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The SSBP finally has a cover! (pictured here)
The cover amassed 33 votes out of a total of 112, with a total of eight covers to choose from. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated. “A big thank-you� to Christopher Lawrence who designed several of the covers.
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E D I T O R ’ S
N O T E
Change is hard,
but not impossible. Lisa Legall-Belgrave - Editor
Actually, it’s inevitable!
Some of my colleagues have openly told me “not again!” in reference to the Reform. I appreciate the honesty because it is important to know what staff members think and how they feel about the Reform.
So regardless how we feel about the Reformation of the Secretariat, change will come. We can take an active role in the process and affect the kind of change that is needed or we can watch it unfold for us.
I’ve also heard “what is so different about this Reform?”
I want you to read the articles I have put together in this first issue, and I’m also asking that you share your views and perspective with me.
Yes, it is yet another reform and in this the first issue of the Reform’s newsletter the HCMO, Liza Bynoe explains quite candidly what is different about this Reform exercise. Also in this issue, you can digest the Key Messages associated with the Reform exercise. Of course you should have read the messages on the Intranet. Has anyone watched the video with the Key Messages?
Talk back to me either via email lisa.legallbelgrave@caricom.org or comment on the posts I share via the Intranet. I promise you, it’s okay.
The Change being proposed is no Sunday lime on the sea wall so we understand why getting the support of colleagues is not always easy. It is important to understand, however, that either we manage change or we let it manage us.
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Liza
AGENT OF CHANGE
The reformation of the CARICOM Secretariat is led by an intelligent, take-no-prisoners dynamo. I sat down to chat with Liza Bynoe about leading the Secretariat’s Reform Process. An interesting position for someone, who recalls wanting to be a doctor – a pediatrician to be exact – from the age of three. However, discovering a scholarship alone would not cover medical school led her along another path, which ultimately brought her to Guyana to lead the Change Management Office. The trained occupational psychologist did not realise she was on a career path of change management in the beginning. She simply wanted to make organisations more efficient. In those early days, she was focused on coaching CEOs, executive recruitment, management development, as well as designing and utilising psychometric tests, understanding the personalities and the businesses of those she coached. That time afforded her the opportunity to implement change but she never saw it fully in action, so the desire to lead change from within led Liza to shift to human resources, and later strategy.
Describing herself as a believer and someone who finds it hard to resist a challenge, she said about 10 years ago she decided to go where ever God sent her. Fast-forward to 2015 and we have Liza at the CARICOM Secretariat in this dynamic and exciting role.
“I love a challenge and I have never been able to back away from what may seem as impossible to others. This is a turning point for CARICOM,” she stated confidently. Plus, no one who works in change management would refuse the opportunity to direct a holistic approach to reform CARICOM. The avid reader, who as a teenager, read extensively about slavery and the history of the Caribbean, readily admits that the Secretariat Reform Process has so far proven to be as expected – a challenge.
C O V E R The Secretariat has a 40-plus history and has seen its share of change over that period, however this is the first time the organisation has embarked on a holistic approach to reform, one that looks at the Secretariat, its Organs, Bodies and Institutions all in one go. An in-depth analysis of the structure, procedures and how the Secretariat operates is required to take the organisation forward. It will be a significant turning point, which will either see CARICOM flourish or dissolve. The Reform is necessary to ensure the Secretariat survives.
“I am sure that people do not understand that the CARICOM can come to an end”
S T O R Y
left employees anxious to learn about what is going on and how the change will affect them. “While many people in the Secretariat are in favour of change, some believe that only the changes that benefit them financially are important. Others assume that the difficult parts will only impact everyone else. “People are not as ready for change as they think they are. Getting staff to understand the extent of the change is difficult. It has also been difficult to get the organisational assessments completed so we can understand exactly what we are dealing with before we make recommendations.
is a statement that Liza makes without reservation and it is clear that the statement comes from a place where ‘evidence shows it’s possible’.
Of course, staff members are anxious to hear about the developments but we do not want to “jump the gun”. We will share the insights and the recommendations once we have completed the assessments.
The Secretariat is a publicly-funded organisation and as a result there is a responsibility to Member States on how funds are spent, therefore an objective, evidence-based rationale is required to implement change at the Secretariat.
Until such time, as hard as it is, patience is required from everyone. However, we do know that once the reports are public people will begin to see and understand”, Liza explained.
In the year since the internal change management office took office the team of three has overcome several obstacles.
The HCMO further explained that this is exactly why having a communications role is important as that person ensures that information about the reform is shared and feedback is encouraged.
Not least among them is the Secretariat’s process of approval, which encompasses many blocks. “The approval process is calcified in many ways, so it takes immense patience and purpose to unblock and unplug the blockages in order to complete tasks and get approval and move things forward,” Liza stated matter-of-factly. This has significantly slowed the Reform timelines, which has
Another obstacle the CMO has had to navigate is staffing. With critical roles still to be filled, getting the Reform to the place where it was mapped to be at this stage was not possible, still a lot has been accomplished. Four of the assessments, along with the draft Strategic Business Plan have been completed. The other assessments are soon to be completed, including the Business Process Review (BPR). The CMO head’s approach to the Reformation of the CARICOM Secretariat is no different to the standard approach to change management in most organisations. Change Managers first work to unfreeze the organisation, and then they focus on communicating the need for change and how the change must take place and finally set in place the changes to be implemented.
“The Secretariat Reform Process is based on worldwide acceptable standard methodology and the CMO’s approach is based on evidence,” Liza explained. And how does the HCMO manage the negative responses that tend to be the initial reaction to organisational change? For her the best approach is through communication and accepting that there will be push-back. “It is expected that staff will be afraid and uncertain about the changes, which can lead to defensiveness and although we accept that, standards still have to be set,” she stated emphatically.
At the beginning of any reform process the approach is to try to coax employees to see the reform as a benefit to them and to the organisation, next you work at persuading them. Through persuasion you hope to get the majority of staff on board. If, however, resistance persists then you have to move to insistence. As difficult as it maybe, insistence is necessary. It takes a strong chief executive to stand up in the face of change and declare the change will happen because it is necessary for the organisation to succeed. Measuring the success of the Reform will be benchmarked against the level of efficiency that will be achieved. By the end of the Reform Process, the Secretariat has to be at the point where its work is conducted quickly, accurately and in the most cost-effective way. The Member States is the Secretariat’s customer and we have to give the customer value for money. Liza strongly believes “the Member States will pay for quality service and efficiency”. Furthermore, if successful, the Reform will create a paradigm shift that puts customer service at the forefront of the Secretariat’s work. CARICOM needs to become “fit for purpose” and if it is, getting things done will be clearer, easier, and smoother not only at the Secretariat but also at the Institutions and the Member States. All of this is fantastic once achieved, but how will employees be impacted directly? Liza hopes that staff members will take
Making CARICOM Fit For Purpose Key Messages are:
control of their own careers and they will get to the point where they no longer see what they do as merely a job. “Employees hold the power to direct their paths. They need to stop seeing themselves as permanent employees but rather, see their roles as contributing to the career they want. A career is a journey of experiences, which come through several roles whether in the CARICOM Secretariat or elsewhere. Employees will be more fulfilled if they focus on career rather than becoming a permanent fixture at the Secretariat.
“I want staff to enjoy coming to work, for them to be able to work autonomously and have a sense of responsibility and feel good about their contribution to the Secretariat. Also, I want staff to get to the point that they can feel good about being fairly compensated,” Liza stated. With a smile and a strong sense of conviction in her voice, Liza concludes: “I cannot wait to see what CARICOM will look like when we are through with the reform. I cannot wait to see what CARICOM will look like when we are through with the Reform. A reformed CARICOM will evolve by the time we are done. I believe it can be a model that others can follow.”
All communications campaigns will have key messages and Making CARICOM Fit for Purpose (MCFFP) is no different. Key messages convey what you want people to know and remember. The key messages for the MCFFP campaign tell a story about the reform and capture the importance of the reform process in a succinct way. The narrative behind the key messages is to frame the way you view the Reform Process. It is necessary and important for staff to understand the following about the Reform process at the Secretariat and CARICOM as a whole.
Reform is necessary to ensure CARICOM survives. The Reform Process will make the CARICOM Secretariat Fit for Purpose. The Secretariat’s Primary Customer is the Member States. Reform is necessary to enable CARICOM to achieve sustainable growth and development, which ultimately will improve the lives of the people of the Community. CARICOM Secretariat staff must usher in an era of accountability and responsibility. The Reform Process is everyone’s responsibility. It requires everyone’s commitment, involvement and engagement to be successful.
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Continued on next page
I N S I G H T
What’s In a Name?
The Secretariat Reform Process has a name – Making CARICOM Fit For Purpose. (MCFFP) I trust you have seen the logo on the Intranet. I hope all of you use the Intranet to stay informed. By the way, have you noticed the Intranet’s new and improved look? Great job, Chris! Anyway, I digress, more about the Intranet in a future post. If you have ever received an email from me, you may have noticed the MCFFP logo as part of my email signature. When I first started, I spent the first few weeks reading documents about the reform – The Reformation Framework, The Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community, The Draft Secretariat Strategic Business Plan and others. Apart from reading them to get a grasp of what was happening specific to my role, I was also using the information to help find a name for the communications campaign I was hired to develop and implement. MCFFP came up a few times. I overlooked it each time and started to write down names such as CaReform, Reform CARICOM etc. The HCMO, Liza Bynoe, was not impressed! To be honest, I was not impressed either. I started to feel the pressure. However, one day I was reading the Reformation Framework once again when it came to me, and it made perfect sense. The reform process is all about MCFFP. It was documented in the Framework. There is a ring to the statement. It makes me think about CARICOM’s purpose. Why is there a Caribbean Community? There is a quote from a participant at a Member State
consultation for developing the CARICOM Strategic Plan for the Caribbean Community 2015-2019: Repositioning CARICOM that captures the essence of CARICOM. It reads, “If we did not have CARICOM, we would have to invent it.” CARICOM is necessary and important and needs to refocus its purpose. So I settled on the name for the communication campaign but I needed to “impress” the HCMO. A short chat about the name and we had consensus – finally. The essence of the Secretariat’s Reform Process and CARICOM as a whole is embedded in MCFFP. And that purpose is Member States coming together as a region to work as one to strengthen our economies and improve our peoples’ standards of living. With a name for the campaign settled, next was a symbol to identify the campaign. The logo incorporates simple and clean fonts of different thickness into a minimalistic design. The three lines shape wrapped around CARICOM and PURPOSE is symbolic of the Caribbean Member States and associate members coming together with one purpose. Its position implies that these two words are at the forefront of the Reform Process campaign, whereas the “Making” and “Fit For” are part of the lead-up or process. The choice of colours is symbolic of the Caribbean environment – sun, sea, sand and other waters, fauna, forestry and vegetation, as well as the many different nationalities and cultures within the region.
Continued from page 5 It’s not about the CMO or management, it’s about how you can make work and life in the Secretariat smoother, easier and more efficient. The Reform Process is here to ensure that everyone understands their role in the workplace. The Reform Process will develop our human resources and improve our processes. The Secretariat Strategic Business Plan is aligned to the Community Strategic Plan and must also be aligned to the Work Programmes, individual targets and strategic objectives. To be successful the Secretariat must reignite the flame of the Regional Integration Movement.
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