At a time when Jamaica seeks to increase its export capability, comes a new technology that could open great new avenues.
LeaveOrganizer.com, a leave management service website developed by Urell Livingston, was launched Wednesday at Jamaica Trade and Invest (JAMPRO) offices in Kingston.
the launch, Livingston who managed the Information systems at JAMPRO for over 20 years, was lauded for creating a knowledge-based export that has great potential in the Information Technology sector.
The interface seeks to simplify and streamline the way companies/organisations manage leave - vacation or otherwise - administration.
Simply, LeaveOrganizer.com is an out-sourced, Internet-housed software that allows human resource departments to calculate or approve, without paper, the applications of employees.
How does the software work?
Once registered to the site, a company can approve, deny and check on the eligibility of employees who have applied for leave. The company can also track absence patterns, calculate work days accumulated and assess leave backlogs. Employees will be able to cancel and adjust applications anywhere and at anytime.
Livingston said that LeaveOrganizer.com is the first retail stop for leave management anywhere.
"This is Jamaica's product to the world, but I want Jamaicans to enjoy it first," Livingston said before explaining the mechanics of the software.
"The software is a business process enhancement tool. Once registered, the company has a private, unique, customised set-up that is uninterrupted."
Keynote speaker Leachim Semaj, CEO of The JobBank, said that this software can produce a paradigm shift in the new work order.
"Vacation is not a part of Jamaican culture. For as far back as I remember, we hear of the US presidents going on vacations. But check on it, when was the last time you heard any of our leaders do that," Semaj posited.
Semaj also highlighted that there is a machismo about not taking leave that Jamaican employees brag about.
Semaj believes that the software will make it easier for companies to track the balance and backlog of employee vacations and will help the work/life balance of Jamaicans.