started privatising the nationalised industries. But character of the trade unions of those organisations remained unchanged. So privatisation really could not save those industries. We all know what the trade unions are doing in our nationalised commercial banks.
Everybody knows how the trade union leaders bade farewell to the immediate past governor of the Bangladesh Bank, our central bank. With this kind of reality in hand, our precious RMG sector can hardly afford the traditional model of trade unions in its factories. We think Workers’ Participatory Committees (WPC) can be the best substitute for traditional trade unions. These WPCs in the RMG units can make a very good bridge between the management and the workers. Elected WPCs are already in action in many of the factories in the country and they are encouraging examples for those who are yet to introduce WPC in their factories. The presence of a genuine bargaining agency can always help the industry to grow. A bargaining agent without any political affiliation and delinked from any foreign or local NGOs can actually help any industry operate successfully and profitably by ensuring a win-win situation for both the employees and the employers.
One would observe that our politicians, intellectuals and journalists have now found another topic of interest from the industry to rave about: minimum wages for the garment workers. While commenting on the matter, many remain unaware of some of the facts about the RMG industry in the country. To comply with the buyers’ code of conduct and laws of land, the workers get some benefits which they did not get at the beginning of the industry in the country. Nowadays all compliant factories ensure and practise health and safety standards, primary medical facilities, drinkable water, refreshments, transport, free or discounted lunch, group insurance etc. for the workers. Some factories provide additional props for their workers which incur a lot of money, time and effort from the part of the owners.
These include running fair price shops for essential commodities, arrangements of annual feasts/picnics, cultural functions with the participation of the workers, offering free education and medical treatment to the workers and their children etc. Your can read more about Child Labour in RMG Sector – an Alternative View
When we talk about minimum wages of the garment workers, we usually refer to the entry level apprentices with no experiences and little or no education. These inexperienced and unproductive apprentices get training on operation, local laws, health and safety etc. free of charge and get paid by the factories during the training and apprenticeship period. These apprentices are absorbed as permanent workforces at the expiry of their three-month probation period and get entitled for higher wages. Apprentices/trainee workforces constitute not more than 10 per cent of the total workforce in a garment manufacturing unit. Rest of the workers (who are the vast majority) usually get wages much higher than the workers in any other similar industry. These facts often escape attention of most of us who seem to take immense interest in RMG affairs and pass sweeping comments from time to time. Workers are paid their wages, benefits, increments, bonuses, all legal and extra benefits from the factories they work for.
As and when a crisis breaks out in the industry, the apex business bodies of RMG like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters (BGMEA)/Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) point their fingers to some of the NGOs and ask for government help. These problems can be easily managed by the apex bodies themselves without any external intervention. Only thing is that they need to be more associated with the wellbeing of the workers. Obviously a gap exists between the workers and the management and this gap has been filled up by the so-called NGOs. A strong communication bridge has been made between the workers of RMG and NGOs. In no way NGOs can be a representative of the workers but unfortunately they are at the negotiating table with the owners and the government.
But there are some factories which are still behind to implement minimum wages and benefits. These types of factories and apex trade bodies must take immediate steps to remove the shortcomings. At the same time, we should also keep in mind that the vested groups are always searching for leaks and gaps. The government and apex trade bodies should take steps to prevent anarchy by plugging these holes. The NGOs are taking the opportunity where BGMEA/BKMEA fails. For any arbitration, most of the workers send letters to their employers using letterhead pad and address of the NGOs they belong to as members. As a result, concerned factories get themselves engaged with those NGOs or external labour unions to settle the issues bypassing BGMEA/BKMEA or the Labour Court.
It is needless to say that these parlays usually leave out the NGOs or unions, the beneficiaries. The apex bodies of RMG industry can manage/handle these issues easily. These two associations of the owners need to come closer to their workers, the main driver of the industry. Supposedly these two associations are financially solvent ones. So money should not be a problem if a strong will and proper management are there to set up arbitration cum recreation centers across areas like Mirpur, Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Narayanganj and other places where most of the RMG workers reside. Proper management and sincerity of these centres can divert the workers from seeing the NGOs and alike who are not part of the sorrows and cheers of the industry. Activists claim that more widespread trade unionism will bring many benefits to the RMG workers.
They say that unions will give workers an effective voice against unsafe working conditions, unacceptably low wages and exploitation by unscrupulous factory workers. Unions will, the claim goes, solve the problems of exploitation and workplace safety that were supposed to be solved by the mechanisms of social compliance guidelines and inspections but were not. According to them, the social compliance mechanism proved ineffective because it was driven by external actors; the trade union mechanism will be more effective because it is internal – the workers will be given effective tools to demand and obtain benefits for themselves. Unfortunately, these activists are ignoring some inconvenient facts. While unions can act as a countervailing force against employer oppression, these unions are rarely conducive to improved productivity and economic growth.
As a result, union membership number, influence and popularity have been declining worldwide. Union density in the United States is only 11 per cent and declining from 35 per cent in the 1950s. By contrast union density in Bangladesh is 35 per cent. So it is somewhat strange that many US activists and stakeholders are urging Bangladesh to adopt measures to increase union density: they should probably first try to increase it in the United States where unions are about to disappear. Already unions there are confined mostly to the public sector and to declining industries such as autos and steel. Many economists feel that powerful unions were instrumental and destroying the profitability and economic viability of these industries in the US, leading to falling investment, growth and the eventual relocation of these industries to other countries.
Today, the US auto industry exists only after two of the three major firms went bankrupt in 2009 and had to be bailed out by the US government. In addition, employment in the auto industry within the US has be relocated from strong union states such as Michigan to southern non-union states such as Tennessee which historically had no involvement in the car industry. Unemployment in Michigan has risen sharply and the city of Detroit has lost employment and population in a catastrophic manner. Any student of labour relations in South Asia knows that unions have a troubled history in this region.
For instance, strikes are one of the most effective tools that unions have to wrest concessions from employers. Unfortunately in South Asia, unions have a history of enforcing strikes with muscle power and bringing businesses to a halt whenever they want to demonstrate their clout and influence. In the late nineties, persistent industrial unrest crippled the state-owned banking sector in Bangladesh, adding up to a costly half a billion dollars annually in lost hours of work. A report submitted by a government task force at that time said 30 per cent of the nearly 40,000 bank employees were sitting idle. “In the name of trade unions, union leaders are virtually running a parallel administration, controlling postings, promotions and transfers of bank employees,” the report said. “The huge amount of outstanding bank loans was the result of the influence of the trade unionists in the banks’ lending activities,” the report said. Both the task force as well as the World Bank advised the government to temporarily suspend trade unions in banks.
There is a long tradition of ties between political parties and labour unions in South Asia, and fragmented, highly politicised unions appear to be a characteristic of industrial relations in most of the region. Most disruptions in large public enterprises in Bangladesh over the last few years have been caused by inter-union rivalries. Disruptions in the workplaces due to unions’ political activities are hardly conducive to investment and growth. Politicised unions can also be obstructionists that wield their political power against socially important reforms that may hurt their members. India’s unions continue to criticise the government’s recent liberalisation efforts, despite the apparent successes since 1991.
The unions have organised nationwide general strikes to oppose the commercialisation of state enterprises which are aimed at making India’s economy more open and increasing economic growth which brings benefits to all. India’s unions are propping up that part of the economy that is most in need of reform.
