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EDITORIAL - Sagicor's good lesson for teachers
Published: Thursday | February 19, 2009
Change is not usually easy, so we do not expect Richard Byles to find easy embrace of his plan to introduce a performance-based remuneration system at Sagicor Life Jamaica.
Indeed, there will be active resistance among some employees, accustomed as they are to fixed salaries. But we believe that Mr Byles' effort is deserving of support and that the trade unions that represent Sagicor's employees should help to smooth its path. It is in their interest so to do.
Turbulent economic times
These are turbulent economic times globally and Jamaica is already being battered by the storm. Our tourism arrival numbers may be up, but net earnings from the industry are in decline. Worldwide demand for alumina has plunged, taking with it the price of the commodity. The upshot is that alumina refineries in Jamaica have been shedding jobs and/or cutting wages. Remittances from Jamaicans abroad have softened as our nationals living in the United States, Canada, Britain and elsewhere feel the cold winds of recession.
In Jamaica, the projection is for economic decline this year of around two per cent, following last year's stagnation. Perhaps 15,000 jobs have already been lost in our economy. And things could grow economically worse for Jamaica if there is not an early recovery globally.
If Jamaica is to survive the storm, a critical component must be greater efficiency in the economy, which includes enhanced labour productivity. That is, the value that employees bring to an enterprise has to rise faster than their cost to the business - and hopefully beyond the rate of inflation - if the venture is to remain competitive and capable of surviving these trying times.
This, in many cases, will require re-engineering the way we do business, which may include hard and unpopular decisions by managers. Mr Byles understands this.
In some respects, Sagicor and similar businesses have an advantage. With large sales teams forming the core of their employees, they have a built-in empirical measure for performance.
However, as Mr Byles suggests, his company is devising a wider compensation matrix that will require systematic appraisal of employees. People's pay will be linked to their output. This is the way to go.
Indeed, it is a system that we commend to other enterprises in Jamaica and to the Government, especially in the latter case, to the reward of teachers.
Just recently the Government agreed to a job reclassification of the more than 20,000 state-paid teachers, which really is a euphemism for a salary increase. The additional bill to taxpayers will be $15 billion. Unfortunately, the teachers have not been asked for, and have offered nothing in exchange for this increase.
Basic literacy and numeracy
The context of this is that a third of Jamaican students complete primary school without the mastery of basic literacy and numeracy. At high school fewer than 20 per cent graduate with the matriculation requirements for tertiary education or the qualifications for a decent job.
Yet the Jamaica Teachers' Association and its president, Doran Dixon, continue to resist a system of performance-based pay, insisting that none can be fashioned until the complete education system is fixed and all schools have the same, level of resources, which, of course, is nonsense and a way of hiding from taking responsibility.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
Published: Thursday | February 19, 2009
Change is not usually easy, so we do not expect Richard Byles to find easy embrace of his plan to introduce a performance-based remuneration system at Sagicor Life Jamaica.
Indeed, there will be active resistance among some employees, accustomed as they are to fixed salaries. But we believe that Mr Byles' effort is deserving of support and that the trade unions that represent Sagicor's employees should help to smooth its path. It is in their interest so to do.
Turbulent economic times
These are turbulent economic times globally and Jamaica is already being battered by the storm. Our tourism arrival numbers may be up, but net earnings from the industry are in decline. Worldwide demand for alumina has plunged, taking with it the price of the commodity. The upshot is that alumina refineries in Jamaica have been shedding jobs and/or cutting wages. Remittances from Jamaicans abroad have softened as our nationals living in the United States, Canada, Britain and elsewhere feel the cold winds of recession.
In Jamaica, the projection is for economic decline this year of around two per cent, following last year's stagnation. Perhaps 15,000 jobs have already been lost in our economy. And things could grow economically worse for Jamaica if there is not an early recovery globally.
If Jamaica is to survive the storm, a critical component must be greater efficiency in the economy, which includes enhanced labour productivity. That is, the value that employees bring to an enterprise has to rise faster than their cost to the business - and hopefully beyond the rate of inflation - if the venture is to remain competitive and capable of surviving these trying times.
This, in many cases, will require re-engineering the way we do business, which may include hard and unpopular decisions by managers. Mr Byles understands this.
In some respects, Sagicor and similar businesses have an advantage. With large sales teams forming the core of their employees, they have a built-in empirical measure for performance.
However, as Mr Byles suggests, his company is devising a wider compensation matrix that will require systematic appraisal of employees. People's pay will be linked to their output. This is the way to go.
Indeed, it is a system that we commend to other enterprises in Jamaica and to the Government, especially in the latter case, to the reward of teachers.
Just recently the Government agreed to a job reclassification of the more than 20,000 state-paid teachers, which really is a euphemism for a salary increase. The additional bill to taxpayers will be $15 billion. Unfortunately, the teachers have not been asked for, and have offered nothing in exchange for this increase.
Basic literacy and numeracy
The context of this is that a third of Jamaican students complete primary school without the mastery of basic literacy and numeracy. At high school fewer than 20 per cent graduate with the matriculation requirements for tertiary education or the qualifications for a decent job.
Yet the Jamaica Teachers' Association and its president, Doran Dixon, continue to resist a system of performance-based pay, insisting that none can be fashioned until the complete education system is fixed and all schools have the same, level of resources, which, of course, is nonsense and a way of hiding from taking responsibility.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
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