The Office of Public Sector Reform (OPSR) has embarked on a series of Re-engagement Seminars for its Employee Assistance Programme for various government departments which have been affected by the recent public sector retrenchment.
The media launch for the seminars will be held on Monday, July 14, at 10:00 a.m.??in the National Insurance Board Room, 2nd Floor, Frank Walcott Building, Culloden Road, St. Michael.
The objectives of the re-engagement sessions are: to help employees grieve in a controlled manner; to assist employees in identifying the different responses to confront change; and to help employees commit to the newly-changed environment and seek to find a way forward.
Additionally, the seminars will seek to help employees to maintain and improve productivity in their newly expanded roles. During the sessions, participants will have an opportunity to share and interact.
According to an official from OPSR, who described the retrenchment exercise as one of the hardest choices that had to be made, ???The fact remains that whenever workers are made redundant, it affects the entire group dynamic, creating various reactions and responses from survivors. The sum result is that some survivors may disengage in an attempt to manage the emotional fall-out, which may then result in lowered productivity. The issue of low productivity is particularly of concern, given that at this time, managers may require officers to expand their roles within agencies.???
julie.carrington@barbados.gov.bb