The best candidates for the job

Five years ago, when Candice Bryan became the first woman to be employed by the Jamaica Public Service Company in a technical capacity, little did she know that she would eventually pave the way for several women in what is undoubtedly a male-dominated field.

Now the operations and maintenance manager and second in command at the JPS power station in Bogue Montego Bay says it was all worth it, especially seeing that there are currently five women at the helm of the electricity generation plant.

And it’s thanks to her boss Dave Stamp for his forward thinking as she says, “Not many people would be thinking that way much less to hire women in what is seen as traditionally a man’s job.”

Besides Bryan, who was permanently assigned to Bogue in 2003 after working almost consistently there since 2002, there is now Keisha Mohan, the station chemist who arrived in 2002; Camille Martin, the laboratory technician; Thessa Smith, the environment, health and safety manager; and Carolyn Young, the gas turbine operator.

Bryan describes as “bittersweet” her experience at the Hunts Bay power station where she was first employed. She was hired initially as a gas turbine operator before she was promoted to engineer. She says she faced instances of discrimination and had to work twice as hard to prove herself, as she battled against the prevailing perceptions of being in a man’s job.

She remembers a time when not even bathroom facilities were provided for women at JPS in the electricity generation department. “Because the original facilities only catered for men they had to create facilities for me when I got there,” she recalled. “They had female facilities on the plant, but those were for the admin women and I wasn’t working in the admin area.”

She recalls that after just two days on the job at Hunts Bay, she was told by her supervisor at the time that he would personally see to it that she went back out through the same door she had entered in.

This, however, only made the then 25-year-old, fresh out of university with a mechanical engineering degree, determined to work even harder.

“It took until 1999 for that door to open,” Bryan reminisced. “I said to myself that I can’t allow for that door to close … I am always conscious of the fact that I am the first female they allowed in generation on the technical side of the business.”

Since then the 30-year-old acheived many other firsts, including being the first operations manager and now the first operations and maintenance manager since the company moved to merge the two departments.

“Up until 1999 nobody thought a woman could do the job,” she said incredulously.

Bryan is not the only one with high praise for the women. Her boss Stamp, who overcame a mountain of opposition when he was hiring them in the first place, is in awe.

“I came under a lot of scrutiny and criticism when we were putting this team together,” he said. “And even now some people still question it because this is the only plant in the JPS system that has women at this level.”

Stamp doesn’t mind the scrutiny, however, as he has the numbers and numerous awards and commendations to back his decision. “It shows up in our numbers and it shows up in our awards that we are getting,” he boasts. He takes comfort in the fact that the Bogue station is now known companywide as one which boasts the best safety record and the best generating numbers. “It’s not just me saying it, other people are too,” Stamp said.

His team, he outlined, has so far received commendations from the chairman of Mirant, the JPS chairman as well as the vice president of Caribbean operations.

“First of all…where technical competence, accountability or work is concerned I don’t see gender, I take gender out of the picture,” he explains, while noting that he does not regret hiring the best candidates for the jobs.

He acknowledges that the dedication and hard work shown by the women at Bogue reflects worldwide trends. “What I am also seeing – and it is all a nationwide and a worldwide trend – at the university and in other academic areas women are just more aggressive than men,” he said. “Some of that is starting to translate out in the workplace.”

The women, he said, literally manage him as they keep him on his toes and drive the issues. “Some say it might be because they are in a traditionally male field and they think they have to work twice as hard to make their light shine … I am not really interested in the reasons, I want the work done and I support the people who get the work done,” he said.

He’s not knocking the guys on the team who also get the work done though, but he says these particular women have made a difference. Stamp said he is proud of all the women on the team including Denise Warren, the finance and administration officer, Simone Myles the administration assistant and Claudeth Hall the accounting assistant.

“They bring a kind of intuitiveness to the workplace… and their organisational skills are superb,” he said.

Keisha Mohan

Mohan, the embodiment of the Jamaican saying “little but tallawah”, holds a BSc in chemical engineering.

“I am proud to work with her,” Bryan said as she recalled the initial opposition to Mohan joining the organisation. “Many people just didn’t think a woman and a petite one at that could do the job, but she has proven them wrong.”

Camille Martin

Mohan is assisted by Camille Martin, the laboratory technician, who Bryan said held her own and proved herself when Mohan was on maternity leave a few months ago.

Thessa Smith

Thessa Smith, the Environment, Health and Safety manager comes in as the second female manager to be employed by JPS in the area of generation. “She is passionate about her area,” said Bryan. “She wants us to take on the EHS persona, live it and breathe it.”

Carolyn Young

Carolyn Young, the gas turbine operator with a degree in chemical engineering joined the company last March as the latest addition to the team. “She is very disciplined and a quick learner,” Bryan noted.