marion williams : going back to basics – building strategic alliances toward improved governance and productivity speech by dr marion williams, governor of the central bank of barbados, at the opening of the week of excellence, bridgetown, 23 february 2009. * * * dr. the hon. david estwick, minister of economic affairs ; senator sir roy trotman, general secretary of the barbados workers union and chairman of ctusab, distinguished heads of the private sector agency, the barbados employers confederation, and the barbados national productivity council ; dr. hensley sobers, director of human resources, central bank, chairman ; specially invited presenters and coordinators ; other distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. we are delighted to welcome all of you to the central bank of barbados and to thank you, the social partners, for the foresight in conceptualising this important seminar. the central bank is pleased to be associated with the event. as we begin this year's week of excellence, it is important to review some of the important events which have occurred since we last met together. firstly, the winds of financial uncertainty continued to affect the international financial environment. it has spread from the us to europe, to asia and latin america. no country has been unaffected. this has been followed by an erosion of business confidence abroad and cost cutting measures, including lay offs, have followed. secondly, as expected, with the weakness of the us and the uk in particular, the world slipped into a recession which has begun to affect some third world economies, including some in our own region. for barbados the areas most affected are tourism and construction and as the credit market tightened, new capital inflows. in the context of the current international financial uncertainty, it is fitting that the social partners have decided to re - focus our minds on the importance of " going back to basics ". the theme, of our conference, going back to basics : building strategic alliances toward improved governance and productivity is timely and appropriate. in this environment, there are important roles for the private sector, labour unions and government. today our focus will primarily be on the employee – employer nexus. in previous years we focused on measurement issues, management approaches and the need for tenacity and follow - through. we also stressed the need for managers as leaders of an emerging developed society to improve their own service, and to take full responsibility for managing and motivating the levels of service excellence which we desire of our employees. but as we call upon our inner strength

and seek the mental toughness required to cope with the current uncertainties, it is vital that we go back to basics. this going back to basics can mean different things to different persons, groups or agencies. for the individual, going back to basics means managing your money wisely. it means spending but not over - extending oneself. this is old - fashioned wisdom that remains new and relevant in the context of the current international financial uncertainty, in spite of how far we think we may have come, technologically and economically. going back to basics for the individual means going back to smooth social interaction that has been the hallmark of our pride and industry – politeness, tolerance and the ability to listen to the other point of view, especially by those who are role models for our youth. the nise initiative has been exemplary in its commitment to excellence in service and we applaud them. for those in the corporate sector, going back to basics means prudent liquidity management, diversification of investments, vigilance in the assessment of risk, enhanced disclosure in the presentation of financial statements, improved corporate governance and the building of strategic alliances with labour and government. as we have noticed, on the global scene many of the global problems had their genesis in poor corporate governance and oversight, compounded by inappropriate incentive structures which compromised corporate soundness and system stability. the building of strategic alliances with labour begins with respect for the individual, which underpins all discussion of productivity improvement, pay for performance, profit sharing and even wage restraint. fortunately in the public sector and in the central bank, we have stayed with the basics on several vital fronts, and this has laid a solid foundation which will help us to weather the current storm. barbados has also retained its basic traditional emphasis on social care and poverty alleviation as seen in ongoing efforts to sustain pensions, tax credits, micro credit, employment and the like. in this environment an adequate safety net could be more important than before. it is comforting to know that in the case of barbados the infrastructure is already there. excellence excellence requires putting a framework in place that will lead to enhanced productivity. thus, excellence is a process that may at first involve only limited gains and small steps, often without immediate or even tangible results the social partners continue to share a common vision of the need to move forward in unison, as far as possible, in order for the society to progress and develop. a high degree of maturity and foresight is essential in dealing with the