The economists define productivity as the rate at which goods and services are produced in a given society. It is a measure of output per unit of input and is thus fundamentally related to work that is completed. So productivity is essentially about people, the work they do, and what they achieve at the end of the day, month, or year.

The country representative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Jamaica, Therese Turner-Jones, has called attention to the low productivity rates that exist in Caribbean countries, and especially in Jamaica. This is a subject about which I have written before and what has been concerning to me is that, despite all the best indications of the digital age, not much seems to have changed in the productivity levels of the Jamaican economy. What this says to me is that you can have the best tools in the world, but if there are not people with a consistent work ethic, who take their jobs seriously, who are prepared to upgrade themselves or to have their companies invest heavily in human resource development, those tools are of no help in improving productive output. They will be used for the most trivial pursuits without any real value being added to their unit of output.Productivity is about people, plain and simple. We do not have to get more technical than that. The precise concern of Turner-Jones is that the Jamaican private and public sectors are not investing enough in the Jamaican worker to optimise his skills or his ability to produce more. The impatience she is showing with this neglect does not appear to be shared by the Government or private sector. And it must be very disturbing to her when she sees what can be achieved if workers were given the opportunity for increased training and development of their talents.Jamaican companies and the Government like to speak glowingly of the resilience and intelligence of the Jamaican worker. But at the end of the day they take those workers for granted and they, in turn, take their work for granted. They are generally not motivated to contribute much to the company’s or firm’s progress because they do not consider themselves essential stakeholders in that firm’s future. But this is what happens when human resource development is made the Cinderella of the productive process.It is clear that the companies that show the highest productivity levels are those that invest in their workers. The Sandals resort chain comes readily to mind. It is not surprising that that organisation introduced a corporate university to invest in the ongoing education and training of its employees. Since its inception in 2012, it has proved an invaluable tool in the education and upgrading of the skills of its team members. The net result is that its customer service is one of, if not the best in the hospitality industry in the Caribbean and the Americas. Award after award is achieved each year and the management of Sandals Resort International (SRI) will readily admit that this is attributable to the resilience, intelligence and hard work of its team members. It is not by default or chance that the SRI is the leading tourism outfit in the Caribbean.It is in the public service that worker productivity creates the greatest concerns. Despite some work that has been done to train workers and improve standards in some areas — the National Land Agency comes readily to mind — there is a lot that needs to be done. The attitude that seems to best describe workers in the civil service is apathy. People come to work but there is no real motivation to think or to work hard to add anything or come up with new ideas that may make a difference to the work they do.This apathy is often seen in the way members of the public are treated. You hear the complaints of ordinary Jamaicans that have to interface with the hospitals, Customs, the tax offices, and almost any government institution. At immigration a visitor is most likely to meet the intimidating stare of the officer who will attend to him. There is no smile or any other indication that you are really welcomed in the country. There is a nonchalant, take-it-or-leave-it attitude that permeates the way service is rendered. Thank God this is not the case with everyone that works in government, but the attitude is so obvious as to cause concern. Those who behave in this way take not only the beleaguered taxpayers that employ them for granted, but also their work. At the end of the week it is all about a salary, and it better not be short.Upward mobility in the Jamaican civil service is not easily achieved, and many workers have to resign themselves to be confined to a desk at which they may marinate for several years. While this is happening there is no robust attention paid to improving that worker’s skill or talent. To add salt to injury, the political directorate often intrudes into the operations of the civil service and any mobility is often predicated on loyalty to a political party. Although political interference has abated, it must not be presumed that this is not a clear and present danger to the employee who should fail the test of political loyalty. Thus there is no innovation, and one does just that much to get through the day. In some areas, corruption becomes an escape route to an assumed better life.It is the low productivity levels in the country that is the greatest enemy to the Economic Growth Council achieving its five per cent growth in four years. In my view, this target will have to be revisited by the council. Targeting big projects for growth is not necessarily a bad thing, but creating the infrastructure to provide the capacity for the optimum utilisation of those investments is quite another consideration. I share Turner-Jones’ impatience at the lacklustre pace at increasing the Jamaican worker’s productivity. 

Dr Raulston Nembhard is a priest and social commentator. Send comments to the Observer or

stead6655@aol.com.