Richard Byles (left), president and chairman of Life of Jamaica chats with guest speaker Johnny Taylor (right), chairman of the Society for Human Resource Management, Karl Williams (second left), assistant vice- president for marketing of LoJ and Donovan Perkins (second right), president of Pan Caribbean before the start of the Life of Jamaica and Pan Caribbean joint seminar at the Indoor Sports Centre in St. Andrew on Saturday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
LIFE OF Jamaica (LoJ) is planning for substantial growth in 2006, says Richard Byles, its president and CEO.
LoJ and its sister company Pan Caribbean, both part of the Sagicor family, held a seminar on Saturday at the National Indoor Sports Centre to inform employees about their achievements and plans.
Mr. Byles said that for this year LoJ has six critical objectives to pursue. It must bring new and innovative products to the market, sell more to each customer and cross sell to customers, retain the competitive advantage of being the most cost efficient, expand the coupon policy marketing effort, intensify its commitment to raising customer service standards and build an even more motivated work force.
NUMBER ONE
He boasted that his company is number one in the individual life, group life, health insurance and pension management businesses. He added that for 2006, they have set a target of $1.25-1.4billion dollars for Individual Life Insurance (new business), $1.4billion for Employee benefits and $2.6 billion profits.
Donovan Perkins, President and CEO of Pan Caribbean, stated in his presentation that for 2006, the aim of Pan Caribbean is to retain top ranking in Unit Trust Assests, Unit Trust Performance and Primary Dealer Underwriting.
He said the company plans to increase loans from $5billion last year to $6.5billion in 2006, a 30 per cent increase. In addition, Pan Caribbean intends to increase its foreign exchange transactions to US $1billion, up 20 per cent from last year.
Mr. Perkins also stated that at the heart of the company's plans, is training and development of all employees.
Johnny C. Taylor, Senior Vice-President of Human Resources at Lending Tree, LLC, was the guest speaker and charged organisations to make the employees happy first and then the customers will be happy.
He stated that, "Companies should be committed to their people; successful companies are successful because of their internal customers (employees); companies should foster a culture that is passionate about winning; and companies should learn how to achieve inspite of obstacles."
Teamwork is essential for success, Mr. Taylor said. "Let's get the right people, on the right bus, sitting in the right seat, heading in the right direction."
