Michael Carey Named Employee of the Year

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands (12 February, 2018) Technical Engineer Michael Carey has been recognised as the Cayman Islands National Weather Service (CINWS) Employee of the Year for 2017. Along with Mr. Carey, the Department also recognized Shamal Clarke as “Weather Forecaster of the Year” and Winston Gall as “Weather Observer of the year”.

Mr. Carey has worked with the Weather service for approximately seven years and is primarily responsible for maintaining the Kearney Gomez Doppler Radar Station located in East End. He visits the site at least twice a week to carry out various tests and checks, and in the event that issues are detected or anticipated, Mr. Carey will work outside of normal working hours, and late into the night if required, to rectify the problems. His dedication has resulted in minimum downtime for the radar system, which assists CINWS forecasters in providing accurate, detailed, weather information in real time to pilots, airlines, watercraft operators and the general public.

Additionally, the Doppler Radar also helps weathermen to detect severe weather and provide residents with early warning of approaching storms or hurricanes threatening the Cayman Islands.

Commenting on the selection process, CINWS Director General John Tibbetts explained that over the course of a year the management team rates each employee’s performance in 6 key areas, namely Attitude, Service Delivery, Customer Service, Initiative, Teamwork and Professionalism. Using a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest, employees are rated throughout year on the various attributes, and based on this process, Mr. Carey was identified as the winner for 2017.

“Mr. Carey scored 4 or higher for every month of the year for Customer Service and Service Delivery, which means his performance in these areas was regarded as being more than expected or significantly more than expected,” said Mr. Tibbetts. “This award therefore reflects his consistent high performance and I congratulate him on attaining this outstanding achievement. The success of our Department is largely dependent on having strong and capable staff members, and I greatly appreciate Mr. Carey’s contribution to the team.”

The Cayman Islands National Weather Service comprises 14 staff members of which the Director General and Chief Meteorologist, Kerry Powery are not eligible for the award given that they carry out the annual assessment.