Final Human Resource Forum for the year of 2014
“Effective Human Resource Management is necessary for any business or organisation, as it concerns their most valuable resource – their people.”
The Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development held its final Human Resource Forum for the year on Thursday 20th November 2014 at the STC Board Room. As a reminder, the Human Resources Forum is a platform for consultation, and the sharing of knowledge and best practices between the attendees.
The session was chaired by Principal Secretary Ms Veronique Bresson.
This latest edition of the Forum began with a presentation on the Employment Assistance Programme (EAP) by Ms. Yvana Theresine, Director of Drug and Alcohol Council. Ms Theresine took the opportunity to remind the attendees of the reasons the programme had been set up, such as employees struggling with problems like drugs and alcohol being unwilling to pursue treatment openly for fear of stigmatisation. She also emphasised that, while the EAP evolved out of the desire to help substance abuse victims, this is not the only area in which it can help. It can also render assistance in area such as legal advice, or various health and safety issues. The programme includes mechanisms for providing counselling, referrals, and other forms of assistance, advice, and information to employees on a systematic and uniform basis.
“The government wants the EAP to provide employees with a safe workplace,” Ms Theresine said.
She also stressed that adoption of the EAP is not mandatory and that many organisations already have their own employee assistance schemes in place that are working quite well. Ms Theresine extended an invitation to such organisations to share ideas with the people behind the EAP with the aim of making it a more efficient machine.
The second and final presentation of the day was by Ms. Susan Morel, Director of Planning and Policy Research at the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development. Ms Morel discussed the issue of fair salaries and the step the Ministry of Labour is taking to ensure fair treatment for all employees.
The rest of the meeting was spent in open discussion on various issues the members wished to express. The next Forum is scheduled to take place in three months.
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Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque led a delegation on a working visit to the Savoy Resort & Spa yesterday.
The objective of the visit was to interact with staff, get to know their views, challenges as well as benefits being offered in their workplace.
Secondly the visit was aimed at ensuring a better understanding of the on ground operations of the workplaces and to see whether they are abiding by employment regulations.
Speaking of the visit, Employment principal secretary Jules Baker said that Savoy being a new hotel of only four years old faces challenges when it comes to staff and human resources management as staff have indicated some deficiencies in the area of communications and a proper management structure for reporting and feedback.
"Savoy is a very nice hotel and the staff are happy to work here but there are HR issues that need to be dealt with in the immediate, medium and long-term as they feel that decisions are being taken without the staff being informed," Mr Baker said.
He explained that this is a common problem in some of the establishments visited and appealed to all workplaces to establish better communication procedures between management, human resources and staff members.
"This will help establish a structure where the employees will feel comfortable to bring forward their difficulties, views, suggestions and recommendations as we have seen in many instances where employees with a lot of work experience do not have the leeway to contribute towards the development of the organisation," Mr Baker said.
Yesterday was Minister Telemaque's third visit for this year which forms part of a series of visits which she started last year after being appointed as minister.
The visits are aimed at establishing better contact between the employment department and the working establishments.
Last year, Minister Telemaque carried out twelve visits to various workplaces across Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and Félicité island such as Casino Liberte, Global Supplies Centre, Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), Air Seychelles, Ile du Port Handling Services (IPHS), Constance Ephelia Hotel and Resort, Le Domaine de L'Orangeraie and Six Senses-Zil Pasyon Resort Ltd.
Mr Baker added that following such visits, there are follow up visits done by an employment technical team to physically assess what the minister and her delegation have seen and heard and then a written recommendation and deadline to rectify the problems is sent to the organisation.
"The dozen of visits we've undertaken have been very fruitful as we had a structured work plan and a set of recommendations for organisations to follow. So far some have given very good feedback on the recommendations put forward by the department while others are in the process or restructuring. I am 85% happy with the ministerial visits," Mr Baker said.
Members of the ministerial delegation on the visit to Savoy Resort and Spa also included special advisor Veronique Bresson, technical advisor Susan Morel, director general for labour relations Steve Monnaie, director for special employment programme Letimy Dookley and other senior employment officers.
The Minister of Employment Mrs. Myriam Telemaque reviews the state of affairs of the L'Union Estate on La Digue for a more cooperative and structured working environment.
The estate falls under the country's agricultural industry and it produces a wide range of plants from vegetables to spices as well as livestock. Situated on La Digue, it also presents a tourist attraction for the spacious environment and farm land. The estate employs a number of 82 workers of which 67 are local and 15 are non-Seychellois.
Previously visited on the 2nd of March 2017, the estate had some issues identified prior to that visit of which some were addressed.
The Minister during this visit was accompanied by a delegation on a tour of the estate observing the plant and livestock areas. She discussed with the workers at their work station and visited others at different stations encouraging them to work together and asking pertinent questions in regards to their challenges and opinion of their work. Generally the workers uttered satisfactory comments about the estate and how they enjoyed their jobs though there were crucial concerns raised on a number of topics such as inadequate level of support by management coupled with inequity in treatment of staff and insufficient staff welfare.
The estate employs an encouraging number of long service staff; having worked with the farm for an impressive number of years are that the ministry has pressed should be consolidated.
After the tour of the premises, the Minister held a meeting with the CEO of the estate and the Human Resource Manager during which the concerns raised were discussed emphasising the need for collaborative effort from both the workers and the management. The Human Resource Manager proposed a number of programmes she intends to consider which included a salary structure, team building activities, in-house training and a better staff welfare. This will create provision for a more structured operation, presenting a clearer pathway in the administration, fairness in treatment and a general improvement in job satisfaction.
Bangladesh's Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Nurul Islam, is satisfied with the working environment of the Bangladeshi workers currently employed in Seychelles in various sectors such as construction, tourism and agriculture.
This follows an official visit by the minister during the weekend when he also visited the O'Nivo construction company at Providence and also Bangladeshi workers on a construction site at Ile Perseverance.
Minister Islam was accompanied by the Seychelles' Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque, the principal secretary for employment Jules Baker and other officials of the ministry.
There are around 2,200 Bangladeshi workers currently employed in various sectors from agriculture, tourism and construction in Seychelles and they are working tirelessly to grow the economy of Seychelles and at the same time provide to their families back home.
Speaking to the media after their visit, Minister Islam pointed out that he is satisfied how the Bangladeshi workers are being treated.
"The purpose of my visit is to oversee the working condition of the Bangladeshi workers at O'Nivo Construction company. I am really satisfied with their working environment and salaries. The workers are well treated, and really enjoy working in such a beautiful country. Obviously we will have to monitor their condition so that Seychelles can have more Bangladeshi workers," he said.
Minister Telemaque added that Bangladeshi workers are well treated in the country.
"We are really happy with the condition of the workers, and we will work hard to keep improving their daily stay in our country. The Bangladeshi minister also compared the working condition of the Bangladeshi workers here with other countries and we agreed that expatriate workers should be well treated," said Minister Telemaque.
One of the workers, Hassan Mahamudul, who is employed with O'Nivo Construction company, told the media that he enjoys working in Seychelles.
"Every two years I get a ticket to go back to Bangladesh for free. I am really pleased with my working condition and could not ask for more. I really appreciate that the Bangladeshi minister took the time to visit us," he said.
Owned by Hao Liu, O'Nivo Construction Company employs around 30 workers.
Before the site visit, the Bangladeshi delegation paid a courtesy call on Minister Telemaque at her office at the Independence House Annex, Victoria.
Minister Islam was originally expected in the country of Thursday night and was to hold meetings with Minister Telemaque last Friday, but his programme had to be altered as he had to stay much longer in Mauritius as Air Seychelles had stopped flying there for a short while because cyclone Berguitta left a trail of destruction across the island after battering it with the strength of a hurricane.
