In last week’s edition of The Anguillian, I read an article on the number of work permits issued in 2021. The information indicates the percentage of new, first-time issued permits is less than 20 percent. Nonetheless, Anguillians and local residents are quite concerned regarding individuals being hired from overseas to fill positions for which there are suitably qualified and trained persons already on the island. These concerns are real.
Recently, I received a phone call from someone who asked me to write a column specifically regarding hiring practices in hotels. I’ve heard of local employees being denied access to managerial positions, such jobs being given to external applicants – and supervisors not listening to staff’s knowledge of the local culture and seascape, or unnecessarily reporting an employee to the HR Department.
We live in an era where movement of people from place to place – working virtually anywhere on the globe and relocating to other countries – has become the norm. Yet, company management may not be as progressive with employment practices, which necessitate re-evaluating human resources policies, bolstering them and creating equitable procedures.
An aspect of hiring and training, which we note happens in Anguilla, and the rest of the world, is people are discriminated against based on a variety of factors. Sometimes it’s due to their education, ethnicity, gender, nationality, professional experience or merely because they are or aren’t local.
Why do these biases exist in today’s workforce? Whatever the reason for such unfairness, it needs to be thrown out the window. Everyone deserves a chance for advancement, skills development, training and promotion to the next level. It’s time for us to change how we hire in all areas of business, both private and public sectors.
Anguilla’s labour laws are supposed to give preference to hiring Anguillians. Yet, time and again, we observe executives, managers, consultants and other personnel hired from abroad instead of from locally sourced personnel. Why are fewer locals hired to fill upper management and higher paying jobs?
A certain level of expertise is required on occasion that obliges an employer to bring in a more experienced person who’s qualified in a specific area. These cases are to be considered temporary solutions, for a short-term, until locally engaged staff are fully trained to serve in the particular roles.
Secondments, succession planning, along with executive management, supervisory and understudy training programmes, need to be properly implemented to allow employees the prospect of advancing up the ranks and gaining greater professional expertise. With understudying, there should be a limited timeframe – no more than six months to one year max.
As well, we must eliminate subjective factors such as hand-picking a person who is a friend or relative, disqualifying an individual because he/she isn’t native-born, and nepotism. More importantly, we need to let go of biases and fully support men and women in the workplace – plus stop sabotaging co-workers from moving forward.
Every one of us deserves a chance to determine our own destiny, and find out how far we can go professionally, and career wise, with self-determination and effort. When we cease being envious of one another, then we will recognise all a’ we as one human race.
It’s perplexing that we elect government representatives who generally don’t have backgrounds in political science. Sometimes they’re newcomers to politics. They might not have any experience in the daily business operations of a state’s public affairs. Yet, we vote them into office anyhow. If we are able to do this with the running of the nation, then private sector employers are capable of doing similarly with hiring practices in tourism and other marketable industries.
Citizens are concerned regarding work permits issued to non-nationals of Anguilla who come from overseas to fill executive and senior management jobs. This issue needs to be addressed by the Honourable Premier; Hon Minister of Home Affairs; Labour Commissioner – and all who have responsibility for Anguilla’s labour market and governing regulations. It’s imperative we influence labour laws, hiring practices, work permit regulations and minimum wage for us to thrive.
When we hire locally, we employ people who have a vested interest in the advancement of our small island developing state. Their lasting stays support the nation’s economy and stimulate economic growth benefiting our entire community. We must create equitable hiring practices for Anguillians and local residents to evolve!
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Kay M Ferguson is a contributing columnist who uses a nom de plume, The Empress Extraordinaire. Her words encourage us to explore who we are, evolve as human-beings and transform our world. Link with Kay at anguillawriter@gmail.com.
