‘Change comes across through words, which then leads to action’ – MFSA launches employee support structure

“In this past year, we have developed sensitivity to the idea that business strategy and objectives cannot be dissociated from people and their well being,” said Calvin Cassar, Head of People and Culture at the Malta Financial Services Authority, “and we wanted to set out roles and a structure that recognise this.”

In an announcement on social media, Mr Cassar said that, fuelled by the outbreak of COVID-19, the People & Culture team at the MFSA have been working on setting out a structure with Employee-Business Partners to support the workforce during their employment.

Explaining its purpose, Mr Cassar says that the Business Partnering concept – that is, the development of strategic, long-term relationships between customers and suppliers – has been in place in organisations for a number of years, with the understanding that individuals are there to help communicate and achieve the organisation’s objectives. 

However, he adds that the Authority has recognised that the people that constitute it are central to achieving business strategy, and, “as a result we wanted to have the ‘Employee’ featured in Business Partnering to give us ‘Employee-Business Partners’.”

The Head of People and Culture added, “One might argue that this is an exercise in semantics, however change comes across through words, which then leads to action, which then leads to change in culture. Working on this together.”