Basseterre, St. Kitts (December 23, 2015) — As the year draws to a close, General Manager of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr Lenworth Harris, is optimistic that the institution’s staff members are now better equipped to serve the general public following two sets of training that they undertook in the year.
“Training is priority for us,” said Mr Harris. “These are all part of our process to enhance the bank’s operations and better serve our clients. We are really trying to build a futuristic staff, a professional staff and this is part of it.”
Two workshops that were organised and executed by the Barbados National Productivity Council were held during the course of the year, one in June and the other in October, and participating were staff members drawn from the head office in Basseterre, and branch office in Charlestown.
The General Manager commented that for the bank to get to where it really wants to be, productivity must be enhanced, and as part of getting to the level of productivity it would mean that sometimes members of the staff have to attend to the issues of culture and attitude, hence the closeness and proximity of the workshops.
“As we go into the New Year, hopefully the staff would harness some of the principles that they would have learnt in these two workshops and we begin to see application by way of the quality and the quantum of work that they produce,” said Mr Harris.
According to the Manager of Human Resource, Marketing and Product Development Unit at the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, Ms Danienne Brin, the first two-day workshop which was facilitated by Mr John Pilgrim was on ‘Productivity Best Practices’ while the second two-day workshop, ‘Developing a Positive Organisational Culture: Modelling Behaviours to Improve Productivity’ was facilitated by Ms Jannell Arthur in October.
“We serve a dynamic and discerning clientele, and for the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis to be on a competitive edge it is important that our members of staff are retooled to fully grasp the needs of such a clientele, and training is the only way to go,” explained Ms Brin.
According to Ms Brin, the Barbados National Productivity Council has partnered well with the Development Bank having conducted training workshops in the past, where members of staff reported back that they would have gained immensely, and the two workshops carried out in the year were no exception.
“Mr John Pilgrim has been a valuable partner of the Development Bank and this came into play when he conducted the first workshop for two days in June in the bank’s boardroom,” said Ms Brin. “In October we had the privilege of having Ms Jannell Arthur of the same company who also conducted a highly interactive two-day workshop that was held at the Solid Waste Conference Centre.”
All members of staff who took part in the two workshops received their participation certificates from Mr John Pilgrim of the Barbados National Productivity Council at a function that was held at the bank’s lobby early in December where he thanked them for being part of the training offered by his company.
Ms Brin, on behalf of the Board, Management and Staff, took time to wish all customers of the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year and promised them better services in the New Year.
She challenged the customers and their family members that as they patronise the services of the institution that they also feel free to offer suggestions as to how they would wish to be better served.
“I wish to thank all clients who would have in the past filled in a feedback questionnaire available at the bank’s lobby telling us of the kind of service they receive at the Development Bank and their suggestions,” said Ms Brin. “This has been very encouraging and should continue in the New Year. Yes, we want to hear from you.”