Skip to main content
Tag

citizenry

Enabling Productivity Growth in the Younger Generation

By Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips, Youth

StudyingChildren may not be motivated to do what they are supposed to do, often resulting in their parents exclaiming ‘Why isn’t my child more productive!’ As a result parents carry out various strategies to encourage their children to get on task, many a time to no avail. However, what is seldom recognised is that a child might have one or more good reasons for not doing something; a child may be confused, tired, upset, hungry, or disinterested. He may find the task overwhelming or not fully understand the significance.
The effects of peer pressure may also be a contributing cause for procrastination as could a lack of organizational or time management skills. In effect, there are many reasons why children are not motivated to accomplish their tasks barring the notion that they are deliberately and purposefully counter- productive. In addressing the issue of demotivation amongst children, there are some basic strategies which may be considered to bring remedy to this problem.  As a sequel to last week’s featured article spotlighting teenagers and their approach to productivity, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) would like to reflect on some of the ways in which parents can assist in the drive towards greater productivity amongst the youth.

  1. Help kids develop a growth mind-set. Emphasize that one step at a time is all it takes to get going placing emphasis on the importance of personal effort. Demonstrate an “I can do it!” attitude. Small accomplishments lead toward bigger ones, so provide children with direct, immediate and constructive feedback so that they can experience success along the way to task completion.
  2. Encourage accountability. Children have to learn to take ownership of what they choose to do (or not do) and face the consequences of their decisions. Talk to your children about it. You might also share with them why you view challenges as opportunities to grow and why buckling down and taking control of a situation is not only gratifying but is also good preparation for other eventualities of life.
  3. Make it meaningful. If a task is not relevant to a child, chances are it will not get done. If it’s interesting and relates to something important or intriguing, or sparks the imagination and connects to the individual’s aspirations, then chances are the child will be motivated to try it.
  4. Pay attention to skill sets. Some children need new or better strategies for pacing, organizing or self-regulation. Help them find solutions to the problems they may be facing. For example, homework-related issues might involve learning to use an agenda or study guide; finding a quiet and well-equipped workspace and removing distractions. A child may also need assistance dealing with instructions, clarifying expectations or breaking a task down into smaller, manageable chunks.
  5. Strive for balance. Everyone needs down time—ample opportunity to relax, play, exercise or just take a break. This is especially important for children. It also gives them a chance to reflect and to create and consolidate ideas.
  6. Believe in the child. Help children develop self-confidence by appreciating their efforts and past successes. Allow them to see these successes as stepping-stones to future positive experiences and outcomes. Let children know that you are available to listen and to offer reinforcement and guidance as they continue to persevere.

Parents are well positioned to provide all of this and more, in order to facilitate their child’s productivity. By being attuned to your child’s individual needs and patterns of avoidance, it is possible to find the best kinds of strategies for a given situation. Remember to be patient, supportive, and resourceful and it will be possible to address avoidance situations as they arise.

April 30, 2015
Love0

PRODUCTIVITY FROM A TEENAGE PERSPECTIVE

By Competitiveness, Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips, Youth

Homework To Do Lists Can Help Teenagers Become More Productive StudentsDuring the month of April 2015, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) had the opportunity to be one of the host agencies participating in a job placement exercise facilitated through two local Secondary Schools. For two consecutive weeks, the Technical Secretariat attached to the NCPC played host to 15 year old students Showanna St. Louis of the Entrepot Secondary School and subsequently Tamara Plante of the St Joseph’ Covent. During their placement, the young ladies learnt about the operations of the Council, its mandate and goals. The students both exhibited a great eagerness to learn and were able to grasp the concepts taught to them fairly quickly. They were both able to enlighten the technical team with thought provoking synopsises of the challenges and critical issues affecting their peers and persons within their age demographic as well as providing viable options to address these issues.  The students were each challenged to write a feature from a teenager’s perspective to target other teenagers advising on the steps to be taken to becoming a productive young person within society. They both did incredibly well!
Here are excerpts from their responses. (Please advise all teenagers that you know to read the piece too.)
Showanna St. Louis, 15. Entrepot Secondary School.
‘Teenagers have a lot of free time and they spend mostly all of it on social media whilst they could spend it more productively by getting some work done. Here are a few tips on how teenagers can become more productive students and achieve better academically.

  • Select a comfortable working space

 No one should study where the television volume is up too high or where loud music is being played. These are both big distractions.  Having a comfortable working space with no distractions can create a favorable working zone for teenagers.

  • Study Timetables

 Create study timetables to help manage your time. Being able to follow a study timetable is very important. Many people have study timetables but tend to ignore them. Pin up the study timetable in your room or on the door of your room where you can see it and won’t forget about it.

  • Time Management

 Time management is another important thing when it comes to studying. Being able to manage your time is very important. If you are going to study two or three subjects a day, spend at least half an hour on each subject with a five minute break after each one which can be used to get some water, grab a quick snack or go to the washroom.
 

  • No Social Media

Instead of spending hours on social media, talking to your friends, use that time to go on the internet and do some research on things you didn’t understand in class. Who knows that very same thing might come up in the end of term exam.

  • Get Enough Sleep

 Sleep is one of the most important things when it comes to studying. The body should get up to eight hours of sleep every day. Sleeping also helps relax the brain and the brain needs rest.’

Tamara Plante, 15. St Joseph’s Covent, added:

  • Create a study list every day and a study schedule. A study list will help you approach your studies in an orderly way and help get things done faster and easier and keep you focused.

 

  • Keep a book on-hand or any writing material .This way you are able to write down any ideas that come to mind; this will prevent you from wasting time trying to remember things later

 

  • Most importantly PUT THE PHONE AWAY .This is the main issue that prevents us teens from studying. Technology can have good and bad effects let’s use it to our advantage.

 

  • Create a dedicated study time. Make it a routine; routines can help us form lasting habits. This will help you get into a rhythm and be more productive in your studies.

 

  • Leave multitasking behind. I know it’s tempting to watch the latest ‘Empire’ episode while you’re doing your homework, trust me I know, but in order to do your best it is better to concentrate on one task .Your brain can only concentrate on one thing at a time so while you think you need music to study you are only listening to the music or you are only studying and the music doesn’t matter.

 

  • Do your biggest and hardest assignment first. It’s better to do your biggest tasks first whilst your brain is fresh and you are full of energy. When you complete your first task you feel that burst of accomplishment which will boost your motivation and you will breeze through the smaller tasks.

 
Productivity, I believe starts in the root of the home. There are many little things that we can do to help our parents or siblings when we have time at home.  When you arrive home from school or lessons, give your parents a helping hand. You may find chores difficult or tedious, but our parents work just as hard as we do, just for us to eat and get a proper education, so we need to help them out as much as we can.  Simple things can make a big difference.’

April 30, 2015
Love0

Highlighting Productivity Improvements in The Civil Service- Civil Status Registry

By Productivity

civil-status-registry-documents0
PAST SITUATION
In previous years, all rectifications to be performed on civil status records were effected at the Adjudicator’s Office which was then located on the William Peter Boulevard.  Court Orders (Adjudicator’s Rectifications).  It was not uncommon for Adjudicators Rectifications to take a number of months to be completed, due to the complicated process and resources available at the time.
The introduction of the post of Manager, as well employment of contractual workers, improved the efficiency with which applications were processed.  Applications for vital records took on average three (3) to four (4) weeks to be processed, with one week time frame for emergencies.
With the establishment of the new requirements by the Passport Office of the certified birth certificate (to replace the Birth and Baptismal Certificate previously utilized) in order to obtain new or renewed passports, an influx of customers to the Civil Status Registry was created.  During that time, certificates took on average three months (or more) to be processed, especially before the position of Manager, Civil Status Registry was put in place.  Once this influx settled, customers generally received their records within a three to four week period.
Prior to the employment of NICE and contractual workers under the Computer-Aided Birth Certificate project, the staff complement stood at nine (9) employees.
The total number of applications processed on average during that period was twenty to twenty four thousand (20,000 – 24,000) yearly.
 
CURRENT SITUATION
The Civil Status Registry now currently consists of a staff complement of twenty-eight (28), comprising the following:

  • Public officers on Permanent Establishment – 13
  • NICE/Contract workers      – 16

The staff complement is broken down as follows:

SECTION NO. OF OFFICERS SECTION NO. OF OFFICERS
Manager 1
Customer Service Officers 2 Verifiers 5
Applications Booth 3 Executive Officer 1
Rectifications Booth 3 Senior Executive Officer 1
Scanners 2 Data Entry Clerks 3
Vault Attendant 1 Collections Clerk 2
Printers 5

 
 
Applications Process

  • Regular applications for records with clean data (not requiring rectification) are now processed within two (2) to three (3) days. Emergency applications are processed within half an hour of application.  (Note:  This is down from three to four weeks for regular applications and one week for emergencies). This also includes applications for re-registrations (once the relevant statutory declarations have been produced).
  • Applications for Registrar’s Rectifications to vital records are now processed within twenty-four (24) hours for emergency applications. This process requires a longer processing time as Rectification packages are to be approved by the relevant authorized officer (Registrar/Deputy Registrar), entries corrected in relevant register, scanning and subsequent printing of rectified certificate. All of this is done, in general, within the space of one (1) day, compared to the processing time of several months, as was previously the case.

Where additional documentation is required by the Department based on the type of rectification (eg., affidavits to substantiate a customer’s name) processing time is determined by time taken by the customer to bring in the requisite documentation.  Once all documentation is available to the Department, rectifications are processed within the day.  Customers are facilitated as much as possible to ensure that rectifications were completed within an acceptable period of time.  As a result, the back and forth of customers has been significantly lessened.

  • Applications for Adjudicator’s Rectifications (Court Orders) are processed within a seven (7) day These are more complex and usually require an interview process and submission of statutory declarations/affidavits.

For the year 2014, total number of vital records processed stood at Forty thousand, two hundred and twenty-four, (40,224).
The current enhanced process for emergency applications is as follows:

  • Customers is directed by Customer Service Clerks to Applications Booth, where a search for the record is conducted and citation entered on the application form
  • Customers proceed to Cashier to pay for application, and then to Collections Section to collect certificate.
  • Customers wait in Collections Section and collect certificate within twenty (20) minutes

 

April 17, 2015
Love0

Nature Vs Nurture – Effective Leadership for Improved Workplace Productivity

By Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips

Mentor and Encourage Your EmployeesThe topic of genetics continuously presents a fascinating conversation to us. It is one in which perhaps an end may never be determined. Facets of our everyday lives throw us into contact with a potpourri of characters and personalities in the people that we interact with.   The work place being no exception.
While the many variances in personalities and orientation may foster breakthroughs in innovative and diverse approaches and ideas, this diversity of breeds and thoughts can undoubtedly present the possibility of a chaotic atmosphere if not contained.
In a contained and controlled setting, these clashes may foster passionate exchanges of ideas that lead to innovation, improved productivity and stronger teams. In these instances, participants avoid personality-focused comments. When however, workplace conflict becomes personality-driven, it becomes destructive. It polarizes the workplace, distracts from the work, wastes time and energy and forces talented employees to leave.
In identifying these differences and their effects on workplace productivity, the NCPC ponders the question, “Are we prone by nature through our engraved genetics to be more productive than others or can our “productivity gene” be nurtured and groomed towards becoming more effective, productive and efficient in the work environment? 
The NCPC takes the all assuming stance that while nature plays a significant role in the workforce productivity, nurture has the upper hand!
We can agree that Effective Leadership may very well be the catalyst to creating more conducive atmospheres for teamwork and creation of new leaders.
Excellent leaders know that identifying and nurturing leadership qualities in the team helps to increase productivity and presents people who are ready to step up to the plate when organizational changes occur, making new leaders necessary. Within the workplace, a good practice is to identify a number of people to whom certain functions can be delegated, these may include leadership roles.
With this in mind, it is important that leaders seek to avoid the trap of the “Crown Prince Syndrome” where the focus is on the development of only one individual. The development of all team members is important to the success of the workplace and will provide the organisation with a talent pool while also ensuring a viable succession plan in the event of unplanned employee departure.
Here are four characteristics of essential leadership qualities worthy of nurturing for continuity of the work plan and increase in workplace productivity:
Good Interpersonal Skills:
Excellent interpersonal communication skills are essential for a leader of any size team. If you notice that an employee is able to communicate effectively on different levels and adjust the conversation to the needs of the person they are communicating to, you have a potential leader among your staff.
Good Time Management Skills:
Leaders must be able to manage their own time and meet deadlines, especially those that impact on other team members’ tasks. Give your staff tasks and see who manages their own time effectively to complete the tasks. These are good leaders in the making.
 
Ability to Take the Initiative
Leaders must be able to respond quickly to solve problems and to take the initiative to prevent problems proactively from occurring. Anyone who not only can work unsupervised and still produce excellent work, but who will take the initiative to come up with a solution or solve a problem is well worth nurturing.
Ability to Work with Others in the Team
Every leader has to work with a myriad of personalities in a team environment. If you have staff members who consistently produce their best work when collaborating with others, you could have potential leaders. Good teamwork is a key leadership skill.
Now it is time to Nurture!  Identify the potential leaders in the team, encourage the individuals to take on some small leadership roles, mentor and support the person to grow their leadership skills, and provide training in specific areas of leadership. Identifying and nurturing potential leaders in your team takes some time and dedication, but in doing so the workplace is provided with skilled individuals who are ready to take on the challenges of leadership when needed!

March 24, 2015
Love0

Be A Productive Leader In 2015

By Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips

A confident African American businesswoman in her office.Competition in business is ever increasing, and with it comes a demand for the person at the top to deliver. In trying to meet these demands, many supervisors and managers end up under pressure and overworked. Although fully aware of their stressful situation most refrain from implementing measures that could bring about change.  Instead they concede to the idea that certain pressures come with position.  However, reports state that this is the wrong approach to take. Instead, supervisors should turn to positively charged solutions like implementing ‘The Six D’s’.
‘The Six D’s’ is an approach that focuses directly on the everyday actions of the company’s, supervisor. Each ‘D’ is a call to action aimed at reducing the workload of the person in charge, whilst increasing the productivity levels of the unit.

  1. The first D in ‘The Six D’s’ is for delete.  Non- relevant company orientated tasks usually carried out by the supervisor should be deleted from their to-do lists. Many continue to carry out these tasks due to force of habit, however their time could be better utilised elsewhere.
  2. The following D is for decline. Most leaders find it hard to decline invitations to meetings. The problem with this being that meetings have a tendency of taking up valuable amounts of time. If a pending meeting does not seem currently relevant or if the invitation received makes it unclear as to what the meeting might be about, it may be better to politely say ‘No’.
  3. The third D is for delegate. When the options of deleting and declining are not made available it is time to delegate. A successful leader cannot do everything. There are times when a task must be handed over to other staff members.
  4. D is also for decide. It is said that a good leader is a good decision maker. Such supervisors do not procrastinate or over analyse. Instead, they simply make sure that all high priority goals are identified and allotted the necessary time needed for their completion.
  5. The fifth D is for design. The redesigning of a process can also aid in greater productivity. A set way of doing something does not always make for a good outcome. If this is the case, it may be time to redesign the process, thus resulting in a quality end product.
  6. The last D is for destroy. It might sound drastic but in regards to productivity it is sometimes a necessity. Committing to a plan of action that repeatedly brings about a negative result is pointless. A more productive approach would be to destroy the failing plan and start afresh on a clean slate.

Improving the productivity levels of an organisation is one of the most stressful yet significant challenges that leaders face today.  However, it should be recognised by supervisors that after improving on their own productivity levels they are able to lead by example. The end result being the creation of a highly productive team.  The Six D’s framework is one that can aid in bringing about higher levels of productivity to any organisation. Ultimately this can also bring about a less stressed, engaged and energised leader.

February 10, 2015
Love0

Good News for Working Mothers- You Are More Productive Than You Think

By Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips

600-01030005A recent report, published as a working paper by the Research Division at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis has stated that parents with two or more children are more productive in the office than those with only one child or no children at all. The study, which was conducted to examine the link between productivity and parenthood amongst a group of academic economists, has been regarded by the Washington post as encouraging news for working moms.
Approximately 10,000 highly skilled economists were assessed and the results of the study revealed that:
“Mothers of at least two children are on average, more productive than mothers of only one child. It was found as well that mothers are generally more productive than childless women,”
The study also went on to add that although the productivity levels of fathers of two or more children also increased, mothers with the same number of children proved to be the most productive of all. It was duly noted however, that when children are young, parents are less productive but as offspring grew older- usually well into their teenage years, the productivity level of parents increased surpassing that of their peers with one or no children.
Christian Zimmermann, one of the authors of the study stated:
“It’s all about timing. It’s really when the children are younger that there is an impact, but if you consider the whole career of the person, then on average, the person [who has two or more children] is doing better.”
He goes on to say:
‘The findings may be more about the personality of these parents than about the effect parenthood has on how well you can work. The 10,000 parents who were studied do not include those moms and dads who fell off the career track after having children, so the subjects were a self-selecting group who likely knew they could handle parenthood before embarking on it. ‘
The study also makes a point of highlighting the exceptions to the rule. It cited that women who became mothers before the age of 30 saw a very negative effect on their professional productivity, as did unmarried mothers who became mothers.
It must also be pointed out that a 2013 report also conducted in St. Louis found that mothers under 18 with young children earned less than their childless counterparts. The same was found to be true with men.  Therefore, it should be remembered that the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study speaks to its data pool, a narrow group of highly educated, highly skilled  professional women who usually plan parenthood, and thus the authors are adamant to reinforce the fact that their findings may not apply to a wider set of women in different circumstances.
However, the good news  is that given the right conditions professional moms do not have to worry that  becoming parents would jeopardize their careers- this in itself being an idea that could be applied  to other women in similar working situations.

February 10, 2015
Love0

Early Childhood Development Programs Yield Productive Returns

By Productivity, Youth

press-release-early-educationThe prosperity of an economy heavily depends on the skills of its people. Skills development starts at an early stage of life and lays the foundation for a high level of achievement in school, career and life. It should be noted that the first three years of life is the most critical time to develop foundational thinking and character skills that motivate individuals to learn and function at very high levels. Early learning happens first at home and then in child care facilities, therefore it is very important that parents know the best way to develop their child’s skills. Additionally, the efforts of parents should be supported by child care providers, paediatricians and other developmental resources.
A World Bank article ‘Benefits of Early Child Development Programs,’   states that:
‘A vast body of research has demonstrated that Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs benefit children, families, and communities. The reduced dropout and repetition rates, improved school achievements, greater adult productivity, and higher levels of social and emotional functioning encouraged by ECD programs make them a highly cost-effective means of strengthening society as a whole by ensuring that its individual members live up to their full potential.
Evaluations of well-conceived programs designed to foster early development demonstrate that children who participate in these programs tend to be more successful in later school, are more competent socially and emotionally, and show better verbal, intellectual and physical development during early childhood than children who are not enrolled in high quality programs’.
Therefore, the benefits that ECD programs have on children and to a larger extent- society include:

  • improved nutrition and health
  • higher intelligence scores
  • improved social and emotional behaviour
  • better parent-child relationships
  • less grade repetition and lower dropout rates
  • higher school enrolment
  • higher school completion rates
  • increased earning potential and economic self-sufficiency as an adultgreater labour force participation

Reports which highlight the substantial long term impacts of such programs should not be overlooked. For example, in relation to improved cognitive development and school achievement, The World Bank sites four specific projects namely: Jamaica’s First Home Visiting Program, Colombia’s Cali project, Peru’s Programa No Formal de Educacion Inicial (Pronoei), and the Turkey Early Enrichment Project. It was found that children who participated in these programs scored higher on average, on intellectual aptitude tests than their non-participatory counterparts.
Early education activities are not the only means of improving a child’s cognitive development. Another important factor which contributes to the positive development of a child is the quality of health and nutrition given.  A longitudinal analysis of child nutrition in the Philippines shows that properly nourished children perform significantly better in school. The article states that, ‘By providing psychosocial stimulation, ECD programs can enhance the efficacy of health care and nutrition initiatives. They can also help ensure that children receive proper health care. Children participating in the Colombia Community Child Care and Nutrition Project, for instance, are required to complete their immunizations within six months of entering the program. Programs can also monitor growth and provide food supplements and micronutrients, as in India’s Integrated Child Development Services program, and can help with such existing public health efforts as mass immunizations. Other programs specifically aim at changing parent behaviour by educating parents about the health and nutrition needs of their children’.
It is important that countries invest in ECD programs as they yield a positive return on the wider economy in the long run. Art Rolnick Senior Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis points this out in his 2005 report ‘Early Childhood Development on a Large Scale’. He writes ‘Careful academic research demonstrates that tax dollars spent on early childhood development provide extraordinary returns compared with investments in the public, and even private sector. The potential return from a focused, high-quality early childhood development program is as high as 16 percent per year. Some of these benefits are private gains for the children involved in the form of higher wages later in life. But the broader economy also benefits because individuals who participate in high-quality early childhood development programs have greater skills than they otherwise would, and they’re able to contribute productively to their local economies.’ He goes on ‘Helping our youngest children develop their life and learning skills results in better citizens and more productive workers. Compared with the billions of dollars spent each year on high-risk economic development schemes, an investment in ECD is a far better and far more secure economic development tool.’

February 10, 2015
Love0

Performance Based Incentive Plans- A Means of Boosting Productivity within Your Organisation

By Competitiveness, Productivity, Self Improvement, Tips, Trade

Could Incentive Plans Be The Way Forward For A More Productive St. LuciaToday’s competitive business environment has led to a greater emphasis on organisation and worker productivity. Attaining a higher level of productivity is considered to be key in achieving a thriving business, as resources are used more efficiently in the business work process to create more value for the firm. It is commonly viewed that organisational productivity is fairly low due to the ‘production process’ but it is also important to note the role of employees in boosting productivity. Organisations are increasingly investing in the development and implementation of performance based actions which contribute to the achievement of organisational goals.
Performance based incentives link individual and corporate achievement of predetermined outcomes with remuneration. In other words, pay is allocated on the basis of the individual performance and business results rather than paying for the job or length of service.
Many businesses which have implemented performance-based incentive programmes have realised the benefits. They have found that an incentive program that rewards improved business results translates into increased productivity, higher profitability and a more motivated staff or employees.
An article in the Harvard Business Review of March-April 2000, called ‘Leadership That Gets Results,’ reports that ‘of six leadership styles studied, the use of rewards was the single highest predictor of ‘organizational climate’ and in turn had a direct correlation with financial results’.
In his article, ‘The Reward That Makes Employees Work Harder’ on The Business News Daily website, Chad Brooks adds, ‘A study by workforce solutions firm Kelly Services found that 40 percent of employees feel they would be more productive if they had their earnings linked to certain performance or productivity goal. Currently, nearly a third of the companies surveyed use a performance-based pay system with their employees. Performance-based pay involves any arrangement where an element of the total salary is tied to meeting performance targets, including profit-sharing, performance bonuses and sales commissions’.
However, before an organisation can develop a successful performance-based incentive program, there must be a clear vision. Without such direction, it is difficult to identify the types of performance that should be rewarded. Therefore, organisations must create a clear vision and identify the steps required to achieve it. This is important as, a clear corporate vision is the foundation on which all effective performance based incentive systems are based.
The corporate vision has to represent a high-level understanding within the organisation of where it would like to be in the short, medium and long term. After defining the vision, subsequently the elements of an effective performance-based plan can be identified. Without a clearly stated vision, even the best designed programme will drift aimlessly. It is also important to bear in mind that although incentive programs can encourage employees to perform at high levels of productivity, employers should always analyze the merits of the program prior to implementation. They must determine the optimal incentive plan that is in the best interest of the business and that will help improve performance and promote ethical behaviour.

February 10, 2015
Love0