Continuing their efforts to enhance productivity in Saint Lucia, the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) in collaboration with the Trade Union Federation (TUF) have organised a two day productivity workshop, the objective being to educate members of the TUF on the subject of productivity. The event, which is set to take place on the 25th and 26th February 2015 aims to work towards the formulation of policies that can be advocated by the trade union movement towards enhancing the productivity of its members. In doing so, the workshop intends to aid in sensitising members on the role that needs to be taken by trade unions in an effort to drive productivity.
The first day of the workshop will focus on exploring the concept of productivity. Activities will concentrate on defining the notion and clarifying misconceptions. The day’s undertakings will also draw reference to the findings of the first National Productivity Study ever conducted in Saint Lucia. The study which was commissioned by the NCPC last year, measured productivity levels in the economy from the year 2000 through to 2013. The second day of the workshop will relate directly to the Trade Union Movement and productivity. The latter part of the day will focus on prioritising ideas which were discussed earlier.
The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council’s Marketing Analyst/ Productivity Officer Geraldine Bicette-Joseph states, ‘The NCPC is elated that the Trade Union Federation has taken the initiative and made the decision to collaborate with us on this project. As a major stakeholder in Saint Lucia, they are leading by example in showing their willingness to work at and discuss productivity issues with their members. This in turn demonstrates that they recognise the importance of productivity development and the need to make continuous improvements within their workplaces.’
She continues, ‘The two day event will not only work towards the formulation of ideas which can be advocated by the TUF, but also on the development of personal productivity which is a must when starting the process of change.’
Speakers at the event will include Mrs Fiona Hinkson, Technical Co-ordinator at the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council’ Technical Secretariat, Mr John Pilgrim, Head of the Barbados National Productivity Council and Mr. Janai Leonce, Deputy Chief Economist at the Ministry of Finance. The workshop is scheduled to take place at the Pastoral Centre in Eastwinds, Gros Islet.
Few would dispute the benefits of a good education. The attainment of high academic achievement helps in furthering careers, aids in informed decision making and allows for the obtainment of better pay. Whilst education plays a significant role in personal development from a young age, extracurricular activities are also key.
Recent reports indicate that extracurricular activities, such as basketball, baseball, tennis, debating, chess clubs, student council, band practice, drama, choir and computer clubs aid in the rounding out of a students’ academic career. Besides being fun and a great way to socialize with peers, extracurricular activities can enhance a students’ time management and stress management skills, helping to improve their overall productivity.
Within the online article, “The Importance of Extracurricular Activities for Teens”, on the ‘I Have a Plan Iowa!’ website, school counsellor Kenny Smith states, “Studies show that students in extracurricular activities have higher academic scores. They learn to manage their time, relieve stress and learn to strive for excellence in more than one thing. Students who are involved in team sports learn to work in groups. Their written and oral communication skills also improve. These things cross over into real life.”
The development of social skills, improved academic performance, and the ability to build strong supportive relationships with adults (other than parents), can also result through extracurricular activities. However, what is learned through the experience depends largely on the age of the child. Benefits to younger children include social and academic skill development which can lead to improved conflict management and better school attendance. Pre-teens become more engaged at school and more attentive in class. They are also less likely to be involved in violent behaviour during school time. Benefits to adolescents are the most significant however. Older teens need guidance to grow into productive adulthood. They need to be deterred from anti-social behaviour and steered towards positive practices. With most extracurricular activities being held straight after school, teens remain engaged during hours usually associated with adolescent misconduct. Also, activities engaged in provide extra time for career exploration, skill development, service learning and internships, which are vital aids to those about to leave school.
Presently extracurricular activities also bear some importance within tertiary education establishments who look to the activities listed on college and university applications when determining whether an applicant would be a productive student.
As Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz states in her Huffington Post article ‘What College Admissions Offices Look for in Extracurricular Activities’,
“Admissions officers look first at test scores, the rigor of the courses you take, and your grades in those courses. After that, they are interested in a student’s extracurricular activities — in other words, how you spend your time outside of classes. Colleges care about the character of people they admit; therefore, what you do after school, during weekends and over summers tells them a lot about the kind of person you are.’
She goes on’ “Extracurricular activities are the major way students can demonstrate how unique they are, possibly more interesting, even “better” than other student applicants.”
There are certain skills that need to be developed over time which will aid in the shaping of a productive individual. Yet, it must be remembered that the development of an individual is measured not only in terms of intellectual capacity but also in character and social skills. Therefore, to allow for a well-rounded development of the youth, students should be encouraged and properly guided in all of their activities (curricular and extracurricular). Productive extracurricular activities that do not undermine academic performance should be encouraged and utilized as avenues to teach the qualities of ethical leadership, team work and so much more.
There is no such thing as a non-mobile professional anymore. From lunchtime meetings and conferences to international and regional events, working outside the office is nearly as common as being behind an office desk.
To stay informed and connected, you need the right tools for the job. Here are a few that will help you stay productive regardless of your location:
- Keep your notes in order with Evernote.
With Evernote one can keep notes, pictures, important documents, websites, to-do lists, and voice reminders synced across many devices. Organize notes by notebooks, and search by keywords, tags, location, or date. Evernote is available for virtually every device you own (yes, even a BlackBerry), so you’ll have access to take your notes wherever—and whenever—you need them.
- Access Microsoft Office documents on the go with Quick Office
Read, create, or edit Office documents, regardless of what device you’re using. While it’s not a replacement for the full Office experience, Quick Office is incredibly useful when you need to access a Word, PowerPoint or Excel document away from your desktop.
- Get reminded by Google Now
Rather than checking a dozen different apps, Google Now reminds you of important things with a simple glance or notification. No matter which device you use, Google Now can help you keep track of nearly everything.
- Access files from anywhere with Google Drive.
When we travel and work across multiple devices, keeping track of the latest versions of files and collaborating with co-workers can be impossible without a good cloud solution.
Google Drive is available on any device and, backed by the power of Google’s servers, virtually never goes down. You’ll barely notice a difference between files stored on Drive and files stored locally.
Developing Habits to Work Smarter, Not Harder
If the long hours you work are always a topic of conversation, you are probably a victim of working harder, not smarter. All the tools in the world will not help you if you’re not strategically using your time. Here are some simple habits to help boost your productivity when you are on the move:
- Don’t forget what the word “urgent” means. This doesn’t mean you have to respond to everyone who demands your attention, but urgent phone calls and emails should not have to wait until you’re back in the office. People should know that they can reach you if they need to—no matter where you are.
- Be your own Trapper Keeper. Keep your calendar pristine and synced on all devices so your team knows where you are. Take good notes during conference calls so you can keep track of what’s urgent and what can wait. Recording things on your device (so they’re searchable) is helpful when it comes to recalling important details and prioritizing tasks.
- Bond over drinks, delays, and proximity. Being productive on the go doesn’t just mean reacting to what others are asking you to do. Take advantage of networking opportunities throughout the journey. Grab a drink, a cup of coffee/tea at the airport, introduce yourself to a stranger in the hotel reception and always say hello to the people seated next to you on airplanes. Seize & create networking opportunities.
While we’re always trying to squeeze more work out of our minutes, we could be missing out on other things, like potential business relationships. Carry plenty of business cards with you so you’re ready when opportunities present themselves; one benefit of not being chained to your desk is being able to meet new people who won’t serendipitously wander through your office.
Working outside the office doesn’t automatically mean losing productivity. You can still collaborate with your team, access your work files, and stay secure across your devices. With the right tools and the right approach, you can work from anywhere!
The Active Working Summit 2015, was recently held in London, England. During the 24 hour event, health care professionals, company CEOs and leading behavioural practitioners made presentations to business professionals, opinion leaders and decisions makers on the relationship between active workplaces and better employee health and productivity.
Already a popular office model in many Scandinavian countries, an active working office design is geared towards discouraging employees from being sedentary during the work day. Therefore, workplaces include sit-stand desks, the holding of standing or walking meetings and floor plans that facilitate the need for regular movement around the office, like walking.
Gavin Bradley, director and founder of Get Standing Britain and one of the organisers of the summit states, “There are certain tasks you’re much more productive doing standing. If you have to put some creative input, intense thought or numbers into the task, you’re often better sitting. But there are so many of our rudimentary tasks, like our phone calls and checking our inboxes, that are done significantly more, not just quickly, but efficiently, effectively and confidently standing.”
Across Europe many organisations are implementing active workplaces. Technology firm King Digital, professional services firm Redington and housing association Amicus Horizon all believe that there are benefits associated with the practice. Since Amicus Horizon introduced three sit-stand desks to their office in early 2014, they have reported a 10 per cent increase in the amount of calls workers take and a 2 per cent increase in first-call resolutions.
John Barr, director of customer experience at the housing association commented, “Productivity has gone up, which is good, but well-being has also gone up, which is even better. Anecdotally, people will say they feel, in terms of time spent doing tasks, between a 5 and 20 per cent increase in productivity,”
The link to better health and active workplaces is also quite significant. Research has already associated sitting for long periods to numerous health problems, including diabetes, heart disease and cancer. More specifically, sitting for more than four hours a day is reported to result in;
- Enzymes responsible for burning harmful blood fats shutting down.
- Reduced calorie burn and disrupted blood sugar levels.
- Insulin levels rising, blood pressure rising and leg muscles switching off.
When you consider these findings in relation to the fact that last year in Britain alone, it was reported that 131 million working days were lost because of absences due to illness, (4.4 days per worker), the argument for active workplaces seems to be a relevant one.
In her article ‘Employers Should Embrace Active Working,’ UK reporter Rebecca Gowler quotes the Institute of Sport Exercise and Health’s lead consultant in Sport and Exercise Medicine Mike Loosemore as saying, “Active working is ‘not an exercise regime but a change in behaviour. For it to be successful, active working must be accessible to all, constantly communicated and supported where implemented.’
The introduction of the practice to any business environment, lies very much with the senior professionals and decision makers responsible for the well-being and productivity of that organisation’s working population. Although the practice may seem a little different from that which they are used to, it could prove beneficial to the organisation in the long run. Therefore it should be considered that active workplaces could be a credible option to improving productivity, increasing engagement and reducing absenteeism on a significant scale.
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.
- 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.
- 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’.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
A 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.
The 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.’
Are you an app junkie? Does your tablet or smartphone harbour an endless stream of apps that you hardly use? Or do you use them so often that you hardly have time for anything else? In recent times, many individuals have been using apps to help in the completion of tasks and activities on their mobile phones.
Question: Are those apps that you have placed on your mobile slowing you down or improving your productivity?
In this fast pace and evolving business environment people are striving to be more productive. As a result, many tech developers have designed an abundance of apps to aid users in getting more tasks done on their mobile devices. However, many of these applications are not self-sufficient. In other words, the user may only get a task completed when one app is used in unison with one or many others.
In his article, ‘The biggest productivity killer is that there’s an app for that … and that … and that, too’ on Quartz.com, Ryan Kalember, an enterprise mobility expert states,
‘There are thousands of solutions on the market today, but a glance at the “productivity” category of your favourite app store reveals a sea of options with limited functionality, requiring users to cobble together various apps to get the simplest things accomplished.’
He goes on, ‘Think about a task as simple as marking up a spreadsheet with your feedback on your iPad. You first need to get the file onto your device, either via a file sync and share app or by emailing it to yourself. Then you need to find an app with annotation capability in the app store and buy or download it. From there, you need to open the file in your new app, which may provide an unpleasant surprise: most apps will not allow you to annotate a spreadsheet, unless you convert it to a PDF file, which of course, you can only do on your PC or Mac. Once you sort that part out, you create a new, annotated version of that file and finally figure out how to get it back into your file sync and share app (since your device’s email client doesn’t support attaching a file) in order to share your notes with your colleagues. That seemingly simple task required three different apps, created three versions of the file and involved an eight-step process. While they may work for some people, these machinations can kill the productivity benefits of mobile devices, and the new mobile workforce will need to avoid this type of app overkill in order to thrive.’
Unlike apps, applications on the other hand come with a wide range of features that help workers do their job as accurately and efficiently as they would on a normal PC. Kalember suggests that it is time for the mobile workforce to demand from software designers, fully functioning applications for their devices.
‘When an employee creates, calculates and writes an earnings report, for example, she uses a suite of applications. That suite generally includes text, spreadsheet, and graphics functionality, as well as the capability to render, annotate and edit different document types. Until recently, all of these actions more or less had to take place at the desktop; mobile devices could only mimic this functionality by combining scores of apps to handle each individual task—one to create, one to annotate and so on. Savvy mobile workers see this as a productivity killer, and they’re right.”
He recommends that the mobile enterprise should demand comprehensive applications that can focus workflows in more consolidated streams.
There is evidence that some vendors are demanding similar integrations and services to be available on one common platform. An example of this being Skype’s recent integration with Outlook. However, today’s device driven workforce wants and needs more. The number of tools needed to complete a task on a device can hamper productivity. Therefore, improvement is needed if smartphones and tablets are to be as productive to the average office worker as a personal computer.
Today’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.
The Oxford dictionary defines patriotism as ‘The vigorous support of one’s country’. The word is also defined as ‘A devotion or cultural attachment to one’s homeland’. Patriotism simply put, signifies ‘a love for country’. It is a desire to see one’s country grow and develop whereby citizens can enjoy a higher standard of living. Therefore, patriotism demands good citizenship. It requires that individuals contribute to the well-being of their community and country as a whole. When citizens care about the good of society, they are encouraged to perform at their best thereby contributing to the welfare of their organisation, community and country at large. Thus, being a patriotic individual calls for greater commitment and dedication which can have a positive impact on the productivity of the organisation that one is employed with.
Each person within a society has the ability and potential to contribute to the process of building a productive nation. Likewise, every employee in an organisation (public or private sector) can contribute to the success and thus the increased productivity of that organisation. A lack of acknowledgement for the well-being of the wider society or having no reverence to one’s country can negatively impact society both directly and indirectly. For example, persons who collectively litter contribute to the pollution of the natural environment. This in turn can cause an infestation of rodents which can lead to an outbreak of diseases in the community. The spread of diseases can result in a high rate of absenteeism in the workplace. This can result in unfinished tasks, lost business, unsatisfied customers and delays in workflow processes because of the time spent out of work due to illnesses. On the other hand, a patriotic citizen who cares about the country’s wellbeing, understands the repercussions of his actions and how it affects the nation’s productivity and prosperity. Thus a true Saint Lucian patriot is one who is productive. Patriotic citizens do not see work as just another job but understand that performing their duties to their best capabilities can positively impact the wider society.
Persons should be encouraged to contribute to society and be a productive citizen. This can be done by helping to improve the community as well as the wider country. A simple way to do this is by being a committed worker. Regardless of vocation, working hard is an important part of being a productive citizen. When employees work hard, they provide important services to the public whilst earning a living. Additionally, a hardworking and dedicated staff highly contributes to the increased productivity and thus success of the organisation. A country of successful organisations will add to the greater development of the economy which in the long run will contribute to increased economic growth. Hence a collective impact is made towards the prosperity of the country.
A good citizen remains up to date on current news events. It is important to be aware of the news and stay fully informed of the issues that affect the country. Also, sharing good fortune is another positive step to being a productive citizen. The contribution need not be in monetary terms. Sharing knowledge and the giving of time for example, are just as important. There are many associations and community groups in operation throughout the country who are in need of volunteers. Additionally, persons can make a positive influence on the lives of others through mentoring. For instance, adults can give up of their time to mentor the youth and pass on important experiences that could contribute to the development and further empowerment of young persons.
There are several other ways that individuals can be both patriotic and productive. They include promoting the growth of our local businesses by buying local, conserving water and energy, supporting and working with our fellow Saint Lucians, promoting our country as a tourist destination when we travel etc. Patriotism is truly an integral part of being a productive citizen. It involves having love and displaying loyalty to the country, respecting and obeying the nation’s laws and honouring the country’s national symbols.
Responsibilities of being a good citizen have to be accepted, like staying informed of national issues, volunteering, voting and serving the country to the best of one’s abilities. The outcome of which would be the growth of a productively active nation. A true patriot would not want anything less. Are you patriotic and do you contribute to national development through your actions?