Rameswurlall Basant Roi: "The Growing Role of Human Resource
Managers in Modern Business Organisations"
Address by Mr Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of the Bank of Mauritius, at the Annual
Congress of the Association of Human Resource Professionals of Mauritius, Balaclava, 5 August
2016.
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Mr Areff Salauroo, President of the Association of Human Resource Professionals of Mauritius
Professor Donald Ah Chuen
Professor McKenna
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Good evening
I am delighted to be here with you this evening. Thank you, Areff, for having invited me for the
celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the Association of Human Resource Professionals of
Mauritius. My warmest congratulations to you all. I understand you are also having your Annual
Congress over two days carrying the theme "The Growing Role of Human Resource Managers
in Modern Business Organisations" which, I believe, fits well in the current social and economic
context.
As you are aware I re-joined the Bank as Governor again after a long break of eight years which I
spent mostly overseas. Having seen the human resource landscape in Mauritius after so many
years and the quality of human capital relative to the exigencies of the day, I should express my
appreciation to the Association for having chosen this topic. There is an unprecedented gap
between the quality of human resources we have at our disposal and the quality of human capital
needed to escape the middle income trap we find ourselves in. Humans are slow learners. It
takes longer for humans to reach maturity as a percentage of their lifetimes than any other
species. Having had the experience as a Director of a Department at the central bank and as a
Governor for several years, I am more than convinced that getting human resources in the
country do what needs to be done for enterprises in the private sector and institutions in the
public sector to survive in an increasingly competitive world must be a daunting challenge for
human resource managers. How do we get people give their best shots when the character of
the modern individuals is threatened by an economic system that has shifted from capitalism to
turbo-capitalism?
How do we get people give their best shots when the feelings of authenticity have become more
and more scarce? How do we get people give their best shots in times of individualization and a
serious lack of true and sincere connection with each other within a team in an organization?
How do we get people give their best shots if they lack insight, quickness and a can-do attitude?
And how do we get people deliver what they are paid for when corrosion of character is so
pervasive?
I come from a profession that has little to do with the practical aspects of human resource
management. I am an economist, not a human resource professional. I have my own style of
resolving human resource problems that is not necessarily the ideal one. It was 1998. I had just
been appointed Governor of the Bank. The Bank's operations were partially computerized. There
were a few senior employees who, despite having had the benefit of many sessions of training,
were still averse to the use of computer. I had seized the opportunity of a meeting with staff to
drive home a key point. I vividly recall having said that people hate change. The world hates
change. Yet it is the only thing that has brought progress. The sophisticated quality of their cars
they were driving, the electrical appliances that have greatly enhanced the quality of their lives,
the advanced medical facilities that have reduced suffering were some examples of the products
of "change" that successful organisations have adapted to. I had gone on to quote Harold Wilson,
former British Prime Minister of the UK, "He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The
only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." My eyeballs rolled, on and on, on
those who were aversive to the use of computer at the Bank, while I stressed that we had to
reinvent ourselves continually. It is not the strongest or the most intelligent that survives; it is the
one that is most adaptable to change. It was compelling for us to tool and re-tool, equip and
reequip ourselves and keep on moving ahead if we had to keep earning a salary at the Bank. The
bad news was that re-engineering in any enterprise requires hard decisions. The hard decision
was that those who are against change would have to head towards the exit door. Guess what?
Samuel Johnson said it beautifully: "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it
concentrates his mind wonderfully." The same day the senior guys unpacked themselves to
learn the difference between business ignorance and business tragedy.
Not long after, the same guys became the champion for change. They are still employed
somewhere in the private sector, even after the age of 65. They turned out to be winners.
Winners are often losers who have evaluated themselves.
CEOs, Heads of Departments/Divisions and Human Resource Managers often face the
extremely difficult task of identifying what one is best capable of doing. I have seen how an
established system have often labelled people possessing enormous talent as "losers". I find no
better example than the Beatles. No one had ever noticed that Paul McCartney had any musical
talent in his schooldays. In the 1950s, a schoolteacher in Liverpool had half of the Beatles in his
class. The teacher missed it. My point here is that talent is often buried deep; it's not lying around
on the surface. But one thing the Beatles had that many individuals in Mauritius don't have it
today - the sense of sacrifice, the strong commitment to a goal, hunger for success and
recognition through perseverance.
I regularly meet with CEOs of enterprises in the country and I am given to understand that
complacency is a phenomenon quite pervasive in the private sector and in the public sector as
well. I am often told of people who have been in their position for years. They are good at what
they have been doing. They are respected. They have a likeable boss and a job that brings them
distinction in society. It's great to be in that position. Problem is that they feel too comfortable in
the job and they get less vigilant. The urge for new learning evaporates and they eventually lose
their edge. Once someone goes to work simply in order to work rather than to improve oneself,
one becomes invariably incompetent. As CEOs, we often hear staff members saying, "This
cannot be done. And that cannot be done. This is an impossible task. That is an impossible
task." Mentally, the guys are pensioned off.
In the world of athletics, the Kenyans' refusal to discount anything as impossible is well illustrated
in the game of 'Catch the Impala'. The impala is a supremely fast animal. Run after it. The impala
will stop at some stage to rest. Before you get too close, it starts running again. This stop-chase
race can go on for about 40 kilometres. After that point, the impala is tired and one is able to pat it
on the backside. To the Kenyans, 'Catch the Impala" is the ultimate test of perseverance. Mike
Boit, a former Olympic 800 meters winner, once said, "When I returned home to Kenya, they
actually respected me more for my ability to catch the impala than for having brought the
Olympic medal." The idea of someone running barefoot to catch a wild impala seems
impossible. The Kenyan runners make the impossible possible. The power of positive thinking,
rather than getting sunk into a world of impossibilities, which allows the Kenyans to go beyond
what appears to be an ultimate frontier has lessons for the business world as well.
Right from the day we are born, we pick up ideas, attitudes and convictions from the world
around us. Friends, parents, teachers and so many other agents sell to us their version of the
truth. The one we accept, consciously or unconsciously, forms our belief as to what is possible
and what is not. The problem is that many people end up accepting a 'truth' that limits rather than
open up the frontiers of possibilities for them. What we need to hammer on our people is that,
whether one is a business executive, an employee or someone running a sandwich shop, if
anything extraordinary is to come out, then something extraordinary must go in. And if something
extraordinary has to go in, then our people need to have extraordinary qualities. I am here
reminded of the qualities of the Russian woman who can stop a horse in full strides. She can
walk into a house on fire and come out with the beauty of a queen. So much is the hunger for
success and a bold commitment to make a difference. Hunger to win, to improve and a
willingness to do whatever it takes. These are the intrinsic qualities of outstanding performers.
Do not ruin the raw materials in people. It takes a lot for a human resource manager to get that
right. Bear in mind one thing: nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.
May I wish you a Happy 40th Anniversary and plenty of success in your endeavours.
Thank you.