Grand Cayman, 2 November 2022

Lareta Mack could not hold back the tears as she accepted her accolades as the Cayman Islands Government Employee of the Year for 2021 last night (Tuesday, 1 November 2022) for delivering outstanding customer experience.

In front of His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martin Roper, Premier Hon G. Wayne Panton, other Government officials, colleagues and her family, the Strategic Human Resources Officer in the Portfolio of the Civil Service (PoCS) received the award from Deputy Governor Hon. Franz Manderson.

The awards ceremony was the culmination of the 2021 round of the Deputy Governor’s Award Programme. The initiative, created by the DG in 2012, seeks to identify and recognise civil servants who embody the vision, purpose, mission and values of the Cayman Islands Government, and whose activities help to advance the goals of the Civil Service’s 5-Year Strategic Plan.

Mrs. Mack won the top award out of a field of 12 finalists. These finalists were initially nominated by a colleague, endorsed by their Chief Officers and ultimately selected as Employee of the Month by the Deputy Governor. All finalists as well as Chief Officer’s Choice Award recipients were recognised at the ceremony.

The gala event was held at the Kimpton Seafire Grand Cayman, where attendees heard of the work, attributes and impact of each nominee. Mrs. Mack was recognised for the strategic goal of Delivering an Outstanding Customer Experience. 

Portfolio of the PoCS Chief Officer Gloria McField-Nixon explained that she had chosen Mrs. Mack as her Chief Officer’s Choice because of “the amazing customer service that she delivers each and every day [as] a consummate professional who brings her passion to work.”

Mrs. Mack’s duties include payroll processing and data analytics for the over 4,000 civil servants, and she is often called upon to provide guidance to HR personnel across departments. She shared that she is driven by the knowledge that what she does affects the lives of each employee and their ability to manage themselves and their dependents. “It doesn’t matter where I am, whether I’m sick or on vacation or at the dentist,” she said. “If I can stop to help, I’m going to stop. If it’s something that I can action then, I’m going to do it. I think just getting it done can benefit them sooner than later.” 

The Deputy Governor spoke of the importance of the Civil Service’s push to be world-class and of employees’ role in the effort: “We won’t be world-class without our amazing civil servants. It is not the laws and policies and procedures that make us world-class; it is our staff.”

He continued, “We are here to serve the Government of the day and I have seen so many amazing civil servants who go out of their way to do just that. I walk around and talk to civil servants and I hear their enthusiasm; I hear their commitment, and it makes me very proud.”

The other 2021 Employee of the Year finalists and the section of Government in which they were employed in 2021 were:

·         Sharelle Clarke, Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports, Agriculture and Lands;

·         Lenford Wilks, Department of Communications;

·         Kim Berry, Department of Tourism;

·         Ileana Marin, Department of Workforce Opportunities and Residency Cayman (WORC);

·         Estina Hamil, Department of Customs and Border Control;

·         Michael Ebanks, WORC

·         Denise Anderson, Royal Cayman Islands Police Service;

·         Erika Bodden, Department of Customs and Border Control;

·         Hugh Bush, Cayman Islands Coast Guard;

·         Kacey Mobley, Ministry of Home Affairs, and

·         Olsie Jackson, WORC.

In addition to the individual awards, the Deputy Governor’s Employee of the Year event was the occasion for four teams to be presented with ‘Moments of Magic’ awards for outstanding work. 

The Moments of Magic recipients were:

·         the Ministry of Border Control and Labour for the work their HR team did in facilitating and managing staffing for the smooth operation of Travel Cayman;

·         the Civil Service College for their roll-out and support of the LinkedIn Learning platform for all employees in the Civil Service, and for the piloting of the ILM City & Guilds Young Leaders Award programme at Clifton Hunter High School;

·         John Gray and Layman Scott high schools for moving from a Schools Inspectorate rating of ‘Satisfactory’ to ‘Good’, and the Lighthouse School for maintaining their ‘Good’ rating, in 2021, and

·         the HR team within the Portfolio of the Civil Service, for Pursuing Excellence in Talent Development (another of the Civil Service’s 5-Year Strategic Plan goals) through the launch of the recruitment portal, careers.gov.ky, which has streamlined the Civil Service recruitment process and attracted over 12,000 registrants in the first eight months of operations.

Photos: Bina Mani, DoC and Janet Jarchow

Captions:

CIG Employee of the Year for 2021 Mrs. Lareta Mack receives her award from Deputy Governor, Hon. Franz Manderson.

His Excellency the Governor, Mr. Martyn Roper, who presented the 2021 awards to the Employees of the Month, is seen here with the recipients. Absent is Customs and Border Control Officer Ms Estina Hamil, who was the recipient for September 2021.

(Pic #1) Chief Officer Wesley Howell and Chief HR Officer Briana Ebanks accept a Moments of Magic Award for the Ministry of Border Control and Labour.

(#2) Representatives from John Gray High, Layman E. Scott High and the Lighthouse School pose with the Deputy Governor (4^th left) after accepting the Moments of Magic Award each school received for gaining a Schools Inspectorate rating of ‘Good’ in 2021.

(#3) Strategic HR Policy Advisor Jo Richards (4^th left) accepts the Moments of Magic Award from Mr. Manderson for the Portfolio of the Civil Service HR team’s launch of the recruitment portal, careers.gov.ky.  Chief Officer Gloria McField-Nixon (left) and members of the team were present.