Basseterre, St. Kitts (April 29, 2014) — The Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis and two government departments have benefited from the services of the Florida-based Cohen & Klein Consulting, which conducted a three-day Supervisory Management course last week.
Seven participants, two drawn from the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, two from the Inland Revenue Department, and three from the Customs Department, took part in the course that was conducted by Mr Keith Nethersole, Director of Operations and Training, Cohen & Klein Consulting, at the Ocean Terrace Inn (OTI) from Wednesday to Friday (April 23-25).
“It was a comprehensive course in supervisory management,” said Mr Nethersole, of the course that covered 64 subject areas. “It was for persons in managerial positions and those who aspire to be in supervisory or management positions.”
According to Mr Nethersole, Cohen & Klein Consulting has been doing training through the Caribbean for the past sixteen years in different subject areas, and that the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Inland Revenue Department were repeat clients, while the Customs Department was taking part in one of their courses for the first time.
“The response that they (participants) gave from the opening session is that they are in supervisory at this time and they need to strengthen their skills and their experience and those who are not yet supervisors also wanted to know the factors surrounding effective supervisory management,” explained Mr Nethersole.
“They have had vast years of experience on the job in so far as the work experience is concerned, but the art, the science and the skills in people management in essence supervisory management and management skills and techniques, there were concerns, and object of the course is to build on their confidence level and their exposure.”
Representing the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis were Ms Danienne Brin, Manager of Human Resource, Marketing and Product Development, and Ms Hyacinth Pemberton, Manager for the Nevis branch of the Bank’s operations.
“The course is equipping us to basically be able to supervise our staff and the institution as a whole,” explained Ms Brin. “We spoke about obstacles that one comes across especially when they make a transition from a normal officer to a supervisor or a manager.
“There are things that you might realise might come up and you have to be equipped with the tools that you need to also make that transition from the officer to the supervisor.”
According to Ms Brin, the course touched on different subjects like job evaluations, job evaluation reviews, meetings, the different types of ways to reward the staff with incentives, and they also touched on how to arrange for meetings whether it be a board meetings, scheduled meetings or even unscheduled meetings.
“The course on a whole would better be able to help us to incorporate what we have learnt today in our day to day duties at our respective departments and institutions,” commented Ms Brin. “Overall I would say it was very beneficial to us.”
The three participants from the Customs Department were, Ms Kennifer Caines, Ms Dennicia Jeffers and Mr Delando Levine, all who hold the title of Customs Officer Grade II.
“The course taught us the various steps and attributes you have to partake in and obtain for you to achieve as a supervisor, and it has basically given us the tools for us to travel on that journey,” stated Mr Delando Levine.
“I think that the course that we undertook is equipping us to basically go out there and serve for one, and to serve properly and for us to be seen as a department that thinks about every aspect of the work internally and externally, so I think it helps in that regard.”
The two representatives from the Inland Revenue Department, Ms Renee Matthew, an Administrative Assistant, and Mr Stuart Warde, an Objections Officer, generally agreed that the organisation is currently at one of the greatest transitions in its history, where they are basically revamping how business is done.
“This training in Supervisory Management I think is quite timely and adds to the human development capabilities that I think the Comptroller has been trying to build upon for the past months and in the more recent weeks,” commented Mr Warde. “This course in particular addresses a lot of current issues as they relate to supervisory management and the current concepts and practices for that field.
“Generally all of the topics were quite relevant, but what stood out for me, and I think for my colleague, were those issues on job evaluation and job description, and managing conflicts as you know conflict resolution is very important for any organisation.”