The National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC) has concluded the final segment of its Enhancing Business Productivity Training Programme. The milestone marks the 12th cohort of the two-day training sessions, an initiative aimed at strengthening how Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) plan, operate, and grow in an increasingly competitive environment.
Director of the NCPC, Lisa Florent-Montoute, stated that the programme is part of a broader effort to improve national productivity while equipping businesses with practical tools for data collection, such as the NCPC’s productivity measuring tool dubbed “The ProTool.”
“We’re hoping at the end of this exercise that persons will take up the ProTool and more or less provide the data that is required in order for us to collect data on a macro level in terms of providing recommendations to policymakers on how we can improve productivity for the business sector in Saint Lucia.
“If you understand what it takes to manage effectively and efficiently, it’s using PDCA, which is you Plan, you Do, you Check, and you Act to improve. Then you realize right away that this is related to data,” said Florent-Montoute.
Facilitated by Betty Combie of Moz Inc. the training focused on helping participants adopt a structured approach to managing their operations, with a strong emphasis on data.
The Enhancing Business Productivity training was sponsored by the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project, whose hallmarks are improved productivity, efficiency and innovation. Training and Grants Officer, Brent St. Catherine noted that the collaboration with NCPC and Moz Inc. was seamless and impactful.
“When the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council approached us with the idea of ProTool taking businesses to the next phase of business in the e-world, advancing them, making them more efficient, making them online, making them more technology savvy, of course, it meshed exactly with what we wanted to do so it was a no-brainer for the Caribbean Digital Transformation Project,” St. Catherine stated.
Organizers say the strong feedback from participants signals a growing readiness among local entrepreneurs to embrace innovation and improve productivity. The NCPC is encouraging more businesses to adopt the ProTool platform as Saint Lucia continues efforts to strengthen its competitiveness in the global economy.