As part of Capacity Building, the WCO organized a Leadership and Management Top Executive Retreat (TER) from 6 to 9 May 2018 for 28 managers of the Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA). The overall objective of the four day interactive workshop was to strengthen senior management capacity to lead and drive reforms within SRA.  This is the second TER for SRA, and now all senior management in the administration has participated in a LMD Workshop.  It is one of SRA’s highest priorities to install a new management culture that focuses on managing more strategically, ensure excellent people management skills and modern leadership and management skills, attitude and behaviour.

Senior managers from all departments of SRA participated in the retreat. Over the last few years SRA has invested a lot in leadership and management development, but so far implementation of a shared vision, a more strategic management style by senior management, implementation of core modernization projects, building a senior management team that really cooperates for the results of the organization as a whole and a management style with more focus on people and communication, had not been fully implemented.  During the four days all these topics were discussed on a deeper level, resulting in a shared vision by all participants on ‘what and how to do’, as well as ‘what and how to be’.  At the end of the four days, participants left fully committed to personally work on all aspects of this vision, as well as to help and inspire others to do so.

A particularly important element of the retreat was an interview with the members of the Executive Committee of SRA in front of the rest of the senior management, in which they not only clearly revealed their expectations, but also some of the problems and challenges they were facing.  The group also shared personal stories about each other’s lives and giving each other honest feedback.  Dialogue on the situation and future of SRA were discussed along with a presentation on relevant models and theories on modern leadership and management.

At the end of the retreat, the senior management team and the Commissioner General of SRA, Mr. Dumisani Masilela provided closing remarks on the retreat.  They characterized the experience as empowering, stimulating, revealing, provoking, and inspiring.

For more information on the WCO Leadership and Management Development Programme, please contact Capacity.Building@wcoomd.org.