The human factor is a critical input in any productive enterprise, and the success of most businesses depends in large measure on how well people are managed. If they are managed well and made to feel integrated in the business, productivity is likely to be high and, provided other things are equal, workers can look forward to secure jobs and the owners to a proper rate of return on their investment.
The problem of the quality and efficiency of the worker arises in the Government service, and the issue of public sector reform, so long advanced as a solution to worker-related problems in the public service, is designed to increase productivity through motivation of the worker to lift his performance and the quality of his service to members of the public.
Last Thursday, a seminar hosted by Crime Stoppers was held at Hilton Barbados to mark United Nations International Anti-Corruption Day, and speakers touched upon corruption and its impact on the viability of the enterprise affected by the corrupt worker.
In one presentation, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance William Layne spoke to this issue of worker corruption and the impact which it can have on the public purse and well-being. His comments are instructive because they open the lid on an insidious problem which can undermine the entire society.
He remarked that Barbadians “were living above their means and that they want fancy things, so they are going to be corrupt”. This may sound a little harsh, but there can be no doubt that in recent times, Barbadians seem to have forsaken some of our traditional values, and many there be who are in a hurry to get on with life, and who are prepared to ape the deviant habits of some of those who appear to be doing well.
Bad apples
The disturbing thing, according to what Mr Layne has been observing, is that some of these “bad apples” – those who corruptly hurry to success – are to be found in some of the revenue collection agencies of some regional governments, because these agencies by their very nature present opportunities for officials to be unethical.
He also remarked that in the Central Revenue Authority in Guyana, the authorities made the officials there take lie detector tests.
This is a most unfortunate development for it speaks of a breakdown in moral attitudes and behaviours to such an extent that drastic measures have to be considered. Workers especially in these departments ought to be honest and ethical and beyond reproach.
Yet if Mr Layne is right, and the evidence seems to support him, we have to deal with the problem at the level of the wider society because, as he says, “the society does not strongly sanction corrupt behaviour”.
Some commentators have argued that laws are not always the most effective way of dealing with deviant behaviours such as corruption, but that social ostracism by one’s peers as a way of enforcing the society’s wholesome norms can sometimes be more effective.
Whether this is so or not, the problem has to be nipped in the bud, and we therefore support the principle that some kind of legislation is needed; and we urge those agencies which are currently discussing the proposed legislation to constructively analyze it so that we get the best working Anti-Corruption Bill before Parliament.
At the same time efforts have to be made to reinforce the moral code of the society so that the new law is supported by a culture which turns its face away from corruption and fraud.
Court reports already show clear evidence that some citizens have been seduced by the lure of quick money corruptly obtained, and while corrupt practice may not have reached us in large measure, we cannot wait until it does.