After a 40-plus year career in human resources (HR) and industrial relations (IR), Courtney McNish has some strong opinions on the region's HR and IR landscape, founded in years of practice.
For instance, he says the objectives of Caricom and the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) have not been achieved.
Speaking with Business Day on July 6, McNish said, “We really do not have a true common market. The free movement of labour and skills is not as free as we would want, and there continue to be obstacles and problems in that regard.”
His statement came as Caricom celebrated its 50th anniversary last week, when the issue of CSME was discussed in the three-day conference hosted by TT.
McNish said in terms of HR and IR systems in TT as well as the wider Caribbean, everyone is at different points of advancement and development.
He said, "TT has a long history of labour legislations, its industrial court is over 50 years old and has a well-developed jurisprudence.
"But TT’s industrial relations is different from everyone else, it is very generalised. Similarly, Jamaica has a well developed system as well as a specialised tribunal that treats with labour issues.
"On the other hand, Barbados has enacted its employees’ right legislation so that you don't even have to go to a specialist court, you could enforce those rights in an ordinary high court.”
There is no standard that the group of countries is working to achieve, he said.
Last month McNish launched a book – a compilation of his experience in the local and regional landscape.
The book, Unlocking TT's HR and IR Potential, is a collection of articles written and published in the business section of Newsday from 2015-2023. It looks at a wide range of topics such as workplace conflict resolution; roll call on gender and age bias; and re-crafting HR systems in TT.
McNish has had an extensive career. He was VP, HR of Caribbean Airlines; HR manager at the TCL Group, where he was responsible for the group’s HR and IR functions throughout the Caribbean; and a member of the Police Service Commission.
He also worked with Ansa McAl group, as the HR manager of Carib Brewery, and IR manager at the Airports Authority.
McNish said it was early in his career that he was introduced to the principles of industrial relations.
“I was an activist for people’s rights, and I got to attend negotiations with these very senior and seasoned trade unionists. It is here that I was introduced to any form of human-resource management,”
McNish is the CEO and principal consultant of Human Resource Technologies Ltd, where he manages a large portfolio of private- and public-sector clients.
[caption id="attachment_1025353" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The launch of Unlocking HR/IR Potential book launch by Courtney Mc Nish, Queen’s Hall Garden Theatre on June 29. -[/caption]
In 2022, he received the Glen Wilson Award for Industrial Relations Excellence from the Human Resource Management Association of TT.
McNish is currently researching the social justice is
