Senior Regional Specialist of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Lucette Howell believes that the negative mindset of employers and their employees seems to be hindering business productivity.

Howell, who was speaking at the opening of a two-day workshop on small and medium businesses, expressed this opinion last week Wednesday at the Chamber of Commerce Conference room in a media conference.{{more}}

The Regional ILO representative said that 84% of businesses are in the small to medium enterprise category but pointed out that after approximately four years, more than 50% of those businesses fail.

Howell further explained that many small and medium businesses see challenges as “obstacles rather than opportunities” for development and urged them to network with others to improve.

“We also have to look at global trends and become interdependent and connected and find ways to make small businesses compete because I believe in the motto that small is beautiful. St Vincent and the Grenadines is small, but small is where you see the biggest impact and you can focus on niche markets” she emphasized.

Howell also said that the two-day workshop would explore the local, regional and global demands in small and medium enterprise development and ways of strategising to help businesses survive.

The Senior ILO Specialist pointed out that businesses could make it through good management techniques and noted the ILO would give the necessary assistance through the Employees Federation to help facilitate technical development.

Management Consultant Dr Julian Ferdinand who was one of the facilitators at press conference said, “For true maximum benefit in the workplace people need to be focusing on how it makes them … a better person and how their goals become more proactive through their work. We not only need to look at the business environment here but within Caricom and wider sphere of operation. We must see how to fit in and best strategise not only to survive but to excel at what we do.”

Executive Director of the Employees Federation, Gerald Crick who was also at the press conference also agreed that businesses in this country could increase productivity by improving their management skills.