InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The role of supervisors and plantation assistants in oil palm estates extends beyond monitoring field activities and meeting production targets. Their daily interaction with harvesters can shape workers’ experience and influence their decision to remain with a company.
Harry Agug Pratama, Dept Head of HR Business Partner & Organisation Development at PT Pasifik Agro Sentosa, said the issue was among the factors identified through the company’s evaluation of why workers leave plantations.
He made the remarks during IPS Planter Talks 2026 Series 1, themed “Palm Oil Human Resources Emergency,” held on Saturday (September 19, 2026).
According to Harry, supervisors and plantation assistants are among the management representatives who interact most frequently with harvesters. Their behavior and leadership therefore become an important part of workers’ daily experience.
Communication, responses to employee concerns and the ability to understand workers’ needs can influence workplace comfort. Poor leadership approaches or ineffective communication may become one of the factors behind employees deciding not to stay.
The company is also looking beyond the workplace itself. Housing conditions, access to clean water and electricity, healthcare services and educational needs for workers’ children are among the factors considered in its employee-retention strategy.
PT Pasifik Agro Sentosa has also developed community activities, including sports and music competitions, aimed at strengthening social interaction and relationships among employees living in plantation areas.
Harry said companies recruiting workers with families also need to consider the broader family environment. Facilities and activities for children and families can contribute to making plantation areas more comfortable places to live.
This approach is particularly relevant to plantations operating far from urban centers, where the quality of the surrounding living environment can become an important consideration for workers.
For plantation management, retaining harvesters therefore involves more than productivity in the field. Leadership, communication, living conditions and the broader working environment can all contribute to how workers experience the company. (T2)
Source: InfoSAWIT
