said the Cat. - Barbados Investment and Development Corporation

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Human Resource Deveolpment At a time when the global economy is poised to emerge out of its latest recessionary period, are Barbadian companies positioned to take advantage of improving economic conditions? Are they equipped with the necessary innovative ideas, finance, machinery, equipment and plant? Are they staffed with workers possessing the relevant skills? According to the results of a survey conducted by the Barbados Investment and Development Corporation (BIDC) in December 2010, Barbadian manufacturing companies are heavily deficient in the skill-sets needed to operate at maximum efficiency. Of greater concern is that entrepreneurs generally are not confident of the ability of academic and training institutions to address the problem and eliminate the gaps in the short term. These findings agree with those of the Ministry of Labour which has identified a list of occupations in demand and a host of required skill-sets for the Manufacturing sector. The 2009 iteration of the Occupational and Training Needs Assessment Exercise revealed that the occupations being demanded include machine operators, wood workers, joiners, carpenters, electrical technicians, mechanical technicians, process engineers, mechanical engineers, marketers, graphic artists, chemical engineers, chemists, biologists, accountants, food technologists, herbalists, sewing machinists, pattern makers, screen printers, electrical engineers, industrial designers, conservators and herbalists. This assessment exercise also listed the required skill-sets as machinery skills, carpentry skills, joinery skills, plant safety hydraulics, quality assurance and standards, computers and automation principles, robotics, draughtsmanship skills, computer aided design skills, food handling. In addition, soft skills such as literacy, numeracy, positive work ethic were identified as deficient. What are the implications of these skills deficiencies? Respondents to the BIDC survey highlighted declining productivity and adverse impacts on their bottom lines. This has created much apprehension among producers who are unwilling at this time to expand investment in their businesses. 26 Barbados Business Catalyst • July - September 2011 SKILL-FULL OR EMPTY? By Pedro Hutchinson, Research Officer, BIDC With the general reluctance by manufacturers to purchase new machinery and equipment or to construct new technologicallysophisticated plants, the local industry is forced to continue on the current path of “working harder, not smarter”. The Manpower Research Unit (MRU) of the Ministry of Labour is poised to conduct another Occupational and Training Needs Assessment Exercise. The MRU intends to conduct focus groups with key stakeholders comprising umbrella associations, employers and Government with a view to assessing the occupational needs, training needs, qualification and skillsets needed within a number of economic sectors including Manufacturing. Commencing in November 2011 with initial contact sessions, this exercise will engage focus groups in December 2011 and January 2012. Head of the MRU, Mark Franklin is confident that the results of these focus groups will inform the direction that training and educational institutions must follow. Mr. Franklin expects that, with the input of agencies such as the BIDC and the Barbados Manufacturers’ Association (BMA), supported by input from selected employers, a clear insight can be gained into the skills needed within Manufacturing, thereby allowing for dialogue with the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (SJPP), the Barbados Community College (BCC), the Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB) and the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council to craft training programmes targeted to address the gaps. In this age of globalisation, Barbadian businesses must accept that future economic growth and competitiveness in this small open economy is predicated on the availability of a motivated, highly skilled, innovative and critical thinking workforce. An investment in this much needed resource must take place now. Collaboration and cooperation with the training and education institutions will ensure that the skills bank will not be depleted, forcing the importation of essential skills, but that there is an abundance of these skills locally, even facilitating the deployment of skilled technicians overseas and the earning of much needed foreign exchange.
The Barbados Competitiveness Programme A Catalyst for Improving the Island’s Domestic Sectors Confronted by the effects of the worst economic recession in over a century, government is taking steps to ensure that the future development of the island’s domestic sectors is on a sure footing. This will be achieved over the next four years with the implementation of the Government of Barbados/Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) funded Barbados Competitiveness Programme. The overall cost of the programme is US $11.8 million and, of this figure, the IDB will provide US $10 million; while government will foot the remaining US $1.8 million. The loan agreement was initialled by late Prime Minister David Thompson on March 21 last year. The programme was officially launched during a ceremony at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, earlier this year. Coordinator of the Barbados Competitiveness Programme (BCP), Terry Bascombe, described it as “a necessary fillip to improve the competitiveness of the island’s economy” in light of the challenges being experienced as a result of the ongoing economic crunch. “Most countries have taken this opportunity to strengthen their economies to ensure that their domestic sectors are more resilient if faced with situations like these in the future. In the case of Barbados, the programme would, among other things, improve the export potential of the economy and enable the domestic sectors to attract more private investors,” he added. Apart from these goals, Mr. Bascombe alluded to the fourpronged strategy that would be adopted to realise these targets. “The first component would seek to ensure a coherent business development framework that deals with matters relating to fiscal incentives and regulation; the second component’s emphasis would be on creating a more coherent architecture of public sector services to facilitate business development; while the third component would address issues regarding the logistics of trade facilitation and improving access to infrastructure through public/ private partnerships. The fourth component on the other hand, would seek to improve public/private dialogue on improving the competitiveness of the economy,” Mr. Bascombe surmised. The Project Coordinator expressed the hope that a Medium- Term Competitiveness Strategy would be developed based on the ideas thrown out by the technocrats during discussions to be held on component four. Competitiveness On the subject of inculcating a culture of competitiveness, the Coordinator summed it up this way: “To quote one writer, the road to competitiveness is like a marathon and not a sprint... therefore, we will not see the benefits immediately after the four years. Most of these benefits will materialise when people change their way of doing things and make adjustments in their attitudes and this is something that will take time. “We can spend US $11.8 million on the latest equipment and technology, but if workers do not see the need for themselves to be more productive, then we really would have embarked on a futile exercise,” Mr. Bascombe underlined. “In the case of Barbados, the programme would, among other things, improve the export potential of the economy and enable the domestic sectors to attract more private investors,” He expressed the hope that the talks to be held with the various constituents of the BCP, would inculcate the need for citizens to embrace the ideal of being more competitive in all spheres of activity. Mr. Bascombe noted that the current programme might not capture all those areas which the public may conceive as necessary to improving competitiveness within four years. He added: “We have been getting feedback that the current programme may not necessarily achieve competiveness as defined by some persons and we too are of the view that a four year programme, designed in the way that the BCP is, may not necessarily improve all aspects of competitiveness. “We are of the view, however, that this programme provides a good starting point for improving competitiveness; while alerting the general population about the importance of improving competitiveness in Barbados. Once we have successfully implemented this first project, then there may be a need to consider a second exercise, to fill the gaps that were observed during the implementation of this first project. In other words, there can be a Barbados Competitiveness Programme part two,” Mr. Bascombe pointed out. The initiative is just one of a number of measures introduced by government that will boost economic development over the long-term. (BGIS) Barbados Business Catalyst • July - September 2011 27
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