Key participants at the Portfolio of the Civil Service and the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) strategic human-resources seminars. From left to right: UCCI President Dr Hassan Syed; speakers Dr Dan Ondrack and Dr Robert Weishan; the portfolio’s Chief Officer (Designate) Mary Rodrigues; and UCCI Professor Dr Allan Young.
The Portfolio of the Civil Service and the University College of the Cayman Islands (UCCI) recently hosted two strategic human-resources seminars: one for more than 70 civil service and private sector HR professionals and managers, and the second for chief officers within the civil service.
Part of the portfolio’s ongoing development of HR expertise within the civil service, the seminars also were open to the private sector. This promoted cross-sector discussions, said the portfolio’s Chief Officer (Designate) Mary Rodrigues.
“Regardless of whether it is the public or private sector, in industries that are labour intensive, our people are our most important resource; in fact, they are about the only resource we have that can make a difference in the results achieved,” she said.
“Greater effectiveness and efficiencies in service will only come when we are able to place, alongside business strategies, the strategies to train, develop, motivate and reward our people for good performance.”
Mrs Rodrigues also noted that the seminar was organised in order to provide information and support to a group that has very important contributions to make in these areas.
The seminars included presentations from two speakers: Dr Dan Ondrack, the Academic Director for Executive Programmes and the former Associate Dean of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.
His topic was ”Competing in the Talent Market: Gaining Competitive Advantage from Being a ‘Best Employer’.”
Dr Robert Weishan, UCCI management professor, spoke on the topic “Strategic Human Resources within a Public Service Context.”
Dr Ondrack discussed strategies that organisations use to gain a competitive advantage in human-capital markets, where the quality and performance of the people in organisations are key deciding factors.
He then shared financial research findings from Canada and the US, showing that firms that follow “best employer”-type practices outperform, on overage, their competition in human-capital industries such as service and high-technology.
Also, Dr Ondrack said that overall, best performance is a matter of “good talent, good leadership and a strong organisational culture.”
Dr Wieshan’s humorous and frank perspective of typical public-sector HR practices was drawn from his career in both private- and public-sector organisations, in different countries. He elaborated on HR management techniques that sometimes run counter to getting the most out of people.
During the seminars, Mrs Rodrigues, who is also an alumnus of the Rotman School of Management’s Change Management programme, and is now completing the school’s advanced human resources management programme gave an overview of HR developments internationally and within the civil service.
Following the presentations, Mrs Rodrigues said that the feedback was very positive. She added that the portfolio intends to further develop its partnership with UCCI, in order to provide follow-up workshops and training sessions.
