“As somebody said to me today, who called me, a very prominent businessperson, who said to me that it is extremely unusual to have a CEO for almost 20 years in a publicly-traded company, so that in and of itself speaks for itself.”

“The fact is that sometimes we get to a point where different stakeholders may have different points of view on the direction in which a company should go, or how things should be managed or evolved, and that’s fine. And if there is a difference and you can’t come to a resolution around it, then separation is part of the resolution. We understand that. That’s part of the game. That’s part of the business that we are involved in,” Hylton told the Business Observer.

Hylton spent 20 years as the head of the NCB Group, while Cohen spent just over 19 years. Both were acknowledged for their service by the bank in a statement in which it was confirmed that they are to be replaced.

“We have demonstrated over many years a true owners’ mentality in terms of how we have managed the business. We have treated the business as if it was our own — early mornings, late nights, vacation, no vacation — it was always about the business.

It Has Been A Tremendous Experience Which I And Cohen Enjoyed.

The business is strong, the business is in good hands. I feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment. When we went into NCB, this was an institution that had just failed, had just been rescued, and was in the process of just being rebuilt. It was an institution in which many did not have the confidence, many did not think it had the wherewithal to become a true icon. But this institution is now not just a Jamaican icon, it is a regional icon. It has accomplished tremendous things over this period of time. Not only in terms of the bottom line performance, which has really been outstanding, with up to last year earning nearly $40 billion after taxes. But also in terms of the growth of the business across the region, moving from two or three countries to now being represented in 22 countries across the region, to have representation in Europe. I have a tremendous sense of accomplishment,”

Patrick Hylton in an interview with the Business Observer.

Coming out of Jamaica’s financial sector meltdown, there were not many takers for assets such as NCB, Hylton said. After negotiating for more than a year, he met alone with Lee-Chin and made a proposal that may have sealed the deal.

“’Michael, I am not here to sell you a bank. I am here to sell you a vision of a bank. I am not here to sell you this bank for what it is today. I am here to sell you this bank for what it can be in the future’,”

Hylton recalled telling the billionaire Canadian-Jamaican businessman.

“The country must have a clear sense of what is required of parliamentarians and ministers. In proposing a job description, we are not suggesting anything new or outside our laws and constitution. However, few people have a full appreciation of what the appointment requires. It is hoped that this job description will help members of the public better appreciate and understand the roles and responsibilities.

After careful consideration it was agreed with the Ministry of Finance that it would be a more efficient use of resources and more effective management to roll all efforts into universal reform of the public service, including the job letters for ministers and the executive level performance-based system.

“We have taken a massive step forward with the comprehensive restructuring of our system of public-sector compensation. While critically important, compensation is one element. The Government is determined, and we are moving forward with the complementary key element, which is accountability for performance. Our mission is to ensure that the people of Jamaica enjoy the best public service, the best governance and have access to the best quality of leadership… that any country can have,” Mr. Holness

As a result, in 2019, instructions were given to prepare job descriptions for ministers, and the Transformation Implementation Unit submitted a draft in 2021 after the dislocation of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The notion that the reform is piecemeal, or puts the cart before the horse is totally wrong. While we have not been able to communicate all that we have been doing, as several elements are not mature to the point where they could become reality, the transformation unfolding before our eyes is the most significant and comprehensive effort ever undertaken in the history of Jamaica to achieve an efficient and effective public sector.

There are those who hold the view that public service, particularly the political side of it, must be a ‘calling’, and those who offer themselves must do so without expectation of commensurate remuneration. There are others who believe that there is no need to properly pay public servants, particularly politicians, because they will ‘supplement’ their incomes through informal, opaque, or corrupt means. This is the commonly shared thinking that has driven our approach to compensating holders of public office — both administrative and political — in this country since our Independence. Where has it got us?

While we must acknowledge that these views are not without some groundings in our history and lived experience, there comes a time in the life of any society where we must approach the problem from a different angle and apply new thinking and perspectives.

If Jamaica is to achieve its immense potential, the philosophy that has guided our approach to public sector compensation since Independence must change.

It is crucial to recognise the importance of ‘professionalising’ the public service through commensurate compensation and enforcement of standards, rather than relying on the altruism of the public servant and chance that they will make the best effort in serving the country.

While the spirit of selflessness and dedication to the nation are necessary and admirable attributes, depending on them alone is not a sustainable approach to building a competent and efficient public sector. Offering competitive and fair compensation is necessary in improving the motivation of the officeholder.”

Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Tuesday June 20th 2023 tabled in Parliament his long-promised job descriptions for Cabinet ministers and other legislators.

“History suggests that it will take some time before companies get more value from their investments. In 1987, economist Robert Solow observed that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity statistics.” U.S. productivity didn’t accelerate until the 1990s, by which time companies had started to figure out how to harness computers. Today, companies might be experiencing something like a second “Solow Paradox” as they try to make sense of a new generation of digital technology, according to Olivia White, senior partner with McKinsey Global Institute.

It is up to CEOs to move this process forward. Productive use of technology might be regarded as a whole-of-company effort, to borrow the “whole-of-government” concept from the public sector, in which every available lever is applied to a large-scale problem. Throughout history, the entire company has been rewired with each successive generation of emerging technology, from the telegraph and telephone, through the internet, the mobile phone, and now the cloud and artificial intelligence. In a hierarchical organization with one leader at the top, only the chief has the authority and influence to drive sufficient and sustainable change.”

By Steven Rosenbush