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Sagicor's Karl Williams heads Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica

Published:Monday | May 11, 2015 | 12:00 AMKeisha Hill
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Sagicor'’s Karl Williams, recently inducted president of the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica, is joined by Simone Dunbar (left), one of the association's directors and Lois Walters, vice president, at the organisation'’s first annual members meeting at the Audi Showroom in St Andrew on April 21.
Contributed
Karen Rosen (left), is greeted by Karl Williams, Sagicor’'s vice president for group human resources, during a cocktail reception on Tuesday, April 14, at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel. Looking on is Petagay Hart-Wilson, director of The Whistling Frog Advertising Agency.
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Karl Williams, group vice-president of human resources at Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited, recently added another accomplishment to his list of achievements, following his second induction as president of the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica (HRMAJ).

Williams' career in human resources started with a stint as a training manager at Island Life from 1997 to 2002, reporting to the human resource manager. During that period, he acted as the human resource manager on numerous occasions and, as a result, his love, competencies, and capabilities for the profession grew.

Seeing the need for a platform to network with other professionals in his field, Williams joined the HRMAJ, then known as, Jamaica Association for Training and Development (JATAD).

"Three years after becoming a member of JATAD, I became its president. During that period, we recognised that training and development are components of the broader field of human resource management and, therefore, we needed to focus on this in its entirety, as opposed to focusing exclusively on training and development," Williams said in an interview with The Gleaner.

Consequently, he led the rebranding of the association to HRMAJ where its scope and strategic value were broadened. In 2004, Island Life was acquired by Sagicor Life Jamaica, then Life of Jamica, and after 10 years as assistant vice-president, group marketing, he was appointed vice-president of human resources in 2009. In 2012, he became the group vice-president of that department.

"I intend to increase and energise our members in order to expand the boundaries of our profession, by being a partner in advancing the national development plan, specifically the development and leadership of human capital, providing HR expertise to both the private and public sector and increasing HR's role and impact in the businesses in which our members serve," Williams said of his plans.

JATAD was launched in 1980, and its aim was to make an impact on the level of human resource development training in Jamaica. In July 2005, it became the HRMAJ with an objective to broaden the appeal of the organisation as representing the full cadre of HR professionals and to align with their CARICOM counterparts.

For more information on the HRMAJ, visit their website at: www.hrmaj.org.

keisha.hill@gleanerjm.com