PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — On Wednesday April 25, 2018, the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers on behalf of the Council of Ministers hosted an interactive information session and expo for civil servants that fall within the job function of administrative support staff in honor of National Administrative Professionals’ day.
Welcoming words were expressed by the Minister of Education, Culture, Youth & Sports, Ms. Jorien Wuite who highlighted the importance of professional/human capital development through focusing on collective skills, knowledge, or other intangible assets of staff. “Today, the Government of Sint Maarten recognizes you, your value to the organization, your hard work and the contributions that you make to enhance the development of a professional governmental organization that has as its purpose to serves our country and its residents as clients to our organization, being it students, businesses, organizations or residents in need for services such as drivers licenses, passports just to name a few of our core activities. We are conscious of your hard work and we therefor take this moment with this event to express our gratitude and say THANK YOU, for every effort, contribution, task and result you accomplished, each day, each week at a time. For those of you that therefor initiated opportunities for further learning to perfect your skills, knowledge or learn a new area or innovative subject I say THANK YOU once more for, ” said Minister Wuite.
Ms. Clara Reyes, Head of the Culture Department, also gave a presentation that incorporated key skills, such as EFT tapping points that can be utilized as a tool to deal with post-Irma stress as professionals in the workplace. Civil servants from several ministries attended the event, some of which were not familiar with each other, which created a perfect opportunity for the last presenter Ms. Ife Badejo, the founder of Experience PWR, to engage with them, in her networking segment.
Throughout the event, attendees were able to win several prizes that were sponsored by Telcell, the Princess Juliana Airport and the Tourism office. Also a part of the event were several booth holders for the information expo which included the Soualiga Toastmasters Club, EH Image Consulting, Experience PWR and the University of St. Martin. The Council of Ministers thanks all sponsors, persons that attended and all individuals and businesses that took the time out to be a part of the event.
Minister speech:
Opening words Administrative Professionals Day, April 25, 2018
Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports, Drs. J. Wuite
Where would we be without the administrative professionals in government: secretaries, administrative assistants and other critical support staff. Spare a thought to all of the paperwork such as agendas for the Council of Ministers or Ministers or other management within the governmental organization that would never be done, documents that would not properly be registered or processed to the relevant departments, the phone calls that would never be taken or made to relevant stakeholders, the highlights in the newspaper that would not be shared or….
Today our government of Sint Maarten joins the international observance of Administrative Professional Day on April 25 this year which originated from 1952 and is now observed in numerous countries as one of the most celebrated workplace observances, together with of course International Labor Day on May 1 every year. Administrative professionals Day is observed on the Wednesday of the last full week in April.
Today, the Government of Sint Maarten recognizes you, your value to the organization, your hard work and the contributions that you make to enhance the development of a professional governmental organization that has as its purpose to serves our country and its residents as clients to our organization, being it students, businesses, organizations or residents in need for services such as drivers licenses, passports just to name a few of our core activities.
We are conscious of your hard work and we therefor take this moment with this event to express our gratitude and say THANK YOU, for every effort, contribution, task and result you accomplished, each day, each week at a time. Personally I dare to acknowledge that without Michnella Eugenio I cannot function which resulted in sometimes the unfair treatment of postponing a day off or taking her after 5 PM time away from her young daughter that needs her personal and dedicated time.
It is more than appropriate to recognize the organizers of this wonderful event with a wonderful information expo, a key note speaker from the Toastmasters club and other introductions such as post Irma stress management and art of Networking by Ms. Clara Reyes and Ms. Ife Badejo.
Our Prime Minister, Mrs. Leona Romeo-Marlin is a strong woman just as many of us here in the room and while she unfortunately had to apologize due to an important meeting of Parliament, she shares with me the importance of continuous education and professional or human capital development.
While we acknowledge the impact that Irma still has on our daily life and the environment in which we work, live and play, we should always continue to be committed to fostering and stimulating an environment that encourages employees and you, our administrative professionals to seek out opportunities for learning, whether for career development or for personal fulfillment.
I have personally been amazed, appreciative, supportive and also encouraged by the many personal initiatives I have seen from many of our professional support staff to develop their careers and seek ways to improve their lives with a challenging and inspiring work environment and salaries that can assist to help and support your families. While we have seen workshops and trainings being offered by Personnel Affairs other entities such as Legal Affairs & Legislation recently, you did not wait for an offer, and sometimes continued in your own way, following your own path and therefor displaying that
- you dare to dream;
- you make effort to improve in order to make your weakness your strength;
- you have a strong sense of self-motivation in everything you do.
For those of you that therefor initiated opportunities for further learning to perfect your skills, knowledge or learn a new area or innovative subject I say THANK YOU once more for.
I hope others will be encouraged by you as well as this will help our important slogans such as
- to lead by example,
- to sow and so shall you reap,
- that true motivation comes from achievement, personal development, job satisfaction, and recognition.
Those that know me will probably agree with me and know that I deeply believe in the power of development and mobility and that therefore human capital development of our entire country will bring us even further then what we have accomplished thus far over the last 30 years in recognition that we stand on the shoulders of our ancestors. I would like to close off with some words of inspiration:
“The first step towards power is clarity.
Powerful people do not want to be like anyone else.
Powerful people know that getting there is all the fun.
Powerful people always have other powerful people to help them achieve their goals.
Powerful people know how to find their niche.
Powerful people enjoy the process of research; then they act on the information they have.
Powerful people know how to make long lasting relationships.
Powerful people trust their instincts.
Powerful people know that freedom is the result of self-discipline.
Powerful people know when they get there”.
– Nancy Anderson *
“Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire.”
― Oprah Winfrey
Ladies and gentlemen, be that administrative professional power as this contributes to a wonderful professional organization that our country and its people so dearly deserves.
Happy Administrative Professional’s Day 2018
God bless you and Thank you.
