Both Sides of The Coin: The Story of The Central Bank of Barbados 1972-2017

Appendix 1: Recollections of Previous Governors 285 Fortunately, this was an isolated incident since most institutions welcomed the Bank’s involvement in presenting the views of small developing countries. It was very satisfying to see that the Bank was held in such high esteem and I attributed this to the recognition by others of the skills of the staff in our Bank Supervision Department. Economists, bank supervisors, and capital market specialists in the Bank were therefore encouraged to participate in conferences. At the same time, we held several high-level conferences featuring international speakers. In the last event during my term as Governor, the audience had an early introduction to what was later called the “Volcker rule” on proprietary trading. Aiming for an environment that stimulates motivation, participation and achievement The Bank’s human resources are at the same time its most useful and most problematic asset. Most of our staff were a credit to the institution, but sometimes our selections erred and, in at least one case, painfully so. Successive governors have spent considerable sums on training and improving staff welfare. During my governorship, for example, the Bank provided a gym, complete with an instructor, a language lab, and an after-school care service for children of staff. However, Maslow’s theory is very applicable to the Bank since there were still occasional grumblings. The Bank’s staff were well looked after, but sometimes senior management neglected to ensure a continued level of satisfaction. One of the main factors of dissatisfaction was inadequate remuneration. This presented an awkward situation for the Bank which more often than not was advocating wage restraint as the way to defend the balance of payments. It was therefore very difficult for the Bank to exclude its own staff from the application of that advice. This resulted in a mismatch between the BWU’s demands and the Bank’s ability to deliver.