PRATT’s Interim Steering Committee, led by the association’s former president and Managing Director of Reputation Management Caribbean, Lisa- Ann Joseph, is inviting interested persons to attend their latest meeting at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s at 5 o’clock this afternoon (April 6).

“Our aim is to revive PRATT so that PR practitioners can network, get advice, get training, even eventually become certified by PRATT; that last is a medium to long-term goal. Having benefited from PRATT when I was a young practitioner, I know how important a role the association can play for PR professionals in TT today.”

Joseph, who first entered the PR field in the early 1990s, told Business Day that PR is about much more than organising an event or putting out a statement.

“Public Relations deals with the interaction between human beings – relating, communicating. In the past, our work was about ensuring that the organisation is communicating with its stakeholders. Now, it is about two-way communication and listening to your customer/stakeholders because no brand, no company worth its salt, can communicate one-way, especially not in this day of social media.”

“If you don’t listen to your customers or your stakeholders, then why are you in existence? So a true PR practitioner has to understand that their role and function is to ensure that the organisation communicates but also for the organisation to listen to its stakeholders, to ensure that there is proper two-way communication.”

Asked how she became involved in relaunching PRATT, Joseph recalled being in a Chicago hotel late one night in June 2016 when a male colleague posted on Facebook about a PRATT event from several years ago.

“He shared it as a joke, saying ‘Oh my God, where is PRATT? Look at memories.’ Then we got a plethora of posts from people, saying ‘Yes, PRATT has to come back. It just needs to be done. We need this, all these things are happening’. But nobody was stepping up to throw their hat in the ring, so I said, you know what? I’m going to bring it back together because somebody has to do it instead of just talking about it, and I convened a meeting for two weeks from that date with all of those who had commented.”

Around that same time, Joseph was getting requests from “a lot of young PR practitioners” who wanted guidance from a seasoned professional. She said this, combined with the Facebook post, was what motivated her to become Chairman of the Interim Steering Committee, whose objective is to successfully relaunch PRATT.

In the nine months since, the committee has held meetings on a regular basis and conducted brainstorming sessions where they reviewed PRATT’s constitution and membership criteria, given the many changes that have taken place since the association was first formed.

“We made amendments to both, which will have to be ratified by the first executive. There was some jargon in the constitution that needed to be updated but a lot of the work dealt with the types of members because the PR practitioner then and now is very different.”

Joseph explained that “the profession of PR has expanded so much that in some areas it’s not even called Public Relations. It’s called reputation management, branding, public affairs, corporate communications, corporate social responsibility, events management, et cetera. That’s the kind of work we had to do in terms of who can become a member of PRATT because how it was described then and how it is now, is quite different. So we did a lot of work on that to ensure the constitution and membership criteria encompass the type of practitioner operating in the landscape today.”

Looking ahead to the nomination of candidates for PRATT’s upcoming election, Joseph made it clear that she has no intentions of running for a post on the new executive.

Business Day sat down with Ross Advertising’s CEO and Creative Director, Ernie Ross, to find out more about the project which is meant to help struggling local businesses and entrepreneurs find the path to success.

“Rather than boast about our huge win, we decided to give back via our U.1.1.2 campaign. So it is our awards, your reward. We launched it last September – If you were a struggling or emerging brand, you were invited to submit an application. The response was so overwhelming that we extended the deadline for submissions, that’s why we are only now making our final selections.”

A diverse group of businesses applied for help, ranging from those in the clothing sector, to food and beverage, technology, to one providing support services for the elderly.

How does U.1.1.2 work?

Ross explained that because 16 of the 112 awards were for ads done for the local market, they decided to work with 16 local companies.

“We also won three best of show in the local awards, so we chose to provide weekly three-hour strategic sessions for the winners. Then, because we won a total of 112 awards, we spread out the sessions over 112 days. Our awards, your reward. So 16 local companies will get three-hour strategic sessions each week for 112 days, to develop their brand and/or turn their struggling businesses around.”

Ross expects to announce the 16 winners next Monday (April 10) but knowing that more than 100 applications were submitted, he is trying to get financial institutions to “come on board and tutor the other applicants.”

“So they’d all come in, we would present the whole concept to all who applied. Only 16 are going to get the free media and production costs et cetera but the rest would get the benefit of how to turn their business around, with the financial institution telling them about how to restructure their finances, their business. So they would get the financial benefit as well because what Ross Advertising does is branding.”

Ross credited his team’s success at the Addy Awards and in general to the agency’s “special branding theory” known as Intangience.

“We’ve actually registered it as a branding theory. Intangience is based upon an unusual way that global brands are all doing successfully. We found incredibly compelling evidence of one thing they all had in common, they were all using this particular science, so we blended that and came up with our own theory.”

“That’s what we’re going to be sharing with these 16 companies – how do you make the difference in your brand, how do you develop something that has lasting, meaningful, human connection? Not just advertising your brand, how do you create an emotional connection with your brand? It’s not just about building a business, it’s about building a relationship. That is what is going to make a significant difference and that is what Intangience is about. We call it the science of human connection,” Ross shared.

Referring to the current economic climate and the fact that scores of workers having been sent home, particularly in the energy sector, Ross told Business Day the idea of paying it forward, of helping others be successful, could only be to the greater benefit of Trinidad and Tobago.

“I’m putting this out to the corporate community, including financial institutions, and to the advertising agencies. If each of us took a few companies or persons who are looking for branding/business advice and provided them with incredible gifts of wisdom and profound insights that can help turn these companies around, we can help save a lot of jobs.”

“We can also help a lot of people get started on entrepreneurial ventures, showing them how to build a brand, how to create an emotional connection between their brand and their customer, how to run a business. Imagine if we all gave an hour of our time? It would be amazing. Perhaps help persons who’ve been let go to open their own business. If we can make this thing national, it will be huge,” Ross said with a smile.

Speaking with Business Day, Economist and UWI lecturer, Dr Roger Hosein said such a shift, once implemented had the potential for several positive spin offs, through improving the manufacturing sector’s capacity utilization.

Capacity utilization is a measure of the extent to which the productive capacity of a business is being used.

According to Hosein, the sector’s ability to be productive declined from 70.2 per cent in 2010 to 68.5 per cent in 2016. He also said employment in the manufacturing sector decreased from 53,100 in 2009 to 51,200 in 2016, while real value added by the manufacturing sector declined from TT$7770 million in 2009 to TT$7162 million in 2016, at constant prices.

An injection of foreign exchange can reverse this trend, said the economist.

“Making foreign exchange available to the manufacturing sector is one avenue through which the state can help improve capacity utilization levels. A vibrant manufacturing sector, can in turn fetch valuable foreign exchange, especially now, with the economy’s maturing oil and gas fields,” said Hosein. “It also has the ability to generate backward and forward linkages as well as externality spillovers that can help improve the economy’s growth rate.” Another benefit arising out of giving manufacturers more foreign exchange was a higher number of available jobs created by companies’ increased productive capacity.

“With an increasing number of unemployed in the country, a strong, robust manufacturing sector could create a significant amount of jobs,” he said.

However, the economist said there were other factors government needed to consider beyond forex which affected manufacturers’ performance. One of those was high levels of crime and violence.

“Some manufacturing firms may have chosen not to run night or may not be able to produce as much output as they would like because they fear the negative attention that increased output or increased profits can bring to their employees, or to the entrepreneur himself,” said Hosein. Government must also cut the amount of red tape required for business to operate.

“These obstacles compromise the manufacturing sector’s ability to do business. On the Ease of Doing Business index, TT’s rank actually worsened from 68

An issuer comment from the Moody’s Investor Service has at least one former minister of energy concerned about another potential ratings downgrade for TT. Kevin Ramnarine has said the wording of the document suggested “the rating agency believes that more needs to be done to re-structure expenditure as it relates to transfer and subsidies.” According to the issuer comment from Moody’s, the latest drawdown on the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund “highlights negative fiscal trends.” The comment continues, “The drawdown is credit negative because it reflects a deteriorating fiscal position driven by large fiscal deficits amid lower energy-related government revenues. By reducing the size of its HSF, the sovereign is also eroding an important fiscal buffer.” Moody’s said while the TT government was able to make significant cuts, too much expenditure was still centred around wages, subsidies and transfers at around 68 per cent of total spending. Ramnarine said government must examine the subventions it is giving to loss making State Enterprises and continue to cut waste.

“If we are downgraded, it means borrowing internationally becomes more expensive. That isn’t good news for a highly leveraged company like Petrotrin which would be seeking to re-finance its 2009 vintage US$ 850 million bond,” said the former energy minister.

“Moody’s would have also noted that revenue streams remain constrained and have been offest by one time interventions such as dividends from the NGC and sale of assets such as the TTNGL IPO,” said Ramnarine, “This strategy can of course only go on for so long. At the end of the day, Moody’s or will assess our ability to service our international debt on a short and medium term basis.” The ratings agency also said that its estimate of the ratio of debt to GDP is different.

According to the issuer comment, Moody’s places the fiscal deficit at “5.5% of GDP for fiscal 2017 (which ends 30 September), compared with the government’s official estimate of 3.9% of GDP, because we expect the sale of assets to be delayed.” Moody’s current credit rating for TT is Baa3 negative.

in 2011 to 96 in 2016,” he said.

Hosein warned that this could result in manufacturers moving to jurisdictions where it was easier to conduct business, a situation that could further drain the country’s valuable forex.

He also again advised government to review its make work programmes as they may be “locking away” workers from manufacturers. “The State is actually depriving manufacturing and similar sectors of a valuable chunk of the labour force and, although well intentioned at the time of creation, make work has backfired over time, compromising the growth of the manufacturing sector,” the economist said.

Following two successful trade missions to Cuba and Panama in 2015 and 2016 respectively, the TT Chamber conducted a survey to identify the markets of greatest interest to its membership. For both product and service providers, Guyana emerged on the top.

It is a market that is familiar to most of us, as several local companies have had longstanding commercial relationships with Guyanese enterprises. However, there are still some businesses that have not yet taken advantage of the vast array of opportunities that lie within the Guyanese market.

Guyana is now attracting not just regional, but international attention as an investment destination. The country boasts mineral wealth in the form of gold, bauxite, sandstone and diamonds, vast agricultural lands for crops and livestock and healthy rainforests with diverse types of timber. In 2017, we expect that due to the emerging petroleum sector and the developing agricultural sector, there would be considerable demand for support services such as construction, telecommunications, transportation and safety. Demand for renewable energy services also appears to be increasing with obvious business potential for TT companies.Always a good sign, Guyana’s tourism market has been recording double digit increases in visitor arrivals over the past ten years. Naturally, there is also need for goods and services to support growth in this sector as well.

Through the Free Movement of Skilled Nationals within the CARICOM Single Market, there exists several opportunities for TT businesses. With Trinidad and Tobago as a Member of CARICOM, TT products are afforded duty-free, quota-free access into Guyana, along with the other benefits of being part of the CSME.

In recent times, oil discoveries have caused investors to flock to Guyana. The prospects for value-added production are significant and have many spin-off effects for the wider economy.

The TT Chamber’s upcoming trade mission is targeted to all potential and existing exporters, importers, entrepreneurs, service providers, SMEs and investors.

Apart from a pre-mission orientation, the delegates will engage in business-to-business meetings, a one-day conference at the Georgetown Pegasus Hotel and a business networking reception. Special arrangements can also be made if you cannot participate for the full two days. In the last three years, several developments have ushered Guyana into a new era of progress in commerce.

These opportunities are particularly important for Small and Medium Enterprises desiring to explore export options for the first time. There are very few barriers to trade and due to its language, proximity and culture, the destination is attractive to local companies.

In essence, the Guyanese market provides an ideal opportunity for a wide variety of businesses, emerging entrepreneurs and investors. The T&T Chamber seeks to ensure that our local enterprises are best positioned to take advantage of the prospects.

Call us at 637 6966 to find out more about our Trade Mission to Guyana.

Ethical challenges are still common in that society and many others, the differences across countries being degree and blatantness.

They present themselves at all levels, from the boardroom, and as the incident with Ese showed, to the cop on the street. When I was leaving high school decades ago, a fair few colleagues were beating a path to jobs as customs officers, instead of university. As getrich- quick careers went, it had no equal. I’m sure you can figure out for yourself why.

In interactions that raise ethical questions, the focus is often on the initiator of the act, but it takes two to play. People in business facing these choices, need to have the necessary skills training – being carefully walked through scenarios that enable them to make sound ethical choices. We at ACCA say “not”, unequivocally. And we’re refining the way we offer ethics training to ACCA students.

More on that in a moment.

One of the toughest things to overcome is the normalisation of corruption. In many parts of the world, these acts are seen as simply a part of getting business done. So business people have decisions to make. Do you want your $1m consignment of goods cleared tomorrow or six weeks down the line? What are you prepared to do (nudge, wink), to speed up the issuing of licences you need to operate effectively in that market? According to the World Bank and the World Economic Forum, approximately $1.25 trillion dollars are paid in bribes each year. And they are not exclusive to poor, developing countries, as many believe. Rich, industrialised countries are well represented here.

For recoded levels of corruption, the Caribbean is a mixed bag. Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) has its critics. One of the things they take aim at is the measure itself – with “perception” being at odds with rigorous, scientific analysis.

However, as a comparative listing, it is very illustrative. It shows an erosion in the regional position. In 2014, Barbados was the highest ranked Caribbean country at 17th. By 2016 it had slipped to 31st out of 176, second among Caribbean nations after the Bahamas in 24th.

Haiti is ranked as the most corrupt Caribbean country, joint 159th with Republic of Congo.

Notable are Jamaica at 83rd, TT at 101st, and Guyana 108th. Compared to its Caribbean basin neighbours, Venezuela is worse off, 11th from bottom at 166. Denmark is first, Somalia worst.

ACCA recognises the scale of the ethical challenge, and from October monthend will offer its ethics exam in a different way.

The Ethics and Professional Skills Module replaces the existing Ethics Module. It is now in seven parts, including the assessment, to be completed online. As someone who has delivered scenario training (in journalism and media), I can see that students will be tested by what can appear to be truly grey areas. Our aim is clear, though. While we want you to have your eyes wide open to the threats, we also want you to leave the assessment session with a very clear idea of the yeas and nays of doing business ethically, and performing your tasks to the highest ethical standards. You’ll hear more on this in the news in the coming days and weeks.

For context, close to 15,000 students (ACCA & Foundation) across the Caribbean are undergoing training in professional accountancy, delivered by ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants). The Ethics and professional Skills Module is one of three components that make up the ACCA qualification, the others being exams and experience. All of this goes to the heart of good, sound corporate governance.

Accountants offer clear, credible and consistent financial information that can help investors, governments and regulators to make sound strategic decisions. This means operating to consistent standards – not just of financial reporting, but in areas that include corporate governance.

This strong grounding in ethical standards of an ACCA-qualified accountant is an asset to companies in situations in which the temptation could lead to short term advantage, but do irreparable damage in the longer term. For professionals such as accountants, lawyers and doctors, ethics is an important part of professional training and practice.

That’s why it’s necessary for all of us to look at how we deliver ethical training, and refine it if we can.

In this sketch, the sales representative, though doing the right thing, was verbally chastised for so doing, which is somewhat distressing, as we rarely are afforded examples of persons within the service industry greeting potential customers in the way in which they should be greeted. This is in fact, what is to be expected and applauded.

Advertisement aside, the other issues are the use/nonuse of these tags, including ‘Sir’, ‘Madam’, and ‘Ma’am’, and their usefulness in today’s communication sphere. To know why we use a word today, it’s good to know how it originated. There are many lengthy online articles on the history of these words. However, for the sake of this article, we’ll go with the most commonly agreed upon usage.

Sir first appeared as sire in the 1200s. During and after this period, this has been a form of address for the Royals in Britain. Then as the centuries passed, sire lost the ‘e’ and sir came to be used as a title of respect for all men. As a result, if you entered an establishment and stated, “Excuse me there, may I have some assistance?” the ‘there’ would be replaced by ‘Sir’ to add a measure of respect for the person with whom you are interacting.

Ma’am is a narrowing -of-sorts of madam (the ‘d’ is simply removed). It is an Anglo-French word first in use in the 1300s and was originally ma dame — the literal translation being my lady. This referred to any lady, married or single, just like sir referred to any man. Both words have been in standard use in their current forms since at least the 1700s. Today, they are still standard signs of respect, and honorific titles.

Madam (with the ‘d’ in place) still has some use in the US. Most commonly, this honorific is for high-ranking female government officials whom we should address as Madam, especially in conversation: Madam Secretary (female secretaries of state, treasury, education and such) and Madam Justice (female justices of the Supreme Court).

Sir and ma’am are not age-related. In the United States of America, once you are old enough to have the right to vote or serve in the military (age 18), you are old enough for others to refer to as sir or ma’am. Hence there are no age restrictions for the use of these honorific titles. You are not too young to be referred to as Sir or Ma’am.

As a matter of example, my young son is, as a standard, referred to as ‘Master Griffith’ on most International Airlines and on most of our European explorations. He relishes this acknowledgement as it bestows a title upon him, and I must add he usually lives up to this title, by mere fact of believing more is automatically expected of and from him.

The word origins of sir and ma’am show that, unlike some suggest, the words aren’t slang for anything derogatory. Today, society places great worth on the terms traditionally, commercially, and culturally as a sign of respect to all. For the same reason you and I should say them: the words are verbal signs of respect.

Sometimes we need to set ourselves apart, and simple acknowledgement may very well do the trick. I have also seen the use of the words ‘Sir’ and ‘Ma’am’ in less than perfect circumstances, by Police Officers in the conduct of their duties.

As challenging a circumstance, continuing to maintain an air of respect between the representation of the State [police officer] and a potential offender is a very important aspect of the communication cycle. The maintenance of the form of respectful communication between officers and offenders ensures a measure of respect of the rule of law. This is not something that we often see in many of our local jurisdictions, and perhaps should be considered whilst developing service based training modules.

This demands that there be a more aggressive approach to agro-processing and primary production to ensure that the country moves closer to food security and reduce its import bill especially in the present economic environment.

So far government has offered tax relief for many operators in agro-processing and proposes to grant tax-free status to all approved agro-processing operations to encourage expansion in Trinidad and Tobago’s agro-processing industry. There are plans to invest TT$75m in new agro-processing facilities in Moruga, as well as a TT$300m investment to develop a fishing port in the district, with work set to start in the first half of 2017.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Fisheries intends to develop a certification program to guarantee that at least 75% of a firm’s agricultural processing must be prepared in Trinidad and Tobago, and 75% of the ingredients must be produced or harvested locally. These are all good steps but is this enough?

If we are to discuss changes to agriculture, we need to know what the economic plan for the country is. How does agriculture fit into the plan? What are the objectives for agriculture and the set targets to be achieved? Any economic plan must be accompanied by a land use plan and policy. Certainly we need to stop using fertile arable land for housing. Dramatically reducing agricultural land when we are nowhere near self-sufficiency or addressing food security must be halted. Reducing the food import bill must begin with a land use plan and policy.

People’s outlook on agricultural work must also change. This includes no longer allowing agriculture to be associated with only those who have not “made it in school”. This has to be accompanied by a wages policy that properly addresses compensation for the same skills across all industries. We must tackle the ill effects of Dutch disease that have afflicted our economy for a long time. The high salaries in the energy sector have had a knock-on effect that has forced other sectors to increase salaries. This has resulted in reduced capacity to efficiently produce several crops which in addition cannot attract workers. A good example is the production of cocoa which has suffered from a lack of labour.

This means that the government must review incentives for agriculture to make the sector more attractive. Measures must include, for instance, a comprehensive crop insurance scheme. The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) must to be restructured. The ADB should link technical information and support to agricultural production and the granting of loans. If there has to be successful use of loans, partnership with agricultural research and farmers has to be made via issuance of loans. Linkages with manufacturing has to be supported by finding economies of scale through the use of the integration movement (CARICOM). Here research must inform policy decisions. The path to reducing the food import bill must include all these elements and it is time that we see the importance of agriculture in achieving that goal

It finds that whether you were a victim of bullying, the bully, or both, your life outcomes are likely worse.

An interesting link was made in an article titled, “The financial cost of bullying, violence and vandalism” written in February 2011. The author suggests that during times of economic hardships, school bullying and violence can increase or grow more intense as economic and family stresses worsen. The article also suggests that cuts in budget allocations leave schools with less money to address issues.

Additionally, teachers may be ill-equipped, have increasing responsibilities and less time to handle problematic situations.

As school bullying and violence increase so do suspensions, expulsions, and alternative education placements as schools are compelled by policies and safety concerns to take disciplinary action. Also, when students feel emotionally or physically unsafe, attendance and overall school performance can fall.

Studies have shown bullies, on the other hand, are at increased risk for committing later offences.

According to Utterly Global, an organisation dedicated to anti bullying, children who were bullies are more likely to have a criminal conviction and more likely to have a serious criminal record in adulthood. Even bullies who grow up to enter the workforce instead of the judicial system cause problems for others. Matt DeLisi, sociologist and head of the Iowa State University criminal justice program, states that as bullies age, they are more likely to engage in antisocial behavior. According to DeLisi, adults who were bullies as children are more likely to lie, more likely to fight and more likely to engage in harassment than adults who were not bullies.

Other academic researchers state that, while the influence of parenting on child outcomes has received plenty of attention, many fail to appreciate that by the age of 18 children have spent far more time with peers and siblings than with their parents. Time spent with peers, if characterized by aggression and systemic abuse of power, is likely to have adverse outcomes in adult life.

Another report entitled “Bullying Prevention is Crime Prevention” written in 2003 is more relevant than ever, especially to Trinidad and Tobago where we are experiencing high levels of crime with many the perpetrators being young persons. The evidence shows that preventing children from becoming bullies and intervening to get bullies back on track, not only protects children from the pain that bullying inflicts immediately, but can protect all of us from crime later and so reduce the cost to the society Policy interventions to prevent bullying are needed and should extend beyond schools to include stakeholders from across the community to recognize signs of bullying and take appropriate action. Investment in educational services for bullied children and bullies who are unable to go to school should be increased so they can get the help needed.

Medical practitioners should be trained to recognize signs of problematic children and routinely ask about mental health problems, non-specific health problems (eg headaches, stomach ache, nightmares) or indications of selfharm.

There is a need for a national campaign to raise awareness among parents or guardians of sibling and peer bullying, including signs of a child being bullied, how to talk to your child, and constructive ways of supporting your child and communicating with their school. The teachers and other staff members of schools also need to be appropriately trained. Innovative online resources should be developed, such as bullying scenarios to help teachers, parents and children.

Bullying involvement should be assessed and monitored by health professionals and school personnel, and effective interventions that reduce victimization should be made available. S uch interventions are likely to reduce human suffering and long term health and all other financial costs, and benefit society.

Presenters at the programme, were Lewis; Franklyn Dolly, director, Dolly & Associates and Dr Jennifer Holder-Dolly, clinical director, Dolly & Associates.

Eastern’s chief executive officer, Conrad Enill, said while some people talk about the recession in theoretical terms, others are living the reality and the credit union sees the impact in the increasing rate of job losses and the consequences such as the non-repayment of loans. He said another side that is often overlooked is how the recession impacts on individuals and their quality of life.

“As we enter this world characterised by recession, how do we as a people respond?” He said there were options: people could either see this period with a degree of hope as they explore the new possibilities, or as one of gloom as they respond in the traditional way.” He said one of the saddest under-reported consequences of recession is the different impacts it can have on young people who, he said, lose their future. He said recessions lead to higher rates of child malnutrition and there is ample evidence that points to serious long-term consequences to such malnutrition, including stunted development and academic under-achievement. He said even for children who have enough to eat the impact can still be serious – less money in the pockets of parents can have a different impact on the education of children and enrichment opportunities, adding that it was fair to wonder about the psychological impact on children of seeing one or both their parents lose their jobs and be out of work for years. He said there is a view that such situations inspire unproductive emotions such as resentment or fatalism.

Enill said the recession also affects retirees, noting that it seems this recession will have a long-term impact on jobs and houses. Individuals who thought their portfolio and the value of their house meant that retirement was imminent may now be facing a decade or more of additional working years. He said it was not unusual for housing prices to decline in a recession, as well as the reduction of personal wealth associated with this asset.

According to Enill, it is also important to understand the role of debt in this situation. He said that without the buoyant economy to provide revenues to the Government, the country’s high public debt burden could lead the way to higher taxes, higher inflation and other unpleasant consequences.

Franklyn Dolly said the spate of retrenchments taking place in the country drives people to lose hope “and when you lose that hope, that is where the difficulty comes in. We have to start developing programmes and we have to be talking with one another and sharing with them how to have hope in this darkness, and I think that is what these programmes are really geared to do.” He said people have their mental capacities and the ability to figure out things, but they are also emotional beings “and if we don’t manage our emotions at the times of these types of challenges we could make some really stupid decisions.” The seminar sought to empower people to manage their emotions and manage their mental faculties “and when those two come together that is where you get the hope.” Director of Alumni Relations at the Arthur Lok Graduate Jack School of Business, Fayola Nicolas, said a number of institutions had been affected by the recession and many people are making major life choices about what to do next, whether to find another job or open a business, and were addressing the question of what the future holds for them. She said the Career Reboot programme was initiated because of an increase in the number of people asking for assistance to re-boot their career.

The business school had been approached by the credit union to run the workshop as a pilot project for its members, but the programme would be available to the public through the school in May, she said.

Valdez & Torry International is a 100% locally-owned, awardwinning, full service advertising agency.