Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) Chairman Komal Samaroo says that the brain drain constitutes the biggest local challenge to the company’s operations today.
Samaroo, having served as DDL’s Managing Director for some 30 years, was recently accorded the chairmanship of the group following the retirement of Yesu Persaud.
Considering Persaud’s 45-year stretch as chairman, and the many success stories seen during that time, Samaroo has some big shoes to fill, and he says one of his strategies to continue the success pioneered by Persaud is by ramping up international marketing.
But as the company looks to position itself to become a bigger player in international markets dominated by older and more efficient producers of rum and other spirits, a high employee turnover threatens to challenge the progress Samaroo wants to make a reality.
Sitting down with Stabroek News to share his view of the company as it is, and plans for its future, Samaroo said that having the right people with the required skill set continues to be a challenge, particularly to ambitions to increase its international market.
He said that while some of the company’s employees are lost to other local establishments, many still migrate in search of greener pastures.
And greener pastures are sometimes guaranteed for DDL-trained employees, he revealed. Samaroo explained that there are companies across the Caribbean which are very aggressive head hunters – seeking out and offering very attractive remuneration packages above and beyond what they may be receiving at DDL. In an effort to ensure that the loss of skilled employees does not significantly affect the company’s ability to function efficiently, Samaroo said that the company continuously facilitates training programmes.
The skill sets which are key to DDL’s operations are engineering, chemistry, accounting and finance and marketing, and Samaroo says that every year DDL takes a large number of persons who graduate from the University of Guyana with qualifications in these areas as management trainees.
This training runs for a few years and Samaroo says that at the end of the process the trainees are given middle management positions in areas where they would have benefited from years of specialised training. He said the initiative, coupled with the attractive remuneration packages offered by the company has ensured the company’s continuity despite its high turnover rate.
