NCN says Communications specialist finds no gender bias in recent employee matters

Heavily criticised over the way it recently handled matters with two female employees, state TV NCN today issued a statement in which it said Communications practitioner Abraham Poole had found no covert or overt gender bias.

A press release from NCN follows:

The Board of Directors of the National Communications Network (NCN) last week requested Communications Practitioner, Mr. Abraham B. Poole to examine the facts surrounding Management’s interactions with two of its employees – Ms. Natasha Smith and Mrs. Jocelle Archibald-Hawke – to determine whether the charges of gender bias and accusations of discrimination are justified. Additionally, Mr. Poole was requested to convey his findings urgently together with recommendations for the correction, if necessary, and prevention of such occurrences. The Board of Directors embarked on this course of action in consideration of the mission of NCN and its role as a national entity with a responsibility to model the most enlightened policies of media management and to maintaining the trust of its audiences and the confidence of its stakeholders. Last week Mr. Poole met with the Chairman of the Board, Mr. Bish Panday, and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lennox Cornette, and determined an approach to undertaking the task. He was granted free access to the relevant management meeting Minutes having a bearing on the issues.

Earlier this week the Communications Practitioner met with the members of the NCN’s Management Team and later with the same Team and employee, Ms. Smith, and inquired and received additional details of the management decision and subsequent issues that emerged in implementing of that decision. Mr. Poole has said, “The camaraderie observed and the commitments expressed by all of the members of the management committee contradict the serious accusations and vehement condemnation that NCN Management has been subjected to in recent weeks. I am surprised that there was absolutely no split in the opinion of all the managers that the management intervention, which unfortunately led to the major misunderstanding, was designed to improve the work of NCN and that there was neither overt nor covert gender bias.”

According to Mr. Poole, the immediate Supervisor of Ms Natasha Smith, who conveyed to her the management decision, affirmed that the pregnancy of Ms. Smith was not the issue of the management meeting nor was it an issue, in her discernment as a woman. “This was of deep concern to me to determine whether a potentially good management decision was unintentionally discriminatory or was being employed intentionally to the detriment of the career of the employee.”

He said that while he has not completed and submitted a Report, he has already identified a number of difficulties in the communications chain and these are correctable and preventable. “The diligence of the Human Resource Manager impressed me favorably and the empathy conveyed to Ms. Smith with the assurance that neither herself nor her pregnancy was the reason for the improvement measure in the presentation of the NCN news.”

On the circumstances relative to Mrs. Jocelle Archibald-Hawke, Mr. Poole said NCN is constrained by trust and expected confidentiality from disclosing an employee’s details, even if such disclosures would patently justify its managerial actions. This is a fundamental principle because, after the emotions connected to the issue recede, the employee/employer relationship continues. NCN respects that principle. “It is to the credit of NCN, notwithstanding serious and disturbing infractions, that as a good employer it has opted to be hopeful that discipline would result in change.

Further, the compassion that has persuaded the Management of NCN to review and modify by attenuating the disciplinary measure must be seen as an investment in the future of the employee and must not be viewed as organisational weakness. “I am respectful of Management’s decision, for, should NCN degenerate into an organisation without rules and discipline and is unregulated then it could not fulfill its mission.”

“I also wanted to discover whether the NCN work environment was inherently unfriendly to pregnant employees. I did not find any such indications. In fact, colleagues who have been pregnant while in the employ of NCN speak of NCN as a supportive environment.”

Reacting to the preliminary disclosures, the Chairman of NCN’s Board made it clear that he was not interested in leading an organisation that was guilty in any form of any inhumane practices. He contends that NCN is an ideal platform from which to foster the rights of women and display gender equity in the workplace. “Our policy is visible daily in our programs and presenters.”

The Chairman added, “I could go on to speak of a proposal in the next budget for a facility specifically intended to benefit staff with very young children. And this was all written before the unfounded accusations.”

Mr. Poole has been a media practitioner and lectured at the University of Guyana. He holds qualifications in Communications and International Relations and has held several positions while employed by the Government of Guyana, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, and the United Nations Development Program – Guyana, among other organisations.