Jamaica Customs Agency

NAME OF FEATURE | THE GLEANER | FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2021 19 21 Market Street, Montego Bay E-mail: paulettewatt@cwjamaica.com Transportation Available Residential, Personal & Commercial Mondays – Fridays 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Call: 876 952-7531/876 971-7531 Fax: 876-971-8719 √ UK √ Canada √ US √ Caribbean For Incomparable Service Custom Brokers Limited and Freight Forwarders CUSTOMS W EK T HE HUMAN Resource and Management Division (HRMD) of the JCA is fully cognisant of the fact that the success of the agency’s operations depends on its human resources. Therefore, the division’s key aim was to make the great HR reset by transitioning fromhuman resource management to human resource experience management. This shift saw the HRMD building organisational resilience through staff resilience. This meant con- sistent and robust communication with the team to provide critical information required to allay fears concerning the pandemic and con- necting with each other. Building resilience in employees empowers them to‘bounce forward’from a cri- sis and adapt quickly to a changing environment. Taking care of our human re- sources is vital in bolstering recov- ery, renewal and resilience, as it is our human resources that will drive the necessary changes needed for the organisation to move into the post-COVID environment, into the new normal, and to ensure a sus- tainable supply chain. Staff engagement throughout the year was therefore paramount. This took a holistic approach, not just focussing on training and de- velopment for the work to be done, but the mental, spiritual, physical well-being and social interaction.The engagements throughout the year were spearheaded andmanaged by a specific group of individuals within the HRMD (HRMD COVID response team). Below are some of the en- gagements whichwere undertaken during the year to ensure that the JCA team remained resilient: To make any meaningful con- tribution to a sustainable supply chain, staff must be au fai t with de- velopments in international trade and border protection. As such, the training and development of em- ployees moved online, ensuring that the knowledge base of the team did not suffer. Special training was conducted for internal trainers to equip them to navigate the virtual training environment with ease and effectiveness, as well as to bring other staff members up to speed with the primary means of training during the pandemic. • To ensure employees were kept abreast of the organisation’s response to the pandemic, an ‘Employees’COVID 19 Protocol’was developed. This communicated the agency’s work arrangements, what to do if a teammember is exposed or a member of their family is ex- posed, COVID-prevention guide- lines, among other protocols. • To enhance the spiritual well-be- ing of employees, the HRMD hosted, for a month, weekly online interces- sory prayers titled‘Covered in Crises’. This forum allowed employees to gather virtually and pray for their colleagues, the organisation, the nation, our leaders, the vulnerable in society, etc. Online Christmas THE JCA’S HRMD REMAINS RESILIENT IN THE FACE OF THE PANDEMIC CUSTOMS TIP Imports with a free on board (FOB) amount of US$50 or less will not attract import charge. This amount includes inland freight. PLEASE SEE RESILIENT , 20