Supporting and Maintaining an Effective Workforce

Strategic Workforce Planning: Insights from a Jamaican Academic Library

Mrs. Jessica Lewis Marshall

Deputy Librarian, The UWI Mona Campus

Moderator: Ms. Rachel Harvey, Student Support Officer, Turks and Caicos Islands Community College

The dynamic landscape in higher education requires the academic library to respond to the challenges of rapidly evolving technologies; growing external competition; fiscal instability and shifting functional needs and expectations among user groups. Consequently, academic libraries with sluggish organisational development have had to reassess how they engage and deploy staff, utilise technology, encourage innovation, and offer outreach services.

This presentation discusses the pressing need for the academic library to reengineer and restructure staff resources to shift from a reactive provision of support services to being proactive with students, faculty, and all other stakeholders. The presentation also explores future-proofing of the staff structure of a Caribbean Academic Library through workforce planning as the Library seeks to transform its organisational structure in response to emerging trends, funding challenges, client expectations and staffing needs. The presentation aims to provide insights into effective organisational strategies for Caribbean academic libraries.

Faculty Members’ Perspectives on the Role of School Leadership in Professional Development at a Higher Education Institution In Trinidad And Tobago.

Mrs. Anita Ali

Administrative Officer, The UWI St. Augustine Campus

Moderator: Ms. Pamela Housen, Senior Administrative Officer, The UWI Mona Campus

This presentation explores the perspectives of faculty members and school leaders regarding high-quality professional development (PD) programmes aimed at enhancing teaching skills for inclusive classrooms in a higher education institution (HEI) in Trinidad and Tobago. The study aims to contribute to the existing literature on faculty PD and leadership support in HEIs. The findings hold implications for HEIs in Trinidad and Tobago and beyond, providing insights into the design and implementation of effective PD initiatives for faculty members. Ultimately, the presentation aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice, facilitating improvements in teaching quality and student learning outcomes in higher education settings. To guide the research process, a constructivist theoretical framework is utilised, emphasising the subjective interpretation of reality and the co-construction of knowledge. By embracing this perspective, the study seeks comprehensive insights into the perspectives of both faculty members and school leaders on PD initiatives.

Balancing Productivity and Well-Being: The Case for a 4-Day Workweek at the Hugh Wooding Law School

Mr. Wayne Rock

Quality Assurance Officer, Hugh Wooding Law School

Moderator: Dr. Shaun McKay, Vice President of Administration and Operations, Turks and Caicos Islands Community College

Mr. Rock’s presentation will present a compelling case for implementing a 4-day workweek pilot at the Hugh Wooding Law School, with the goal of seeking institutional approval and implementation, to ultimately improve work-life balance and potentially increase productivity. Supporting and maintaining an effective workforce involves finding new ways to increase productivity and ensuring employees have a healthy work-life balance and well-being. In a post-pandemic ecosystem, employees are more aware of the positive impact of more time at home, but it remains unclear if this has translated to increased or decreased productivity. The five-day workweek, standardised by Henry Ford in the 1920s, has been a mainstay of most organisations, without consideration of its alignment with changing attitudes in the workforce, given different cultures, industries, time zones, technological advancements or the needs of individual employees. However, as early as the 1950s, the 4-day workweek was proposed as a solution to many of the issues employees face. While successfully implemented in companies like Panasonic and crowd-funding giant, Kickstarter, there is a paucity of data on its effective implementation, including in higher education institutions. This initial will examine the history of 4-day workweek implementation around the world through a literature review, outlining a roadmap for transitioning and implementation, laying out a timeline, defining clear goals and metrics, and developing a reporting framework to collect relevant data. The presentation will also include the intention of participating in the 4 Day Week Global pilot program to gain access to resources and support from global experts. If approved and successfully piloted, the results of this endeavour can be used to initiate a radical shift throughout the Caribbean higher education sector.

Multigenerational Workforce Dynamics: Strategies for Enhancing Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer in Jamaica

Ms. Yolanda Henry

Campus Coordinator, Excelsior Community College

Moderator: Ms. Ayana Gloudon, Assistant Registrar, Human Resources, The UWI St. Augustine Campus

In almost every country, the total number of older people as a proportion of the population is increasing. It is estimated that by 2050, the number of people aged 65 and older will be 1.6 billion (Zubiashvili & Zubiashvili, 2021). In Jamaica, the forecast is that by 2030, those 60 years and older will comprise 18% of the population (Govia et al., 2021). The latest statistics show that 31 % of Jamaica’s labour force is over 55 years old (PIOJ, 2023). At its 2023 annual Labour Market Forum, the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which is the government’s primary planning agency, highlighted “the need for integrated population and development policies as the trend in rapid population ageing intensifies” (PIOJ, 2023).

The presentation proposes a case study approach to examine how higher educational institutions are adjusting their curricula to promote knowledge transfer and collaboration within the workplace. The study examined the implications of Jamaica’s aging population for workforce development and explored strategies that can be adapted to enhance collaboration and knowledge transfer to create sustainable work environments. Fostering intergenerational knowledge transfer and collaboration are pivotal to the attainment of the key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which are articulated in Jamaica’s Vision 2030 National Development Plan which envisions that by 2030 Jamaica will be “the place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business”. This presentation will focus on a single higher education institution that facilitates upskilling programmes for various categories of employees from ministries of the government of Jamaica. The presentation will also pinpoint best practices such as mentorship, creating employment policies, and employee shadowing which are critical to supporting and maintaining effective workforces while driving sustainable economic and social development.

Prepare, Protect, Prosper: Lessons Learned From Research About Academic

Dr. Allison Fung

Executive Assistant to the Vice-Chancellor and Coordinator of Special Projects,

The UWI Regional Headquarters

Moderator: Ms. Bonita Hunter, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Guyana

Dr. Alison Fung’s presentation is about academic deans at The UWI and the roles and tasks that cause them stress. It not only codified the dean’s tasks and roles, but also identified several areas where, if properly supported, deans’ stress could be lessened, and their performance as managers of the “factory floor” of the institution could potentially be significantly improved. Ultimately, the presentation will show that if deans were properly prepared for the role, protected through the provision of an empowered support structure around them, the institution could prosper through enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of the faculties – described as the “factory floor” of the institution by one of the leaders interviewed. How can we translate this into future-proofing higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Caribbean? The focus of this presentation is on leaders at the level of deans and heads of departments.

Future-Proofing the Higher Education Ecosystem for Transformational Success Through Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Mr. Oswy Gayle

Lecturer, University of Technology, Jamaica

Moderator: Mrs. Camille Charles, Assistant Registrar, Registry, The UWI Global Campus

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are not only uncomfortable themes to discuss, but they are sometimes poorly contextualised and often taken for granted in higher education. In any event, DEIB are amongst the latest trends that are shaping higher education in the context of social justice, job satisfaction and employee engagement with the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK) leading the discourses in practice and policies. Given that Caribbean higher education institutions are part of a global web of higher educational institutions and have the potential to be impacted by global trends, DEIB issues might be no different. His presentation summarises some of the most important issues in the literature on DEIB, presents qualitative research findings of employees’ lived experiences of equitable practices, and its implications for employee satisfaction. He argues that transformational success in higher education hinges on the understanding of these current themes as they represent the nuts, bolts, and currency employees use daily to achieve higher education outcomes. It also presents a model that influences any higher education ecosystem, and by extension, the implications for leadership, management, policy and practice.