Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
PSOJ prioritises human capital development
President of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica Keith Duncan speaks about the business lobby group’s priorities for the current year during a Jamaica Observer Business Forum held at the newspaper’s head office on Beechwood Avenue in the Corporate Area. (Photos: Karl Mclarty)
Business
June 28, 2022

PSOJ prioritises human capital development

WHILE geopolitics, inflation, the economy and monetary policy are matters the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) are concerned about, President Keith Duncan has asserted that greater importance should be placed on the social fabric of the nation.

The PSOJ president added that while crime and violence and states of public emergency continue to grab headlines, keeping Jamaica at crisis levels, the organisation is shifting its focus to human capital development as a remedy.

“I would say that we have chosen human capital development as the strategic focus for the PSOJ for the current year, and a key area is social and community transformation and education. We believe if we have a real focus and synergistic efforts on human capital development, we will not see the levels of crime and violence and the levels of dysfunctionality in the society and this is where we need to focus,” Duncan told reporters at the Jamaica Observer Business Forum last week.

At present, Duncan is finalising plans to roll-out a PSOJ-led project geared towards social and community transformation which, he said, will involve the participation of the Government and community stakeholders. At the same time, the business advocacy group is also seeking to address the monumental issue of skills gap in the workforce.

According to PSOJ Vice-President Mariamme McIntosh Robinson, while human capital development spans the spectrum from early childhood education to tertiary education, there needs to be a stronger focus on the gap between formal education and applying that knowledge in the workplace. She pointed out further that to address the challenge of a skills gap some companies have resorted to importing labour, but that doing so has not always resulted in knowledge transfer.

“When we import talent because of a gap we need to be very methodical about how we transfer that knowledge so that it’s not left to each entity to determine how,” she said.

Instead, she called for a more collective approach to knowledge and skills transfer that includes the private sector working with the Government to create a template for knowledge transfer in cases of labour importation.

Another issue the PSOJ vice-president identified was the abundance of talent in the Jamaican workforce but the lack of certification to validate employees’ work. This, McIntosh Robinson reasoned, could lead to stagnation and underpaid staff.

“So when we got a group of business leaders together in a meeting, we came up with solutions and one thing is to expand [the curriculum for] the uncertified skills that we need in Jamaica and are using but they (employees) are not getting their full potential in both pay and jobs because they’re not certified,” she explained to Business Observer.

However, chief among the PSOJ’s issues with human capital development is the dearth of leadership skills and the reluctance of companies, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to invest in leadership and management training.

A PSOJ-commissioned survey among its members across several industries found that “the biggest skills gap” was in leadership and project management.

McIntosh Robinson pointed out that while companies, in most cases, promoted employees from within with good technical skills, they may not have the soft skills needed to be a manager such as interpersonal skills, people management, and problem solving.

“We’re not prioritising the focus on the soft skills in how lead our teams and how we work through others is critical to the outcome of projects,” she said.

In this regard, she suggested that an employee can benefit from augmenting leadership training with experience on the job.

When asked why there is reluctance among companies invest in management and leadership training, McIntosh Robinson shared that this further from the truth as large companies have invested in middle management, senior management and executive development programmes.

However, “the challenge is in smaller companies as most of our talent and workforce are hired by SMEs” that don’t have the time or resources to develop a programme to train a small team.

“So I think that is what we need to figure out. How to ensure that leadership development and project management get the proper investment how to pool our resources so that SMEs can make that trade-off,” McIntosh Robinson continued.

“But it pays dividends because the outcome of an organisation is based on leadership at all levels of that organisation,” she added.

The PSOJ vice-president and GraceKennedy Group executive shared that one of the lessons she has learned from the novel coronavirus pandemic is the importance of leadership at the governmental and corporate level to ensure continuity and survival.

Vice-president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica Mariamme McIntosh Robinson said addressing the country’s skills gap is one focus of the business lobby group. (Photos: Karl Mclarty)
{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Bahamas beat Jamaica by 49 points in FIFA World Championships qualifying
Latest News, Sports
Bahamas beat Jamaica by 49 points in FIFA World Championships qualifying
July 3, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica’s bid to qualify for the FIFA World Championships took a big hit after they were beaten 123-74 by the Bahamas at the Sir K...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Flow to host World Cup watch party at Kingston Kitchen this Saturday
Latest News, News
Flow to host World Cup watch party at Kingston Kitchen this Saturday
July 3, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Football fans attending Kingston Kitchen this Saturday will be able to watch the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 clash between France a...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
48-hour curfew has been extended in sections of Richmond, St Mary
Latest News, News
48-hour curfew has been extended in sections of Richmond, St Mary
July 3, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — A 48-hour curfew that has been imposed in sections of Richmond, St Mary has been extended. The curfew will remain in effect until ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Argentina beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra-time to reach World Cup last 16
Football, International News, Latest News, ...
Argentina beat Cape Verde 3-2 after extra-time to reach World Cup last 16
July 3, 2026
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Lionel Messi's Argentina beat rank outsiders Cape Verde 3-2 after extra-time in an epic contest to reach the World Cup la...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
England v Mexico World Cup game kickoff time unchanged
Football, International News, Latest News, ...
England v Mexico World Cup game kickoff time unchanged
July 3, 2026
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — England's World Cup last-16 match against Mexico will kick off at its originally scheduled time on Sunday following...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Swift and Kelce marry as global stars swarm ‘royal wedding’
International News, Latest News
Swift and Kelce marry as global stars swarm ‘royal wedding’
July 3, 2026
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — United States (US) pop queen Taylor Swift and NFL star Travis Kelce officially married Friday at a lavish wedding that...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Arizona toddler found alive in morgue hours after being declared dead
International News, Latest News
Arizona toddler found alive in morgue hours after being declared dead
July 3, 2026
An 18-month-old Arizona boy who was pronounced dead after a near-drowning was later found alive in a hospital morgue, nearly six hours after doctors d...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
WATCH: Sanmerna provides $2million assistance to high school-bound students
Latest News, News, Videos
WATCH: Sanmerna provides $2million assistance to high school-bound students
July 3, 2026
The Sanmerna Foundation has awarded $2 million in scholarships and bursaries to more than 15 students from Balmagie and St Jude’s primary schools as t...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct