EXCLUSIVE: CIO Ag. Ian B. Penn to reform Imm. Dept.
Speaking to Virgin Islands News Online in an exclusive interview yesterday December 17, 2014, Penn, who moved up to the position of acting Chief Immigration Officer from the post of Deputy Chief Immigration Officer with effect from November 1, 2014, said that he intends to make changes to ensure that his officers treat customers better.
“Coming into this new position I would like to say first of all that every manager as they proceed into a new role they would bring change to the organization and in bringing change my perception is that I have to take a holistic look at the organization [and] see where we are going wrong,” he said.
“Although I had some time as Deputy Chief Immigration Officer at the time and from that position I also had some ideas about what could be done different,” he said.
Support of staff is key
“But now that I am in this position my perception in running an organization like this is to look at the organization and see what is needed, make a list of all the issues. However you just can’t go after the issues forcefully just like that and hope that would be the remedy,” Penn said. “First of all you have to make sure that your support staff and your officers are on board with you. You have to make sure everyone is on the same page. Once you achieve that then you can go look at the issues and start dealing with them one by one,” he said.
“In my leadership of this Department I want this Department to be the friendliest one in Government, not one where persons have to shy away from,” he said. “When that is done you will have more people with whatever problems they have coming to the Department and letting Officers know that they have this problem,” he said. He added that when persons do not want to come in and discuss their immigration issues because of being fearful of Immigration Officers then their issues do not get resolved and they make things worse for themselves.
“And even if a decision is made that this person has to leave the Territory for whatever reason, at least they would have felt good knowing that they have come to the Department and they have been dealt with professionally, rather than being afraid to approach the Department because they know that this or that Officer will talk down to them,” he said.
Emphasizing the importance of having a team of supporting staff and officers, Penn said, “I wouldn’t sit here and tell you that I alone will try to reform the Immigration Department on my own…I must involve the staff.”
He said that without the backing of the staff he may not be able to achieve what he has set out to achieve now that he is acting CIO. “It is not a one man show.”
Not approachable
Penn said that the Immigration Department has been in the forefront of the public for some time and not in a positive light because of how the Department is viewed by the public. “The public sometimes views the Department as a Department that is not approachable because of the seriousness of what is being dealt with, the nature of what is being dealt with and more so the officers’ behaviour and attitude,” he said.
“So the whole attitude of the Department has to be addressed. It must be more customer-friendly where persons will feel comfortable in approaching the Immigration Department and approaching any Immigration Officer in trying to get assistance for whatever their needs are,” he said.
No smiling for smiling’s sake
Penn said that he believes that Immigration Officers should put on a good face when approached by customers. However he explained that he did not mean that they should just smile for smiling’s sake, since he understands that people are different and have different personalities.
“How I look at it is if a customer comes to an Immigration Officer and that Officer helps that customer along their way in whatever it is they are doing, that in itself should make the Officer feel good. So whether it puts a smile on their face or makes them feel good, it should come out as something good that they have done for the customer and the customer should see that the Officer feels good about himself for helping them to get from point A to point B,” said Penn. “I don’t want Officers to have a smiley face because I say they should have a smiley face,” he said.
He explained that though an Officer might not be actually smiling, he or she can still come across as happy and helpful.
“The customer could hear the tone of your voice and see that you are very helpful. So even if the Officer doesn’t smile it doesn’t mean that he or she has not done their jobs properly,” he said.
“If he puts up a mean face for no reason or talks down to the customer then that’s a problem,” he added. He said that there may be Officers that persons might be afraid to approach because of that Officer’s demeanor.
The Department’s role in tourism
Penn called the Immigration Department the ‘mirror’ to the Territory since that is where people would come in and have their first contact when they land.
“We are now living in the technological age where if there are complaints at the ports of entry from visitors, you know that these complaints could go on the internet, you know that these complaints could have devastating effect on our tourism industry,” he said.
“The Immigration Department plays a vital role in making sure that the tourism industry in the Territory stays vibrant and we have that role to play. We have to welcome our visitors pleasantly. When visitors come to our shores we are the first persons they meet and you know as they say your first impression is the lasting impression, so we have to make sure that the first impression that we give them is a good impression of the Territory. Then you will have repeat visitors to the Territory and those visitors will then tell others of the good experience they had with Immigration,” said Penn.
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28 Responses to “EXCLUSIVE: CIO Ag. Ian B. Penn to reform Imm. Dept.”
We should not have unpleasant people working with Immigration and customs. They need to find a new job if they are not friendly. On the other hand he has some good Officers who are very plesant to deal with at the front office.
Good Luck Mr. Penn