The Jamaica Associa-tion for Training and Development (JATAD) will be undertaking a study of best and worst practices in selected businesses with a view to leading the process of recognising, promoting and using the best of Jamaica's human resources practices to benefit a body of organisations.
In giving an overview of the project, lecturer in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Dr. Anne Crick, who is spearheading the study, said the research and analysis would be based on human resources practices in Jamaica which had either delivered or had the potential to deliver social and economic value to the organisation and its individual stakeholders, as well as enabling greater efficiency in the use of time, labour and capital in organisations.
She was speaking at the Hilton Kingston Hotel on Wednesday during a working meeting with JATAD and some of the Jamaican companies which have employed best practices and which are expected to participate in the study. Among the companies are Alcan Jamaica, the Bank of Nova Scotia, Cable & Wireless Jamaica, Caribbean Cement Company, the Carreras Group, Jamaica Broilers Group, Jamaica Information Service, Jamaica Money Market Brokers, Jamaica National Building Society, JAMPRO, Shell Company of the West Indies and the National Housing Trust.
Unquestionable impact
In a document containing a proposal for funding circulated at the meeting, Dr. Crick, who was also named as the research committee team leader, said JATAD, described as the island's premier human resource organisation, has been mandated by its membership and other stakeholders to lead the process of promoting best practices within organisations. "This should, in turn, have an unquestionable impact on the productivity of the country," a point also reinforced by the Association's chairman, Henry Reid.
"It is our view," said the document, "that the best standards and practices are not widely adopted and used in a significant number of Jamaican organisations. Hence organisations lose the opportunity to add value for competitive advantage."
The strategic objectives of the project will be the selection of a group of organisations that has at least an intuitive knowledge of their best and worst practices.
Each organisation will develop and agree on a schedule of activities and time-frame for establishing best practices and or phasing out of poor practices. All employees and other stakeholders will be encouraged to develop and use best practices, and then the project will be opened to all organisations in Jamaica and elsewhere.
Dr. Crick said the aim was to produce at least two case studies by mid-November this year, and thereafter to expose at least 500 human resources professional and stakeholders to new available practices from Jamaican organisations.
The study is expected to be published in JATAD's international journal and on its web site, and will be presented during its 21st annual conference slated for November 8-11 at the Wyndham Rose Hall Hotel, Montego Bay.
JATAD said it was in an advantageous position to spearhead the dissemination of best practices throughout local organisations, that the study would complement the recent shift towards competitiveness in Jamaican organisations, increase understanding of those practices that are best suited to Jamaican's culture and organisational environment, and would be a sustainable approach towards the growth and development of organisations.
