Cavelle Joseph-St Omer,

Pres­i­dent, HRMATT

The Hu­man Re­source Man­age­ment As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go (HRMATT) is prepar­ing to ho­n­our the gi­ants of the HR pro­fes­sion at its high­ly an­tic­i­pat­ed Lega­cy Awards and Hall of Fame Cer­e­mo­ny, themed “Lega­cy in Mo­tion.” Sched­uled for Sat­ur­day, No­vem­ber 29, at the Hy­att Re­gency, Port-of-Spain, this el­e­gant gala promis­es to be a land­mark event for HR pro­fes­sion­als and busi­ness lead­ers across the re­gion.

A Tra­di­tion of Ex­cel­lence

For decades, HRMATT has been at the fore­front of ad­vanc­ing the hu­man re­source pro­fes­sion in Trinidad and To­ba­go. Through ad­vo­ca­cy, ed­u­ca­tion, and recog­ni­tion, the as­so­ci­a­tion has el­e­vat­ed HR from a sup­port func­tion to a strate­gic dri­ver of or­ga­ni­za­tion­al suc­cess.

The Hall of Fame, in­tro­duced as part of HRMATT’s com­mit­ment to cel­e­brat­ing lead­er­ship and in­no­va­tion, ho­n­ours in­di­vid­u­als whose con­tri­bu­tions have left an in­deli­ble mark on work­places and com­mu­ni­ties.

Past in­ductees in­clude lu­mi­nar­ies such as Mr Hol­lick Ra­jku­mar, Ms Grace Tal­ma, Ms Glo­ria East­man, Ms Di­ana Ma­habir-Wy­att, and posthu­mous ho­n­ouree Mr Ul­ric Warn­er. These pi­o­neers set the stan­dard for ex­cel­lence, and the 2025 class con­tin­ues this proud tra­di­tion.

Meet the 2025 Hall of Fame In­ductees

This year’s in­ductees rep­re­sent the pin­na­cle of HR lead­er­ship and in­flu­ence. Each has demon­strat­ed un­wa­ver­ing com­mit­ment to shap­ing or­ga­ni­za­tion­al cul­ture, fos­ter­ing tal­ent, and dri­ving trans­for­ma­tion.

Mr Gor­don Drap­er – A vi­sion­ary strate­gist whose work in lead­er­ship de­vel­op­ment has strength­ened or­ga­ni­za­tions across the Caribbean.

Dr Nan Ram­goolam – Renowned for cham­pi­oning ethics and or­ga­ni­za­tion­al de­vel­op­ment, en­sur­ing HR re­mains a trust­ed part­ner in busi­ness.

Dr Kwame Charles – A trail­blaz­er in HR trans­for­ma­tion and tal­ent man­age­ment, cred­it­ed with mod­ern­iz­ing HR prac­tices for the dig­i­tal age.

Ms San­dra Mar­chack – A pas­sion­ate ad­vo­cate for em­ploy­ee en­gage­ment and work­place cul­ture, in­spir­ing in­clu­sive and pro­duc­tive en­vi­ron­ments.

Dr Roland Bap­tiste – A re­spect­ed leader in in­dus­tri­al re­la­tions and work­force de­vel­op­ment, bridg­ing gaps be­tween em­ploy­ers and em­ploy­ees.

Their in­duc­tion in­to the Hall of Fame is not just a recog­ni­tion of past achieve­ments—it is a cel­e­bra­tion of their on­go­ing in­flu­ence on the fu­ture of work.

The Lega­cy Awards: Ho­n­our­ing Im­pact Across Nine Cat­e­gories

Com­ple­ment­ing the Hall of Fame cer­e­mo­ny is the pre­sen­ta­tion of the HRMATT Lega­cy Awards, which spot­light ex­cel­lence across nine dis­tinct cat­e­gories. These awards rec­og­nize or­ga­ni­za­tions and in­di­vid­u­als who have demon­strat­ed in­no­va­tion, re­silience, and lead­er­ship in hu­man re­source man­age­ment:

HR Ex­cel­lence – For out­stand­ing HR prac­tices that dri­ve or­ga­ni­za­tion­al suc­cess.

In­dus­tri­al Re­la­tions Ex­cel­lence – Ho­n­our­ing mas­tery in man­ag­ing em­ploy­er-em­ploy­ee re­la­tions.

Trans­for­ma­tion – Cel­e­brat­ing ini­tia­tives that have re­shaped or­ga­ni­za­tion­al struc­tures or process­es.

Learn­ing and De­vel­op­ment – Rec­og­niz­ing pro­grammes that fos­ter con­tin­u­ous growth and skill-build­ing.

Best Place to Work – Award­ed to or­ga­ni­za­tions that ex­em­pli­fy em­ploy­ee-cen­tric cul­ture.

Ad­vo­ca­cy – For ef­forts that ad­vance HR as a strate­gic busi­ness part­ner.

Out­stand­ing Vol­un­teerism – High­light­ing con­tri­bu­tions that strength­en HRMATT and the pro­fes­sion.

Re­gion­al HR Cham­pi­on (In­di­vid­ual) – Ho­n­our­ing a leader whose in­flu­ence ex­tends be­yond na­tion­al bor­ders.

Re­gion­al HR Cham­pi­on (Or­gan­i­sa­tion) – Rec­og­niz­ing an or­ga­ni­za­tion that sets the stan­dard for HR ex­cel­lence in the Caribbean.

These cat­e­gories re­flect HRMATT’s holis­tic ap­proach to cel­e­brat­ing the pro­fes­sion—not just for op­er­a­tional ex­cel­lence, but for its trans­for­ma­tive im­pact on peo­ple and or­ga­ni­za­tions.

Why This Event Mat­ters

The Lega­cy Awards and Hall of Fame Cer­e­mo­ny is more than an evening of ac­co­lades—it is a plat­form for net­work­ing, knowl­edge shar­ing, and in­spi­ra­tion.

In an era where work­places are evolv­ing rapid­ly—shaped by tech­nol­o­gy, glob­al­iza­tion, and shift­ing em­ploy­ee ex­pec­ta­tions—the role of HR has nev­er been more crit­i­cal. Events like these re­in­force the im­por­tance of strate­gic HR lead­er­ship in nav­i­gat­ing change and build­ing re­silient or­ga­ni­za­tions.

For HR pro­fes­sion­als, at­tend­ing the cer­e­mo­ny of­fers an op­por­tu­ni­ty to con­nect with peers, learn from in­dus­try lead­ers, and cel­e­brate the achieve­ments that de­fine the pro­fes­sion. For busi­ness lead­ers, it is a chance to ac­knowl­edge the val­ue of HR as a dri­ver of or­ga­ni­za­tion­al suc­cess.

A Call to Cel­e­brate

HRMATT in­vites the busi­ness com­mu­ni­ty, HR prac­ti­tion­ers, and stake­hold­ers to join this cel­e­bra­tion of ex­cel­lence. The as­so­ci­a­tion em­pha­sizes that ho­n­our­ing these achieve­ments is not just about recog­ni­tion—it is about in­spir­ing the next gen­er­a­tion of HR lead­ers to con­tin­ue shap­ing work­places that em­pow­er peo­ple and dri­ve progress.

To se­cure your at­ten­dance and learn more about the event, vis­it HRMATT’s of­fi­cial web­site at www.hrmatt.com or con­tact the as­so­ci­a­tion di­rect­ly at 687-5523.

About HRMATT

The Hu­man Re­source Man­age­ment As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go (HRMATT) is the lead­ing pro­fes­sion­al body for HR prac­ti­tion­ers in the coun­try. Ded­i­cat­ed to ad­vanc­ing the pro­fes­sion, HRMATT pro­motes eth­i­cal stan­dards, pro­vides de­vel­op­ment op­por­tu­ni­ties, and ad­vo­cates for HR as a strate­gic part­ner in busi­ness suc­cess.

HRMATT Says is a col­umn ded­i­cat­ed to ad­dress­ing is­sues and con­cerns rel­e­vant to pro­fes­sion­als and the gen­er­al pub­lic, with a fo­cus on hu­man cap­i­tal de­vel­op­ment.

To­day’s ar­ti­cle is writ­ten by Cavelle Joseph-St Omer, SHRM-SCP, MBA, B.Sc., Pres­i­dent of HRMATT, Pres­i­dent of the Caribbean In­sti­tute of Hu­man Re­source Man­age­ment, and Se­nior Hu­man Re­source and In­dus­tri­al Re­la­tions Ex­ec­u­tive.

Learn more about HRMATT by vis­it­ing www.hrmatt.com

. Fol­low us on Face­book, LinkedIn, In­sta­gram, and Twit­ter, or con­tact us at 687-5523 or via email at sec­re­tari­at@hrmatt.com.