Human resource Llewellyn’s chief asset

IMAGINE BEING asked to outshine your boss. That is one of the public service challenges thrown out by Jamaica’s chief prosecutor, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn, to every member of her staff.

Under the theme, ‘Raising the bar, Strengthening the bond’, the Office of the DPP yesterday celebrated Civil Servants Day 2023.

Llewellyn, who took The Gleaner on a mini tour through the newly renovated halls of justice which house her King Street office, said the celebration of the human resource is paramount.

“In any organisation, your greatest assets are the people that work there for you, your human resource,” Llewellyn said, adding that her staff is the wind beneath her wings.

Public and customer service with a high level of quality in terms of delivering, not only internally but publicly, is high on the cards for the youngest appointed chief prosecutor in Jamaica’s history, with her staff complement of nearly 100 employees.

Llewellyn, 63, also the country’s first female DPP, is expected to hold office for another two years.

“Strengthening the bond means that at all times, certainly as the manager, you have to be conscious that it is you very often that have to go the extra mile in terms of dealing with the challenges, thinking outside the box, being forgiving,” Llewellyn said.

Civil Servants Day, for the DPP, is building an atmosphere to facilitate strengthening of the bond between staff and the strengthening of the bond for the benefit of the public, in terms of her office giving customer service.

“It gives us an opportunity to celebrate being in the public service. Seeing to our wellness but also celebrating that, at the heart, the DNA of being a public servant is making sure that you give a high level of quality customer service to the people that you serve,” the DPP said of the relevance of Civil Servants Day.

Staff works hard

Llewellyn assured The Gleaner that her staff works very hard to deliver in matters of very high public interest, such as the murders of Member of Parliament Philip Paulwell’s 10-month-old daughter Sarayah and her mother 27-year-old Toshyna Patterson, and the Cocoa Piece matter in which Rushane Barnett killed five of his relatives.

“Sometimes we have to work long hours… . I understand that people are taken aback that, in two months, we were able to get that done… we were able, between the police and ourselves, in a very, very high level of collaboration and high-quality service, we were able to shut that down in just about four months,” Llewellyn said, respectively, of both high-level probes.

The DPP said being able to deliver a service to the public, and doing so quickly, reminds them of how important it is that they have to stretch when dealing with other stakeholders, be it the police investigators or court staff.

From the courtyard, which was transformed into a mini showroom with ‘new wheels’ from Toyota, to the inside, which had booths from Digicel and Scotiabank, each staff member was given a civil servant passport to check in and indulge.

The staff were also placed in groups dubbed Tiger, Lion and Eagle, and took part in several activities and a labour seminar.

“The administrative staff, the office attendants, are also a part of it. So, when I say that the human resource is the most important part, everybody has to be the wings beneath the DPP, who is the holder of the office under the Constitution,” Llewellyn said, notwithstanding the challenges, real or perceived.

Gleeful as she can be, Llewellyn said she fights for her staff and builds a workable atmosphere, one in which she takes great pleasure.

“So, the atmosphere I’ve always tried to build is to facilitate every single member of staff feeling free to outshine the DPP … in terms of giving quality service … . When I say it, they always laugh and say ‘Ms Llewellyn, how can we do that?’ I say, ‘Try, I will be the first person to applaud you’, that is how much I value the human resource,” the DPP said.

andre.williams@gleanerjm.com