Employment Minister Insists on Active Collaboration Between Workers and Management
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.
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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.
Minister Telemaque identifies active and consistent procedures as an absolute necessity if we want to enhance the implementation of development and localization at organisational levels. This was her firm message during her first visit to a tourism establishment that forms part of the industry, one of the main employments in the country.
The Minister of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status began the year 2018 ministerial visits as she visited the Carana Beach Hotel, along the North Coast Road. The hotel renowned for its luxurious environment retains a higher number of local workers at 63 to non-Seychellois workers at 33 attracting a commendation for the mentioned process put in place to provide ample opportunity for local workers. The hotel also retains a young workforce creating suitable training for young students from professional centres and assisting them develop a career which is in line with the minister's emphasis on the necessity for understudies.
The regular routine of ministerial visits begins with a brief introduction of the ministerial delegation to the administrative staff and the pre-scheduled tour of the premises. This provides the Minister with an opportunity to observe and interact with the workers at their individual work stations. After the tour, the ministerial delegation has a debriefing with the management of the hotel; during this session, the issues raised during the tour are discussed, commendations are made where good practices are observed, best practices are shared and support is provided for the workers and establishments in the form of proposed guidelines and monitoring.
The visit spurred positive feedback in line with the suitable salary scheme, development opportunities and pleasant management, so also did it raise concerns of which some were related to staff meals which the workers felt could be better and a more appropriate means of transportation for the workers that reside far from the hotel. The workers with fixed days off expressed their preference for a rotated off days arrangement. Also the unavailability of rest areas for workers with split shifts presented an inconvenience for the workers while waiting for their next shift to begin and finally the gardeners requested for more suitable and appropriate protective gears.
As a strategy for staff retention, the ministry advised the hotel management to conduct a more frequent tete-a-tete with staff in order to better understand, meet the needs and create job satisfaction among their workers. The ministry also proposed the introduction of a health and safety officer which the hotel is in the process of recruiting as well as more kitchen staff.
After the visit, the Minister expressed appreciation for their hospitality and satisfaction in the working conditions of the hotel.
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.
