Girl With a Purpose (GWAP)

Peter or Portia?: PNP Presidency Up for Grabs, Today!

600px-Flag_of_Jamaica_svg
Originally uploaded by AFRO_KING_DUDE

Well the big day has finally arrived for the Opposition, Peoples' National Party (PNP), in Jamaica.

Today is election day for the PNP President and Vice Presidents.

Peter Phillips and Portia Simpson Miller are in contest for the Presidency of the Party, whilst Angela Brown-Burke, Sharon Hay-Webster, Joseph 'Bunny' Whitter, Derrick Kellier, Fenton Ferguson, Noel Arscott, Dr. Wykeham McNeill and Harry Douglas, are in contest for the four (4) Vice Presidency positions.

The over 4,400 delegates finished voting at 2:00 p.m. this afternoon. By 7:30 p.m. tonight, we should know the results.

Many PNP analysts predict that this will be a close election and thus cannot call it.

But renown Jamaican pollster, Don Anderson, revealed the results of his nationwide poll of mostly PNP supporters, on Wednesday, September 17,2008, which showed a preference of 56% for Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller,for PNP President.

Whilst this was a national  poll versus a poll of delegates, many feel that Mrs. Portia Simpson Miller will again win, this time around.

(She won the Presidency elections in 2006.)

=======

As I listened to the coverage of today's proceedings on radio and watched it on TV, I couldn't help but notice how organized these proceedings were.

I heard Basil Waite, supporter of Team PNP (Portia Simpson Miller's camp) saying that there were transportation and logistics managers overseeing the transportation of delegates from the rural parishes into Kingston from 3:00 a.m., this morning...

(The voting took place at the National Arena in Kingston...and was orderly and well-organized.)

And I wondered to myself..if the PNP can ensure this level of organization for the Presidency elections...why on earth for eighteen (18) years, was Jamaica not more further along in terms of her development and the richness of her coffers?

Hmmmh!

Well, one set of Jamaicans who are giving keen attention to today's proceedings is the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.

They are very anxious to know the results, as the winner will lead the PNP in trying to regain power should  a snap election be called by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to resolve the Dual Citizenship issue now in Jamaican Courts.

[JLP Member of Parliament (MP), Darly Vaz, is being challenged in Court, by PNP representative for West Portland, Abe Dabdoub, that he was unconstitutionally elected as Member of Parliament, in September 2007, since he was a US citizen at the time of his nomination for the 2007 general elections.

(Members of Parliament cannot have dual citizenship with another country. There are two more such cases of JLP MPs in similar positions. Depending on the Court's ruling, this could set a precedent that could erode the JLP's slim majority in Parliament.

The JLP has 33 seats versus the PNP's 27 seats in Parliament.)]

Girl With a Purpose Blog, like you, is eager to know the results. We will be making these known as soon as they are available.

Gillian

Sources Include

1) Article, "Over to You Mr Speaker - The dual citizenship debate (Part 4)", The Blog Catalog, April 12, 2008,

2) Article, "Fight on for PNP vice-president posts", Jamaica Gleaner, August 5, 2008

3) Article, "Tight Security for PNP election", by Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter, Jamaica Gleaner, September 18, 2008

4) Article, "PNP media war over poll", September 18, 2008, RadioJamaica.com

5) Power 106 FM, September 20, 2008

6) Nationwide Radio, September 20, 2008

7) Television Jamaica, September 20, 2008

Will John Barnes Be the Best Foreign Coach, Ever?

reggae_boyz_flag
Originally uploaded by agentcsmith

Following the sacking of Technical Director, Rene Simoes, the president of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), Captain Horace Burrell, announced this week that former Watford player, John Barnes, will be the new Technical Director for the Reggae Boyz.

He will officially start on November 1, due to previous commitments.

Jamaican, Theodore 'Tappa' Whitmore, will be the interim coach who will guide the Reggae Boyz in their matches against Mexico and Honduras on October 11 and October 15, respectively.

He will be John Barnes' assistant.

When questioned why a Jamaican-based coach who has previously and successfully groomed the Reggae Boyz in World Cup qualifiers, wasn't given the nod for the Technical Director position, Captain Burrell  (The Captain) said that he didn't feel that Jamaican coaches were ready for this level of football.

Hmmmh!..well time will tell if 'The Captain's' decision was right.

John Barnes is a Jamaican who has lived in England since his teenage years.

As a former football player, he was simply brilliant...I remember as a teenager being so proud of him while watching his performances for English Clubs Watford and Liverpool, on TV.

As a Midfielder, he won the First Division twice and the F.A. Cup twice, and has played 79 times  for England. He is currently a broadcaster with Channel Five television in the UK and acts as a part-time scout in the Caribbean, for Sunderland. 

The thing is that that prior to Jamaica, Celtic of Scotland represents the only coaching job (1999-2000)for this  Jamaican-born Briton...

And he had a fair measure of success, with Celtic winning 65% of their matches under his tutelage.

So will John Barnes be the best foreign coach ever?

The JFF surely hopes so.

After failed stints at World Cup Qualification glory by foreign coaches, Clovis DeOlivera, Bora Milutinovic and recently Rene Simoes, Jamaican Reggae Boyz sponsors are eager to realize the return on their investments.

One thing is for sure: if Jamaica loses against Mexico on October 11, that will be the end of the Reggae Boyz' quest to qualify for World Cup 2010.

[The World Cup Qualifiers for the CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Region is in it's Third Round.  In this round of the competition, there are twelve (12) countries placed in three (3) groups of four.

Jamaica is in Group 2, along with Mexico, Honduras and Canada. The top two (2) teams in each Group,  move to Round Four of the competition to be played between February and October 2009. Jamaica needs 10 points to be amongst the top two (2) countries for Group 2.

The top three (3) teams in Round Four will automatically go to the World Cup in 2010. The 4th place team will compete in a home-and-away playoff against the fifth-place team from CONMEBOL. The winner will go to the World Cup in 2010.

The current point standings for Group 2 are as follows:

Mexico  - 9 points

Honduras - 6 points.

Canada - 1 point

Jamaica - 1 point.

Jamaica will play Canada, in Jamaica, on November 19.]

I humbly feel, however, that if the Reggae Boyz can win these two upcoming matches, under Theodore Whitmore, that he should be given the nod for the Technical Director position, should John Barnes not be able to deliver.

Winning against Mexico and Honduras is no easy feat and any coach who can snatch these victories, is definitely someone with the necessary grit to take Jamaican football to the highest level possible.

Tappa is hungry for success, but this success will be dependent on his ability to put a prolific squad together who can defend, mark players, and score goals.

- A squad that 'The Captain' has said is available from Jamaican players who play in the USA and Europe.

========

Girl With a Purpose Blog wishes Tappa and John Barnes every success in their quest to help the Reggae Boyz qualify for World Cup 2010.

Gillian

Sources Include:

1) Article, "John Barnes names to replace Simoes - Whitmore interim coach", by Audley Boyd, Assistant Sport Editor, SportsJamaica.com

2) Article, "John Barnes to Focus on Digicel Caribbean Cup", Sports Section, Go-Jamaica.com

3) John Barnes Biography, Wikipedia.org

4) 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification (CONCACAF) page, Wikipedia.org

Lessons to be Learned From Rene Simoes' Sacking

2008.02.13
Originally uploaded by indie_danielle

Although Rene Simoes was successful in his bid to take Jamaica to the 1998 World Cup in France, he, unfortunately could not repeat this feat for us, for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

In accordance with the performance clauses in his contract, when he couldn't meet agreed-on deliverables, he was sacked.

The following are lessons to be learned from Rene Simoes' sacking (firing):

Sacking non-performing head coaches isn't peculiar to football or the sporting arena per se...it is very much en vogue in the corporate world, where progressive companies implement performance-based evaluations/appraisals, to ensure that all their employees, and not just those at the top, are performing optimally.

They do so by inserting performance clauses in employee contracts, which state that if certain measurable targets are met, employees will not only keep their jobs, but will get hefty bonuses.

And there are times when these bonuses are 10-20 times the employees' basic salary.

Employees sign unto these deliverables when they are first hired.

(So it's important for our young friends who are just starting to work, to realize that before being employed, you should first sign a contract.

Failure to do this before being employed...means that your employer can make statements about your performance and judge you against targets that you were never made aware of.

You need to see the contract and ask for at least a day to review it before signing it.

If there are statements made, therein, that you are not familiar with, ask your employer to clarify..or ask someone with work experience in your field to clarify same... you may also search for the terms via www.google.com)

Performance-based evaluations, not only reward top-performers, they ensure that unproductive employees' tenure(time) at the company is short.

To many Jamaicans this may seem unfair, as many feel that their bosses owe them a living.

But bosses do not owe employees anything..you agree to help a company succeed/grow revenues and/or decrease losses, based on our skill sets, education, ability to learn and implement what you have learned.

If you are not an asset to your company, you are a liability and promoting or firing you based on your performance, is the fairest way to reward you as an employee..(it is much better than a subjective review by your boss, based on  whether or not he/she likes you.)

The beauty with performance-based organizations, is that you can be assured that you have a great deal of influence over the evaluation process....for you are evaluated based on annual objectives.

These objectives are usually set from your job description and the strategic objectives and goals of the organization that you are a part of.

So when you sit down with your boss to discuss the performance appraisal process, you need to have your job description in hand and ensure that you understand what objectives are to be met over the period during which you will be evaluated.

If you have some doubt, re what is required, it is at this meeting that you seek clarification.

We hear Captain Burrell, President of the Jamaica Football Federation, saying that he was in dialog with Rene Simoes, re gaps in his performance versus what was required.

This is typical in performance-based organizations...but it is not up to your boss to first identify these gaps...you should know what these gaps are and take corrective measures before your boss can even speak with you re same.

If valid circumstances arise that will affect your ability to meet stated objectives..you need to

1) Immediately notify your boss of same

2) Find out from your boss what's priority and do the priority tasks...

This will ensure that you will always be on target to meet your objectives and that you will have a great to excellent evaluation, at the end of the evaluation period.

=======

Girl With a Purpose Blog is sad to see Rene Simoes go, but we definitely believe in performance-based hiring and firing.

We wish Rene Simoes every success in his endeavours...he will be missed by many Jamaicans.

Gillian