Labour Ministry to Spearhead Productivity Campaign

Beginning November, the Ministry of Labour and Social Security will spearhead a 12-month islandwide public education campaign, aimed at promoting the importance of productivity as a national priority focus.

Dubbed: ‘Productivity is Our Priority: Get in the Know!’, the campaign will seek to heighten public awareness about the social and economic benefits of productivity growth, and its impact on individuals, entities, and the country, in general.

The initiative is consistent with the government’s 2013/14 strategic priority focusing on job creation and economic growth.

Portfolio Minister, Hon. Derrick Kellier, who made the announcement during the closing ceremony of the National Productivity Awareness Week Conference at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, in New Kingston, on October 9, said the campaign will incorporate a combination of communication and public relations tools and initiatives, utilizing print, electronic and outdoor advertising media to channel tailored messages to a wide cross section of Jamaicans.

“The campaign will feature community meetings, school tours, stakeholder sessions, public service announcements, print and electronic advertising, brochures, newsletters, radio and TV features, social media activities, and a productivity jingle. The campaign messages will focus on the need for productivity to be viewed as a pre-requisite to prosperity, therefore it is necessary to build the productivity-consciousness among Jamaicans,” he outlined.

Conference participants were given a preview of the jingle during the Minister’s presentation.

Mr. Kellier underscored the need for “every Jamaican to understand what this ‘productivity business is about’, and what it means for us.” This, he added, is against the background of the country’s long-term National Development Plan, Vision 2030 Jamaica, which seeks to position the nation to achieve developed country status and, in the process, make it the ‘place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business’.

“The bottomline is that productivity improvement requires the participation of people. Therefore, people must understand what productivity is, what it means to us in our capacities as consumers, workers, business owners/entrepreneurs, and tax payers,” the Minister argued.

Mr. Kellier expressed the hope that the campaign will have an “indelible impact” in transforming the nation’s mindset, “so that we will seek to continually improve what exists.”

Commenting on the conference, organized by the Ministry’s agency, the Jamaica Productivity Centre (JPC) under the theme: ‘Productivity – Pathway to Competitiveness and Growth’, Mr. Kellier noted that the presentations over the three days were “of the highest quality.”

“We have looked at productivity strategies that can transform the Jamaican economy. Companies have shared with us their experiences in improving their productivity culture, and the value of measuring productivity to improve profitability. They represented a willingness to move from this confab to action at all levels of the society,” he outlined, while thanking the participants for their inputs.

The Minister said the conference’s activities and the participants’ inputs indicated that the Ministry, through the JPC, “can rely on your support in starting the engine of Jamaica’s ‘productivity revolution.”

“The message that your partnership imparts is that you understand the role of public-private co-operation for productivity growth and economic and social development. I also hope that the achievements made in shaping the productivity culture will continue to be championed by all, taking us one step closer to making Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families (and do business),” Mr. Kellier said.