On Friday 4th April 2014, Minister Alexander conducted her thirteenth workplace visit for the year. She visited the SkyChef Servair at Pointe Larue where she was greeted by the Managing Director, Mr Neville Morel.

During the visit, the Minister had the opportunity to interact with the staff. A strong point that was noticeable was the high staff retention with a good number of staff having been with the company from between 20 to 42 years. The main issues raised were human resource related namely attitudes, communication and training needs.

It is to be noted that since the beginning of the year, the Ministry has conducted a number of visits to the company and has been working with the management to address issues brought forth through routine investigation visits. Minister Alexander was satisfied to perceive that there has been some improvement.

“I am happy to see that you have tackled many of the concerns that were identified during the inspections earlier this year. However, there are still a few issues that need to be addressed,” she said.

She also stressed that communication was key to tackling these minor human resource issues and that communication should be a two way process.

On their part, the management team pointed out that recruitment and the reluctance of some staff members to do overtime as and when required remains a problem for the company. In view of this, the Minister provided a series of proposals which included the introduction of incentives to increase job satisfaction and create a conducive environment thereby encouraging staff to be more productive.

Another proposal was to conduct a training needs analysis in order to identify the needs of the organization and provide training for middle management staff that is best suited to their needs.

In regards to the staff, Minister Alexander pointed out that it was important for them to take their responsibility towards their work seriously.

The visit ended with the Minister highlighting the benefits of joining the Human Resource Forum, an idea that was welcomed by the management team. She also gave her assurances that her Ministry will provide them with the necessary support in terms of recruitment through Private Employment Agencies.