Flexibility to new benchmark

Government has been urged to consider whether current labour policies suit the new shifts in work and labour market activity.

Sheena Mayers-Granville, the executive director of the Barbados Employers’ Confederation (BEC), said more than a year had passed since the first reported case of COVID-19 in Barbados and the way business has been conducted for decades has been disrupted.

“Businesses with operational models built on centuries of financial planning and management theory have been upended, while new models based on the ability to pivot with flexibility are facing a trial by fire,” she wrote in the latest edition of the Ministry of Labour and Social Partnership Relations’ newsletter Labour Matters.

“The new buzzwords emerging from the pandemic are flexibility, income protection and health. Indeed, these concepts were always in the minds of policymakers, but they have gained prominence with human resource practitioners and business owners,” the labour management specialist noted.

The BEC head argued that given the state of play, it was time for the labour market to consider how to allow people to easily earn an income whether by finding new jobs, switching careers, or starting businesses.

She noted that there must be a recognition of the changes in the socio-economic landscape as the policy was being crafted. In this connection, she said attention ought to be paid to creating flexibility in the employment relationship that “works for both employers and employees, [and] provides adequate social protection, which includes income protection for both employees and business owners”.

For these developments to occur, she contended that “attitude and aptitude will become the most valuable assets and not previously attained certifications”.

Mayers-Granville added: “The rate of change has been snowballing, and therefore, increasingly, employers no longer expect persons to join an organization with the full knowledge of specific operations. Rather, they are seeking talent that exhibits a keenness to learn and apply knowledge to every facet of the job and business operations.”

At the same time, the BEC head suggested that much of the responsibility for cultivating this attitude will rest with employees.

“Only financially solvent businesses maintain employment and therefore profit remains the major goal of organisations.

Profit results in increased shareholder value and retained earnings for difficult times (like a pandemic) and reinvestments to improve and grow the business,” she stressed. (IMC1)