- Governor Greenidge at the 2024 Staff Awards Gala and Dinner
By Governor Dr Kevin Greenidge
It is a pleasure to see so many of you here tonight, all decked out and ready to celebrate your colleagues. I feel the same because I am thrilled by the return of our annual awards ceremony. Having this event gives us the opportunity to pay tribute to each of our staff members as they celebrate their milestone anniversary, including, for the first time, those who are celebrating five years with the organisation.
I am also happy to see the reintroduction of the special awards, which encompass a variety of qualities, ranging from team spiritedness to innovation, service excellence to marksmanship, going above and beyond to giving back, and more.
I want to draw your attention to these colourful pillars in the room. They not only represent the powerful columns on which our headquarters stands, but the words inscribed on them – accountability, team spiritedness, governance, respect and empathy, integrity and transparency, leadership, and innovation – are the values we infuse in all we do to truly internalise excellence in our Bank.
So, let me first of all commend the organising committee for the awards ceremony, who, as they say, understood the assignment and put together an event befitting the occasion. I was particularly thrilled when I learned of the evening’s theme: “Elevate, Empower, Excel: Internalising Excellence” because in five words, it lays out a blueprint not only for the kind of organisation we want to be, but also of how we will get and remain there.
Elevate
When I laid out my vision of internalising excellence at my first staff meeting in March last year, I made clear that it begins with having a happy, engaged staff. The first step is to make sure that you know that we see you and recognise your commitment, both in terms of your tenure and in the quality of service you’ve given during that time.
That’s why award ceremonies like this are so important. They allow us to thank you publicly, to shine the spotlight on you and your accomplishments. In short, to elevate you. It’s also important to reinforce these plaudits with tangible acts, a different type of elevation. So, over the past year, through grandfathering, streaming, and regular promotion, we have been able to advance more than 50 members of the bank’s staff.
It is also important for you to do your part and find ways to elevate yourself. The personal development plans that you have worked with your managers to design are intended to guide you. Central banking is dynamic and ever-evolving, and so are the many career paths within the organisation, including economics, financial regulation, banking and finance, information technology, information management, communications, cultural outreach, accounting, facilities management, human resource management, law, strategic planning, accounting and auditing, security, and foreign exchange management. It is, therefore, important that whatever your field, you commit to enhancing your skills and using them to help the Bank achieve its objectives. If you do, I, and my management team, commit to continuing to find ways to reward you for it.
Empower
We must also empower you. This is the natural follow-on when we have a competent, capable, and committed staff. Whatever your level in the organisation, whether you’re frontline or technical staff, you should feel empowered to use your initiative to address issues and solve problems as they arise.
Now, don’t misquote me and say that I have given anyone carte blanche to do as they like. The same way I won’t be drafting legal contracts, I don’t expect you to be calling press conferences to discuss the state of the economy. What I am talking about is actively looking for ways we can improve what we do and how we do it and willingly sharing those ideas with your managers because great ideas come from both the top down and the bottom up. And of course, in the moment, if you are in a position to assist a caller or visitor to the Bank with something that they need, we want you to do so rather than view it as outside your purview.
On our end, we as managers must make you feel comfortable and confident sharing your ideas with us or acting as ambassadors for the organisation rather than feel constrained by your specific job title or grade level. That means, in part, ensuring that you have a broad awareness of the Bank’s various activities and programmes, and in part, giving you the latitude to share that information with others.
On your end, you must feel a sense of ownership of the bank and its work beyond your specific niche and see it as your responsibility to provide our publics with the best service possible.
Excel
So, if we elevate you and you elevate yourselves, and if we empower you and you accept that power and utilise it judiciously, the only thing that can follow is that you excel and the Bank excels. It will mean that you become a stronger, happier, and more engaged employee because you are better at your job, find it meaningful, and are rewarded accordingly. It will mean that the Bank benefits from having high performing, highly motivated team members that make it possible to fulfil its mandate. It will mean that you have internalised excellence and the Bank has become an organisation of world-class excellence.
Let me end by extending my congratulations to and expressing my appreciation for all of tonight’s awardees, both those of you who have given significant years of your life to the organisation and those who, regardless of how long you have been with us have made a tremendous contribution and had a notable significant impact. Kudos to you, and may we all be inspired by you.
