BY JULIA RAWLINS-BENTHAM | MAR 31, 2023
Sitting left to right – Chief Immigration Officer, Margaret Inniss; Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams; and Deputy Chief Immigration Officer, Janice Robinson, pose with graduates of the inaugural clinic after today’s ceremony. (GP)
The Barbados Immigration Department (BID) has been described as the “poster department for service excellence” among Government departments.
This accolade was bestowed on the department by Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams, as he congratulated 16 Immigration Officers who made up the first of the BID’s Institutional Strengthening Clinic which got underway in October 2022.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony at BID’s Princess Alice Highway headquarters this morning, the Minister commended the graduates for taking the opportunities offered by the COVID-19 pandemic to “reset, redesign, rebrand and reestablish” how they wanted to be known as a department.
“This clinic and your exuberance placed this department in a prime position to lead in the service industry as a Government department. You are now the poster department for service excellence,” he said.
Noting it was a heavy responsibility, the Minister pointed out that it was that level of service excellence that was needed across the entire spectrum of Government.
“We need the next leaders, we need the people who are going to take our departments, our policies, our initiatives where they can go to. We are limited by the productivity in the different departments in Government. [But], I am happy to say I don’t feel limited in the Immigration Department,” Mr. Abrahams pointed out.
He encouraged the graduates to spread their approach to service delivery with those from other departments and explain to them that productivity in departments started with the attitudes of those who worked in them.
“I urge you to respect, appreciate and listen to others as you undertake the responsibility to support the management in the transition of services that will set best practices for new policies, processes, employee competences, professional development and service excellence,” he said.
At the same time, Mr. Abrahams encouraged stakeholders to continue supporting the department as its staff endeavoured to be national team players in the rebranding of Barbados’ tourism product and the protection of the island’s borders.
The Minister noted that the clinic was designed to ensure there was succession planning to build out middle managers and prepare newly promoted persons to assume leadership positions.
“This clinic is a landmark for Barbados. I have not heard of any department who has looked at what they have considered, what they needed and gathered from among themselves and created a programme aimed solely at filling in the blanks and strengthening the department as a unit,” Mr. Abrahams highlighted.
Speaking during the graduation, Chief Immigration Officer, Margaret Inniss, said the department was in the “reconstruction phase” of how it did business, looking at its image, repositioning Barbados, addressing border security matters along with trade and development.
