JOYCE ENID SINCLAIR, a very accomplished woman, aims to impart service excellence to anyone with whom she comes into contact. She has worked with countless organisations in Guyana, having been hired to improve the efficiency and etiquette of various departments.

Sinclair is a Management and Training Consultant, who now works on her own having in the past graced organisations like the Ministry of Public Service, CARICOM and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“I do consulting, teaching, advising groups, organisations, individuals; in my case, in any management area that they request. Sometimes I have to introduce such areas because they may not know which department they need training in,” she explained in an interview with this newspaper a few days ago.
Sinclair started off at Smyth’s Church Congregational Primary School before moving on to Ray High School where she remained until reaching fourth form. She did her fifth and sixth form studies at Bishops’ High School.
She has a Masters Degree in Public Administration from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, a post-graduate certificate in Education from the University of Hull, England and a Bachelor’s Degree in Arts from the University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
She taught for many years at St. Joseph’s High School and Bishops’ High School before becoming Chief Training Officer in the Public Service Ministry of Guyana. Later, she became Permanent Secretary in the Public Service Ministry, a post she held for nine years.
She also held the position of Programme Manager, Human Resource Management at the CARICOM Secretariat, after which she operated as an independent Management Consultant.
More recently, she held a contract appointment as Assistant Resident Representative (Operations) at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).  She was later appointed on contract as Special Assistant Human Resource Management at the CARICOM Secretariat.
Sinclair fondly recalled that she was a school counselor during which time she had the opportunity to help young people on a one on one basis. She can never forget her experience with a young woman who wanted to end her life because of family issues but who later changed her mind with some help and today has a Ph.D in economics.
“I feel very proud of that,” she related.

Offices in a mess
Sinclair has recently introduced an item on her agenda called correct pronunciation of words. “So I now have this little extra sheet at my training functions of words that are frequently mispronounced. You hear them every day; on the radio, etc. It sounds very bad.”

She provides training on office etiquette, customer service and service excellence in general including how to dress for work and how to speak and interact with colleagues, among many other things.
“Some offices are just in an absolute mess. Nobody is bothering with standards today; come to work anyhow, you can look anyhow, you can talk to people anyhow, you can be rude, and you cannot answer them when they ask you a question, or you can answer them with a sour face. It’s just very bad in some offices and they don’t care about customer service. This disappoints me a lot because this is my field,” she lamented.
Furthermore, there is the trend of workplaces engaging in training but forgetting all about it once Sinclair leaves.
“When I do a workshop and leave, I expect that there should be some kind of follow up. The seniors must keep a tab on what I stressed and see if the staff is following that. I have volunteered to do follow-up work for one hour for three firms at no cost, but no one called me up till now.”

Youth Development
Sinclair related that among her strong points is showing kindness.

“I believe that one should always be kind, especially to older folks and persons who are not well. A sense of responsibility is very important.”
Furthermore, she would like to see persons being more concerned about the development of young people in Guyana.
“I don’t think we show enough interest in them. I like people who help younger ones; people who are not selfish, who have plans to make something of themselves. There are lots of young people who don’t care if rain falls or sun shines. I think they must be helped,” she said.
Ms. Sinclair has  published three  monographs  to date:  Receptive Courtesies (1996) for the public and  private  sectors  and  Courtesy  Tips  for  Children and Young Persons (2006) for children themselves,  parents  and  teachers, and  High  Quality  Customer  Service  and  Polishing your Telephone Manners (2008) for the public sector.
She was awarded the Golden Arrow of Achievement (A.A) by the Government of Guyana in 1983 for her contribution to Education and Public Service.  In 1989 she was the recipient of one of the 12 Outstanding Women’s awards given by the Women’s Studies Unit of the University of Guyana.
In 1995, she was awarded a special commemorative plaque by the CARICOM Secretariat for “her contribution to Caribbean Integration through her laudable concern for the Welfare and development of the Secretariat’s staff.”
In 2003, she was selected as one of YWCA’s “Women of Distinction” at an award ceremony at Le Meridien Pegasus, Georgetown, Guyana.
Written By Telesha Ramnarine