JPC Targets Youth As It Promotes Productivity Culture

The Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) is targeting the country’s youth as it carries out its mandate of promoting a culture of productivity in the country.

“We want a revolution. We are starting with the persons, who are impressionable, those persons, who won’t resist the concept of productivity but will grasp it and employ it,” Communication Specialist at JPC, Sandrea Dennis, told JIS News.

“We feel that the younger generation is a greater driver towards achieving what the Productivity Centre has set out to do,” she added.

The JPC recently collaborated with the Clarendon Parish Youth Council (CPYC), to stage an Organisational Management and Employability Workshop to benefit over 20 young people from the parish.

Miss Dennis told JIS News that the workshop, aimed at preparing the youth for the world of work, provided an opportunity to introduce the concept of productivity and its benefits “to those who will have the greatest impact in the workplace.”

“We feel that these persons will …influence the productivity culture that we are trying to inculcate across the island. We want people to understand that productivity is … everybody’s business,” she pointed out.

She said that children will also be reached in the productivity drive as they are “twice as impressionable as those transitioning from high school to college and work” and who by the time they enter the labour force “would have already been aware of what productivity is and (have) an appreciation for it.”

Clarendon Police Youth Club member, Jahvon Johnson, who attended the workshop held at the Youth Information Centre (YIC) in May Pen, said he learnt a lot from the event.

“I learnt about how to make the most of the little you have. I want to start my own business … so I can maximise on profit (so) I plan to implement (the training) in my life,” he said. He added that “young people (need) direction and knowledge and this is a good way for you to learn how to do things differently.”

President of CPYC, Jonoi Edwards, said that the workshop was conceptualised out of a need to prepare the youth of Clarendon to become leaders and positively impact their communities and workplaces.

“We realise that young people are not getting involved in organisational development and that is why we have this workshop. We want them to understand how they are supposed to manage an interview, how to dress, and the expectations of employers. On the organisational part, we want to equip our young people to know how to manage themselves within an organisation and how they can be more productive,” he highlighted.

The CPYC President is encouraging more young people to look to create their own employment.

“Young people are saying that there are no jobs, but even if there are no jobs we cannot just sit down, we have to create an avenue for employment. I would classify Clarendon as a farming parish, so I think we should find ways to get involved in farming and to be productive,” he argued.

He also noted the value of volunteering their services as a means of giving back and remaining productive, while gaining valuable experience.

Other areas covered at the workshop included: ‘What Employers are Looking for’; ‘Workplace Expectations and Professionalism’ which were presented by Career Development Officers from the HEART/Trust NTA.