The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) says it will soon reap the benefits and boost its capacity from a series of training programmes its staff is undertaking through the US Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) under the Guyana Threshold Country Plan Implementation Project (GTCP/IP).

In a press release the GRA said training is an integral part of the two-year project plan to fully transform the GRA into a functional organisation. The first year had been focused on building human resource capacity in order to ensure that core personnel are equipped with the skills and expertise to manage the organisation. Both senior and junior managers have benefited and continue to benefit from the sessions which are geared at preparing them to assume greater responsibilities or different posts in the GRA.

Commissioner General Khurshid Sattaur said the GRA aims to ensure that it derives the maximum benefits from the knowledge and skills its officers have gained. Staff have benefited from on-the-job and overseas training which will allow them opportunities to progress and gain more job satisfaction as they move into technical and managerial fields.

To date, personnel have benefited from training in areas such as conflict management, stress and change management, executive leadership, strategic planning management, development and maintenance of standard operational procedures, audit and basic tax laws and a number of persons have been trained as trainers. The sessions are being conducted by both local and overseas trainers through funding from the MCA.

Sattaur said when the new structure is fully implemented systems will be put in place to measure employees performance and to ensure that the required results are achieved. The GTCP/IP ends on December 31.