Head of the Barbados Private Sector Trade Association John Williams has said that both employers and employees have a role to play in achieving excellence in the workplace.
He said that while the onus is on the employer to recognize and reward employee excellence, there is also the responsibility on the part of the employee to bring about excellence so that there is something to be recognized.
Speaking last Monday on the first day of the Social Partnership’s Week of Excellence at the Grande Salle of the Central Bank of Barbados, Williams said employers and employees must be prepared to bring about a higher level of performance in the workplace.
Addressing the week’s theme Organizations Recognizing Employee Excellence: A Key Towards Building A Better Economy, he said that at this stage of national development, employees and employers were all aware that appreciation was a fundamental human need.
Senior economist in the Ministry of Finance Bertram Johnson said that economic and financial challenges required employees and employers, not to retreat, but to become more focused and creative in their business operations.
“I allude to this because creativity, innovation and business sophistication are important pillars for growth and must be pursued in order to enhance our level of productivity and competitiveness.
“In essence, our foundation for growth must now be couched in a compulsion to innovate, sharpen strategies, tighten our vision and unite employees behind a well-crafted development agenda,” he said.
Johnson encouraged the Productivity Council and other institutions such as National Initiative for Service Excellence to continue to play their part in building the foundations for competitiveness and service excellence. (NB)
