OVER 300 administrative professionals from the private and public sectors were encouraged by ministers of government to maintain the highest level of professionalism as the country braces for significant development.

This call came during the 23rd annual Administrative Professional Seminar hosted by Zoywins Consultancy and Training Institute at the Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday, on the occasion of Administrative Professionals’ Day.

The conference took the theme, ‘Become a Valued Administrative Professional’ and saw the congregating of agencies from several regions countrywide.
Invited to speak at the opening ceremony were Minister of Social Protection Amna Ally and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.

Meanwhile, some of the attending organisations included the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), the Police Complaints Authority, the Guyana Veterans Legion and several others.

Zoywins Consultancy has been training staff, supervisors and middle managers since 1992 and has provided this service to agencies in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Canada.
The institute offers training in the areas of customer care, professional and social ethics, supervisory management, interpersonal management skills and conflict resolution to name a few.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zoywins Consultancy Mavis Benn, in her address to the gathering, said that the seminar will assist participants to develop a “mindset for success” as they practise professionalism in their workplaces.

She pointed out that it was the first time that representatives from Region Nine were in attendance at the conference and encouraged all to take advantage of the numbers present to form chains of networking.

In her special greetings, Social Protection minister Amna Ally referred to administrative professionals as the “backbone of their organisations”, working hard towards ensuring smooth-running businesses.

She commended the work of the institute, saying that as the world becomes even more interconnected, there is a greater need for individuals who can professionally manage the day-to-day operations of all kinds of businesses.

“The Government of Guyana intends to equip the workforce with the skills required for the job of today and those of tomorrow that will contribute to the national growth and sustainable development of Guyana.

“Therefore, we will continue to make substantial investments to ensure that our human capital, especially employees within the public service, possesses the skills, knowledge and resources they require to perform their functions to the highest level of professionalism,” she said.

Meanwhile, in the feature address, Minister of State Joseph Harmon said that administrative professionals are the first line of contact of businesses and that they oftentimes do not get the recognition they deserve.

He added that they help to form public opinion and perception of what an agency is about and hence, the hosting of regular training is important to guard against stymied development.

“Your presence here today is an indication that you are taking your career development seriously… I therefore take this opportunity to urge you to invest in development, invest in developing yourselves — personally and professionally — on an ongoing basis,” he said.

Harmon said, too, that investing in the human capital of the country is one of the government’s highest priorities and therefore commended the institute’s inclusion of administrative professionals from hinterland communities.

As more international companies commence investments in Guyana, he advised that persons must begin to develop the necessary skills to meet this challenge as the government intends to utilise its own citizens.

“Several companies from overseas have been coming to Guyana every single day…everybody wanting to invest in Guyana. But there is one element of that investment which we must insist on and that is that the local content of that investment must be front and centre.

“The people of Guyana must be first and foremost in everything that is done…administrative professionals will find themselves being a sought-after commodity [and] we will not allow or tolerate these companies to bring into Guyana skills which already exist here,” he told the gathering.

At the conference, three agencies were presented with awards for their long-standing partnership with the institute which included the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), the Ministry of Public Health and the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI).