Detail-oriented and results-focused, the Cayman Islands Civil Service College has a new manager of leadership learning in Lance Barnes.

Determined to drive excellence in managerial communications among senior staff, his latest post is a natural extension of having helped the college deliver the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) and Institute of Certified Professional Managers (ICPM) learning programmes since 2015.

The former e-Government project manager’s current duties having taken up his latest post earlier this month are varied yet complementary. As the college’s primary administrator and faculty member of the Leadership and Management development programme, the job entails him facilitating other online learning programmes throughout the college as well as being responsible for the delivery and coordination of leadership and management training across the entire civil service.

Having hit the ground running with several strategic goals already underway, he is keen to begin working on other deliverables.

“My immediate goal is to work in conjunction with the Civil Service Strategic 5-Year Plan in delivering a world-class civil service which entails training and development across the entire civil service,” he remarked. “This will involve talent development/management which will improve the chances for succession planning. I’ll also try to improve collaboration across the civil service to foster partnership in understanding shared and individual goals.”

All these he hopes will provide pathways to guide government entities and staff to learn to work together through effective communication helping achieve overarching outcomes.

An adjunct lecturer in human resources and strategic management at the International College of the Cayman Islands, Mr. Barnes a self-described people person, wants, to create a framework through which managers will take on the responsibility of becoming leaders rather than focusing only on the management of their daily tasks.

As well as vision and the management tools to thrive in his new job, including a Masters in Management with an HR emphasis, Barnes is confident that his ability to inspire and motivate through engagement and trust will reap dividends.

Reporting directly to the Civil Service College’s Director of Human Capital Development, Andrea Fa’amoe, she said of his appointment, “Mr. Barnes is eminently qualified for the position. He has a wealth of management skills, coaching and mentoring at an executive level. These together with strong analytical and interpersonal skills allow him to interact with individuals from different cultural backgrounds easily. His wide range of experience, dedication, and objective mindset, has established a solid framework to develop and implement training needs across the civil service.”

Having held various senior posts, including project manager for the Cayman Islands Government’s network infrastructure, Mr. Barnes is used to working on big initiatives, coordinating teams as well as liaising on a person-to-person basis.

In his new role he is currently conducting needs analyses to determine what types of training public sector managers need to accomplish organisational objectives.