HRMAB opens talks on future of work ahead of October conference

A looming skills drain, global hiring pressures and rapid workplace change have prompted a national conversation on how Barbadian organisations will compete and survive, as the Human Resource Management Association of Barbados (HRMAB) prepares for its October conference.

The October 14 and 15  meeting, themed Workforce 2030: Ready or Not and to be held at the Hilton Barbados Resort, comes as employers face shifting employee expectations, tight labour markets and increased global competition.

The conference aims to equip organisations with practical approaches to integrating new tools and developing their workforce, and calls on business leaders to treat technological upskilling as an immediate priority rather than a future consideration.

Speaking at a media launch at Sky Mall’s conference room in Haggatt Hall, HRMAB president Tisha Peters said the traditional boundaries of human resource management have changed. What was once largely administrative is now central to organisational performance and national productivity.

“When I began my career in human resources, our conversation centred on recruitment, payroll, employee relations, and compliance,” Peters observed. “Those responsibilities still matter, but today our role extends far beyond them. We are no longer simply supporting business strategy. We are helping to shape it.”

Peters warned against outdated approaches to managing people:

“No organisation in Barbados or anywhere else can afford to treat HR as a back-office function any longer, because people are not part of the strategy. People are the strategy.

“Organisations rarely fail because they lack a strategy. They struggle because they underestimate the human side of change. You can buy technology, processes can be redesigned, but trust, leadership, and culture—those have to be built one conversation, one leader, one decision at a time.”

With 2030 approaching, businesses are increasingly competing internationally for talent. Remote work has made it easier for workers on the island to secure jobs overseas without relocating, adding to concerns about brain drain.

At the same time, workplaces now span five generations, from the Silent Generation to Generation Z, presenting both challenges and opportunities for employers.

“The pace of change has accelerated, and the decisions our leaders make over the next few years will shape Barbadian workplaces for the next decade and beyond,” said Peters, suggesting that generational diversity must be viewed as an asset. “That diversity is not a problem to be solved. It is an opportunity to be harnessed. The organisations that will thrive are the ones that learn to bridge those generations, not manage them separately. What cannot be copied is culture.”

HRMAB’s immediate past president Nicholas Roberts, who chairs the association’s People Development Conference Committee, said the issues extend beyond human resource professionals.

“These aren’t simply HR issues. These are business issues. These are issues that are affecting our economy, and that’s exactly why this conference matters,” Roberts said. “If your organisation is thinking about the future, this conference is for you.”

The programme will include keynote presentations, workshops and panel discussions, with speakers from Barbados and overseas. Featured presenters include Theresa Hall and Dr Shane Ram, along with Minister of Labour Colin Jordan and contributors Davina Layne, Vennell Sandy-Paterson and Leslie Lee-Fook.

Topics will cover workforce planning, skills mapping, talent attraction, retention, and employee well-being, as well as the role of technology in modern workplaces.

“Technology will continue to evolve, but strong leadership, adaptable skills, and engaged employees will remain the foundation of our organisations,” Roberts said. “The organisations that continue to invest in their people today will be organisations that are best positioned to succeed not only today but tomorrow.”

(RR)