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(FP)

Local companies which invest in their staff will soon have the chance to be recognised with the Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Council’s Employers Recognition Awards.?? They were launched this morning at TVET’s headquarters in Belleville, St. Michael.

With agriculture, manufacturing, tourism/hospitality, personal care/services, retail and financial services highlighted as the sectors from which applicants may be drawn, the initiative, now in its second year, seeks to reward those entities which have contributed to workforce development.

Executive Director of TVET, Henderson Eastmond, explained that the three-judge panel "will be looking for inspiring examples of training initiatives, with evidence that employers have provided within their organisations,"?? he said, adding that small, medium and large businesses were eligible.??

Applicants will be judged against the criteria of: the extent and quality of workforce training and development undertaken within the applicants’ organisation; the achievements of the organisation and/or its employees, which are attributed to the training undertaken; the integration of training into business planning; and the innovation and excellence in training design and delivery.

Head Judge and Managing Director of Caribbean Catalyst Inc., Rosalind Jackson, encouraged all companies to apply, as based on her experience from last year, "a lot of applicants didn’t realise how much they were doing.?? Everything doesn’t have to be a certificate course…[although] they are important…However, there’s a lot of other on-the-job training and education that is going on.

"…Look at what skills your [staff] have developed…and you will find that you’re probably doing more TVET than you think and we want to encourage you to do even more and do it in a formal way," she advised.

Further addressing the role companies play in employee development, Ms. Jackson noted that the way forward for the economy was for those in supervisory roles to embrace their responsibility to help staff succeed.??

"We have to do it purposefully…and passionately if we are serious about our companies succeeding in an ever increasing competitive environment," she stressed.

Emphasising the ways in which the right leadership benefits both employee and enterprise, Ms. Jackson observed that "When we look at the winners [of the awards], we should see that their business is growing because their people are growing…

"Talent times culture is equal to profit.?? So, if we get the right talent on board – people who commit, communicate and collaborate, not just people with a string of certificates; and culture, [where] we as leaders have a responsibility to set the tone in the organisation, where we’re respectful, we’re focused on improvement, we want to give people meaningful work…If we get those things going on together, our bottom line is going to improve," she advised.

The TVET Employers Recognition Awards submission period will start on Monday, July 1 and ends Friday, August 30, at 4:00 p.m.?? Application forms may be obtained from and submitted to the TVET Council Secretariat, #7 ???Chelwood’, 8th Avenue, Belleville, St. Michael or by request at office@tvetcouncil.com.bb. TVET Technical Officers will also be available by appointment to assist in the completion of the form, which is also obtainable online at www.tvetcouncil.com.bb/EmployersAwards.

nekaelia.hutchinson@barbados.gov.bb

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