L-R Rayle Roberts (Wellness Centre), Graham Woods (Investors in People), Shannon Francis (CIIB), Dwene Ebanks (CIIB), Lolita Bodden (CIIB), Angela Mowbry (CIIB), Lois Kellyman (Investors in People), Dr. Dax Basdeo (CIIB), Joe Richards (Investors in People).

Business Advisors at the Cayman Islands Investment Bureau continue to benefit from on-going training and refresher programmes designed to complement and enhance their existing skill sets. Earlier this month, the organization organized a joint training session on Business Counselling with individuals from the Investors in People Cayman Islands office, an entity that shares a similar mandate to the CIIB. Despite using different approaches, both agencies strive to help businesses transform their performance.

CIIB Executive Director and Investors in People Council member, Dr. Dax Basdeo, explains the collaboration further. “Having been exposed to the core principles of the Investors in People Standard and my subsequent understanding of its intrinsic worth to all businesses, I felt that if we shared some of our own business advising methods with the team it could only bolster the national training policy and garner greater results for both our agencies’ outcomes.”

Rayle Roberts from the Wellness Centre facilitated the morning session of the full day workshop. Participants were first reminded of the role of a counsellor in general and then exposed to effective counselling techniques such as setting tone and context that help create a professional yet friendly atmosphere, communicate efficiency and hospitality and get resistant client buy-in. Active listening was also stressed as an important tool and individuals were encouraged via instruction and role play to listen for meaning, not mere words.

Dr. Basdeo led the remainder of the programme which centred on the different types of clients: the entrepreneur, the manager and the technician. He discussed the main characteristics of each and compared the different learning cycles and spent some time reviewing many of the issues that need to be considered when planning a business. The key attributes of an effective advisor were highlighted and later on in the session he went over the four stages of the counselling cycle and illustrated the building blocks of business modelling. This included things like value proposition, business analyses, client relationships, revenue streams and cost structures.

The Cayman Islands Investment Bureau offers training workshops year round on various topics of interest to businesses. The Investors in People Standard is a business improvement tool designed to advance an organisation’s performance through the development and management of its employees. For more information on how your organization can benefit form either of these programmes, please call 945-0943.