A Letter to The Editor

Dear Editor,

The Department of Social Services projects itself as a healthy and wholesome, champion of the poor and disadvantaged, but this caring and compassion seem absent when dealing with staff matters.  The truth is that management oppresses its staff and makes an already difficult job worst.

Many employees are continually overlooked for promotions, or are told that you cannot receive a promotion until you return to school and upgrade yourself.  However, if academic qualifications were the barometer many senior staff members would not qualify for the positions which they hold.  If we were truly being fair we would then measure them against other managers of social welfare agencies taking into account their skills and leadership abilities. Have the powers that be set a course for the development of social work in the Bahamas?

Are they examining the changing social dynamics and proactively creating policy and procedure to ameliorate some of the suffering of our fellow Bahamians?  Management seem so involved in their political and power struggles that emphasis is spent on looking effective rather than being effective.  The staff is generally unhappy and dissatisfied with leadership.  Workers are interest in a management that inspires, directs and brings about positive change and development rather than resentment and ambivalence.  The bottom line is that it is not necessary to intimidate and mistreat people to ensure their compliance.

Many of their policies seem divisive rather than inclusive and they and their staff stand at opposite ends of a gulf that they are unable to breach.  Therefore it is time that the Department properly analyzes its current position so that it can make positive changes.  Leadership sometimes requires tuff decisions to be made.  We must remind ourselves that this ministry is about helping people and we are unable to do that if we are broken, disillusioned and bewildered.

A Concerned Worker