A Corporate Strategies for Leadership and Talent Development Forum is set to be held December 5 at the British Colonial Hilton.

The forum is part of a national initiative convened by the Bahamas Hotel & Tourism Association (BHTA) in collaboration with public and private sector stakeholders.

“The quality of our people at all levels and in all sectors must be our competitive advantage,” says BHTA president Stuart Bowe.

“Succession planning, management, and leadership development are essential components of every successful company and country development strategy. The forum will draw attention to this and to solutions which can be put in place at the company and country levels.”

“We know that a minimum of 700 new management level positions are needed by the Baha Mar properties. When one factors in the developments which are planned for Grand Bahama and several Family Islands, plus normal attrition which occurs within our existing businesses and government, employers in virtually every area of the public and private sectors are facing a huge talent gap.”

“At the same time, we need a collaborative and coordinated national strategy to develop and retain top talent” adds the BHTA president.

 Facilitating a good part of the forum’s sessions will be Norm Smallwood (right), co-founder and partner with The RBL Group and leadership development expert.

The forum will be outcome driven according to Bowe.

“Our intentions are fourfold: (1) to heighten understanding about management and leadership challenges facing most business and government organizations; (2) to learn about successful corporate and government strategies locally and abroad to address leadership voids and succession planning; (3) to identify strategies and action steps that can be put in place now to fill anticipated talent gaps and prepare for the future both at a company level as well as nationally; and (4) to agree to a collaborative public-private sector approach toward top talent development.”

Sector participation is expected from banks, hotels, insurance companies, accounting firms, government, education, retailers, wholesalers and other labour-intensive sectors of the economy.

Participating stakeholders joining BHTA in the initiative thus far include the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation, the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Labour, the National Congress of Trade Unions, the Inter-American Development Bank, the College of The Bahamas, the National Training Agency, Atlantis, Baha Mar, CFAL and RBC FINCO.