Capacity Building and Developmental Outcomes in Two English- Caribbean Countries

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine whether capacity building and developmental outcomes would be advanced if appropriate organization structures, effective HRM systems and employee compensation policies were implemented in public service organizations in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. A historical comparative case study method was selected as the most appropriate technique for analyzing the findings and the comparison of capacity building interventions used in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago's public services from 1980 to 2007. The analyses were undertaken following the collection of secondary and primary data consisting of elite interviews conducted between 2001 and 2009, in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago respectively, with senior public sector officers, civil service associations' presidents, private sector HR management consultants, representatives from international development agencies and politicians in the area of public sector reform. The findings revealed that structural reorganization, employee performance management and appraisal systems, human resource training and development programmes, the implementation of employee compensation policies, the use of contract employment and HR management consultants were treated as integral components of capacity building initiatives in the attempt by governments to transform the public service for improved service delivery and the achievement of developmental objectives in Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago respectively. These findings were significant since they enabled the development and design of a new capacity building model for public sector organisations in the Caribbean that could be adapted to public bureaucracies worldwide. This new capacity building model (CBM) was built on five key interconnected pillars which were structural reorganization; human resource development; employee performance management; compensation or base pay and compensation related elements.