Social Security pledges better service
It’s the guardian of Belizean workers’ retirement and benefit funds, as well as a dominant force in the nation’s economy. And while the Social Security Board has taken its share of public criticism, a new initiative seeks to dispel that image and produce real change in the organisation.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Today, the Social Security Board embarked on a major effort to improve the way it has been doing business. According to S.S.B.’s Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Louis Zabaneh, in a few months time the general public will start to see a transformation in the institution’s systems and the attitude of its employees.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh, C.E.O., Social Security Board
“The good people at S.S.B., the majority of them are very talented with great potential, have been taking a lot of flak for what, for some of the things that transpired in the past, so a lot of the focus that we need to give the proper service has not been there. So with surveys that we have done both of customers and of staff we are using that information, the views of our people, to do this transformation so it is coming from them.”
To bring about the change, over the past two months the S.S.B. staff has been working to address a number of key concerns.
Dr. Louis Zabaneh
“Looking at all of our processes, looking at our human resources so to speak, trying to match them properly with jobs, looking at training opportunities. Two thousand five hundred processes within S.S.B., considerable number of processes, and we’re looking at each one individually to check that it is yielding efficient results. At the end of the day we want to have an efficient, functioning institution that is modern, that is giving proper service to our people.”
Today S.S.B. managers invited stakeholders including employers and representatives from various organizations to attend a one day seminar to update them on the initiative’s progress.
The Social Security Board has earmarked four hundred thousand dollars for the project. The money will be used to conduct ongoing training for S.S.B.’s two hundred plus employees. By the end of the sessions, a five year strategic plan will be formulated that will be used as guide by the Board.
