The Minister of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Mrs Myriam Telemaque upholds major commitment to solidify the relationship between the government and the private sector though her continuous visits to private establishments that recently included the Seychelles Trading Company (STC).     The Minister’s dedication to this productive rapport is   carried out through visits and discussions which provide platform for support and cooperation. As part of the minister’s scheduled visits for 2018, the ministerial delegation visited all STC outlets on Mahe, Praslin and La Digue. This comprehensive visit was conducted within two months; the 4th, 11th and 18th of May as well as the 15th and 22nd of June.

 The procedure for every ministerial visit to establishments presents the opportunity for the Minister and the delegation to interact with employees at their work station as all sections of the establishment are visited and dialogue is held with the workers in the absence of the management after which comments and issues raised are considered with the management in a debriefing which in this case was held on the 19th of July 2018.

 Performing a series of crucial duties daily, it was rather impressive to observe that the company had a significant number of long serving staff, many of which express satisfaction in their job though there were a few issues mentioned by some members of staff.

 Some of the issues raised were general in nature while others were more specific to sections. The general concerns comprised of communication especially between the different outlets, work overload due to resignations and  lack of a proper salary structure to ensure fair treatment between staff undertaking similar duties. 

 Following the debriefing with management, STC has agreed to introduce certain procedures that will ensure general staff satisfaction and motivation in order to address their retention issues apparently being faced thus encouraging more staff to stay with the company longer as it has been traditionally. Just to mention two key principles; the first one is communication where they will now hold mandatory monthly staff meetings which will be the platform for exchange of information and allow staff to participate through ideas on the daily operation. The company’s scheme of service and succession plan is also to be updated and discussed with the staff by the end of the year to allow staff with potential to be properly developed and rewarded as appropriate.

The Minister conveyed satisfaction in the cooperation of the company to address issues discussed with the aim of elevating the general comfort and confidence of their staff.

 There will be continuous follow-up on the progress and changes the company will be putting into practice by the Ministry.