-to help micro, small and medium-sized businesses create positive work environments

THE Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) on Tuesday launched its “Respect Campaign” which is aimed at equipping micro, small and medium-sized enterprises with tools to foster a more positive work environment.

At the launch which was held at GTT’s Corporate Headquarters at the Pegasus Corporate Suites, the Chair of GCCI’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Committee, Evie Gurchuran, told members of the press that the campaign has been in the works for over a year.

She explained that as the world recently observed International Human Rights Day, the chamber saw it important to embrace the theme of equity that the United Nations has set out in the context of the private sector.

“As a business service organisation with almost 900 members, we have to talk about equity in the workplace. We also need to understand that a percentage of almost 70 of our members being micro and small businesses. We also need to build capacity within our membership so that we cannot only establish workplace policies, but we can also get a culture of equity, of diversity of inclusion, talked about in smaller companies,” she said.

Added to this, Gurchuran noted that building a culture of respect comes out of an understanding of the laws among other things. As such, she indicated that this is why it was important for the GCCI to partner with the Ministry of Labour as part of this campaign.

Against this backdrop, Gurchuran said that lots of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises do not have the capacity to build out certain documentation and programmes within their companies.

Meanwhile, also present at the launching was Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, who voiced the ministry’s support for the campaign.
Hamilton noted that this is critical to business development as he added that the ministry offers the necessary training in various areas for businesses, employers and employees.

Added to this, he said that the ministry will also facilitate training to help with the development of skills.

“It was important to come and have this conversation with your members and the public and people who have interest in developing a business on how they must go about in the proper way. We are prepared and we are willing to help with any facility that you seek,” he said.

As the campaign is being rolled out, he noted that the ministry has the capacity to assist businesses in any way that can foster a more positive work environment.

Further, it was noted that the campaign is a collaborative effort between the GCCI’s Entrepreneurship and Small Business Committee and the Membership and Diversity Committee in partnership with the Ministry of Labour.

It is expected to highlight and identify problems in the workplace such as interpersonal conflict, bullying, harassment and discrimination and create solutions to address these issues.

The campaign will be rolled out in phases, beginning with the “leading respect” phase which is expected to run for the month of December and will see the chamber’s councillors and secretariat staff beginning the conversation on what it takes to build a culture of respect.

The second phase, the “respect forum,” will commence in January and will see GCCI members being encouraged to pledge to implement a workplace policy promoting respect.

Following that, employees will be challenged to uphold the policies set by pledging to respect their co-workers. It was noted that throughout the campaign there will be continuous monitoring and evaluation exercises in recognising and celebrating businesses that have successfully implemented policies and witnessed positive transformations in their workplaces.