Dear Editor,
The late Sir Fenton Ramsahoye would rejoin repeatedly that ‘one of the things a man doesn’t know – is that he doesn’t know’. This appears to be the case of the Guyana Sugar Corporation over the last two years. One must sympathise fully with President Ali’s in bemoaning the disappointing productivity of the sugar industry in his reported encounter with ‘around 180 officials’. His point about ‘attitude’, ‘team-man ship’, and the ‘right people’ is, and must be well taken, not only by the managers, but also by the Minister of Agriculture who should be asked to be more proactive; and the Board which needs to be more cohesive.
The President spoke about (future) sweeping changes. But he first needs to be advised about earlier changes, which have depleted critical human resources capacity and reduced substantive institutional memory. According to reports there has been an inordinately high turnover of various levels of staff in critical areas, incidence of which is reflected in the number of vacancy notices published. The cumulative effect must well be that, however qualified newcomers are, there is an inadequately experienced work environment within which they can be as productive as they themselves would wish to be.
The President is right. One must wonder about the length and depth of the induction programmes for so many newcomers. His advice is on target:
i. “The same exercise conducted this morning at the senior level I want to be conducted at the estate level and junior staff level”
ii. “An organisation requires collective thinking and action”
In the latter regard older managers may be reminded of the ‘Worker Participation’ model. But when all is said and done, there obtains the reminder that the industry is no longer seen as an employer of first choice – our fulfilling careers in an increasingly changing and competitive job market. In such circumstances therefore, consideration needs to be urgently given to formulating a creative human resources development plan aimed at upgrading professional competencies, and certainly motivating high levels of performance amongst leaders and those they lead. In this regard the already instituted Performance Evaluation System should be conscientiously addressed. So investment in equipment is hardly enough. Consider as priority the provision of relevant scholarships, and upgraded training – motivation towards belonging to the ‘sugar’ team!
The President should insist on seeing reports on the human resources activities at the end of each crop. On the other hand, the submission of non-evidential complaints by subordinates against their supervisors should be strongly discouraged. TRUST is critical. Stephen Covey’s ‘The Speed of Trust’ should be required reading for all the participants.
Sincerely,
E.B. John
Retired Human Resources Director
GuySuCo
