International Customs Day & Week 2022

NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | SUNDAY, JANUARY 30, 2022 25 to be prime candidates for upward mobility. It is anticipated that as we continue to assess the training and development data, we will be better poised to improve and determine our return on investment (roi). Emp l oyee Produc t i v i t y Management is also important to the furthering of digital transfor- mation in the agency, as employees’ input towards realising the antic- ipated success is indispensable. With this reality in mind, the HRMD team has collaborated with the tal- ented Information Services Division (ISD) team to develop and pilot the implementation of an e-Register System. Through this system, we have created an electronic register geared towards a more efficient and effective means of managing employees’ attendance and punc- tuality. This, in our efforts to tran- sition from the use of the manual ‘big books’which have been in use for many years, followed by manual updating of spreadsheets with the data in a format that gives a snap- shot of these records. With this new system, employ- ees can sign in from their devices and there is automatic updating of their attendance details, which enables immediate access by the HRMD team, making it far more seamless to manage leave utilisa- tion and related records. This system also provides an opportunity for our transition to a better approach to measuring productivity of em- ployees, as we intend to use the automated data against the output levels in various units and analyse the frequency of absences (and rea- sons), and whether there is any cor- relation to the increase, consistency or decline in employees’ output. This system is also intends to foster a data-based culture, where man- agers regard more, the monitoring of employees’ output in a context beyond being merely present, but effectively meeting the operational needs without abusing the time al- lotted to the attainment of the rele- vant targets. Within the workspace, therefore, we anticipate less appar- ent presenteeismandmore produc- tivity-oriented standardised systems at play, to achieve our organisational objectives and efficiently expand- ing the digital transformation man- date with focus on strategic ‘people input’. As we contemplate the in- stitutionalisation of a multi-modal work arrangement, guided by the objects of the Flexi-Work Policy, the HRMD team will seek to advance the increased use of this system to enable managers and supervisors’ mindset modification, towardsmore strategic work planning and em- ployees’ behavioural adjustments, towards contributing their due part to the overall productivity, outside of the traditional confines of a ‘9-5 in office’mentality. One must also acknowledge that the digital transformation agenda is inter- and multi-generational in nature, and as such, the agency has carefully embraced the imple- mentation of the Government of Jamaica’s Public Employees’Pension Administration System (PEPAS) in our entity. This, as we have been actively enrolling employees who are at least a year away from re- tirement on that system, to ensure timely commencement of the pro- cessing of retirement benefits; as well as providing them with the relevant technical guidance to ac- cess the system at the appropriate time, to verify the precision of the data which has been collated in their name, before proceeding on retirement. Employees who have been retiring over the last two years have had a primarily favourable ex- perience in transitioning out of the organisation into retirement, and little or no delays in receiving their pension emoluments. This aligns with the overarching objective of building a data culture from the human experience perspective, as through this digital transformation, they are better supported in their post-employment lifetime. Traditionally, the agency has sought to conduct an exit interview with employeeswho resign, as a part of the separationprocess. Thesewere usually done manually with face- to-face interviews, and employees would share their experiences in the organisation, adviseon their reason(s) for leaving and make recommen- dations for agency improvements. Among these recommendations over time, greater useof technologies have featured and just prior to, and more so during the global pandemic, the HRMDDivision has transitioned fully to an e-Exit Interview process. This has resulted in higher participation rate fromemployeeswho resign.With the introduction of this approach, there is greater openness to share as persons express comments inwriting and are likely to bemore forthright – which we appreciate. They are also able to still proffer suggestions if they resign without the requisite notice and, in some instances, cease being domiciled in Jamaica. The HRMD team has become better able to analyse the data re- garding separation of employees and implement programmes and initiatives which are deemed rele- vant and practicable in the organ- isation. There’s also greater ability to disaggregate the data collected for different units, locations and subject matters. This, we believe, is another significant move towards the fostering of a data culture within the workplace ecosystem and advances our integrated ap- proach towards Customs digital transformation, built on the human experience. The HRMD Division prides itself in being ambassadors for the agency’s digital transformation mandate, as it encourages the advancement of people in realising the antici- pated changes through systems. We continue to promote the use of the various new technologies, while facilitating our own digital agenda, in leveraging the utilisation and administration of personal data, in informing organisational devel- opment priorities. HRMD ... actively scaling up cus- toms digital transformation by em- bracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem. TAMARA ARCHER REID AND SEAN A. DAVIS, JP Human ResourceManagement and Development Division In 2021, the Jamaica Customs Agency (JCA) collaborated with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to host a series of vaccination blitz at the agency’s Newport East, Kingston, headquarters. These activities formed part of the JCA’s thrust to scale up employee’s immunity and provide protection against the virus. CUSTOMS WEEK