Bermuda needs to take a long hard look at where it is today and what it wants to achieve in the future if it wants to move forward on track, according to a top industry expert.

Andrew Moore, special adviser on human resources policy at the Confederation of British Industry in the UK, who is visiting the Island this week to draw up a strategic plan for the Bermuda Employers Council (BEC), said the country seemed to have great potential but needed to have a vision for where it should be as an emerging economy coming out of the economic crisis.

Mr. Moore, who will spend the next few days meeting with personnel, board members and stakeholders in the BEC, will look at everything from the top to the bottom, including the work of the organisation, to help meet the needs of its members and make the necessary changes.

Having previously done work for a number of employer organisations across the world, Mr. Moore will team up with Lucette Howell from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in Trinidad, to set out ways in which the BEC can improve itself going forward over the next five to 10 years.

"I am going to take a critical look at the BEC from an outside perspective," said Mr. Moore.

"It will include posing such questions as: 'Are you doing the right thing for your members and what could you be doing for them?', as well as increasing membership and a greater role to play on the Island to make sure the right working environment is there."

Mr. Moore, who has carried out extensive projects for the ILO - a world forum for government, trade unions and employers to discuss employment related issues - during a stint in Geneva, Switzerland, both on the governing body and as part of the employers group that oversees the operation, over a period of 25 years with the organisation.

Now he spends six months per year conducting similar initiatives as that in Bermuda throughout a series of developing countries in Africa, where he helps develop employers organisations.

"The aim of the work is to take an in-depth look at the work of the BEC, the impact of the BEC<\p>on the community as a whole, on government, its members and the importance for the BEC to be the voice of the private sector in the setting out of legislation across the board," he said.

"Secondly, as a membership organisation, you need to ask whether it is servicing its members correctly, is its information succinct, readable and clear is it informing people on a day-to-day basis about what it is doing? And, ultimately at the end of the day, it needs to ask: 'Is the service it provides helpful or does it just give me a nice warm feel?'

"We will also be looking at the role of the BEC, what it is and how it fits in with other organisations and what they have to of it is about giving people access to the policy makers and likewise, in turn giving those access to the private sector."

Mr. Moore said one of the biggest concerns he had encountered so far was how unprepared many school leavers were when entering the workplace, but added he was encouraged by the BEC's Work Ready

>Programme, which helps students to bridge the gap between the classroom and industry through the use of businesses going into the schools and getting involved in the education programme.

In addition, he said employers needed to ensure they were making the most of the resources available to them, while being able to attract students looking to make their first step on the career ladder.

Mr. Moore, who has about 30 meetings lined up this week, having already met a number of board members, and will be making a presentation on his findings to the board on Friday, also reckons that the BEC<\p>needs to act as a barometer for what is happening in the employment market, in terms of producing in-depth studies and surveys.

"Bermuda certainly appears to punch above its weight in terms of what it has to offer," he said. "And the BEC seems to be well-respected for its training among other things.

"But the danger is that you try and do too many things and are not liable to turn round and say you are not willing to do something if you have been asked to.

"So I am going to ask the board where they want to be in five years time and the role they see the organisation playing in the community in terms of delivering 'Bermuda Inc.' in the future."

Mr. Moore views Bermuda as facing many of the same problems and issues as the rest of the world, from communicating with members within the BEC to crossing the divide between education and work.

"My feeling on<\p>Bermuda is that it has got a lot of things going for it, it is moving in the right direction and it probably just needs to be more focused on and more strategic about what it does going forward," he said.