At the recently held 2021 Reward Awards ceremony hosted by the South African Reward Association (SARA), Openserve won the Reward Project of the Year award while ABSA won the Remuneration Report award for the second consecutive year.
Morag Phillips won the prestigious President’s Award. The annual rewards celebrate the companies and professionals who design total reward solutions that attract, retain, motivate, and engage employees in a way that makes a difference to their organisations. Reward Project Award The 2021 SARA Reward Project award recognised the team from Openserve for their Heroes Employee Recognition Project. The project recognises employees that go beyond the call of duty in providing excellent service to Openserve customers. The process is employee-driven and administered via the Openserve Heroes portal, where individual employees are nominated weekly. Due to the basic setup of the portal, no management intervention is required, and there is little to no overhead in administering the system. Weekly and monthly winners receive a personal call from an Openserve Exco member congratulating them on their Hero status. The annual process culminates in a virtual breakfast with the Exco and the monthly Hero winners. In the first cycle, the CEO announced a surprise gift of a weekend away with partners for all the monthly winners. There has been a healthy adoption rate among employees and key indirect business performance metrics all show pleasing improvements. The other placed nominees of the 2021 SARA Reward Project of the Year award were Mr Price Group in second place for their Flexible Retirement Benefits implementation project, and Bridgestone South Africa for their Total Cost to Company migration project. Remuneration Report Award The winner of the 2021 SARA Remuneration Report of the Year award is ABSA. Goldfields received 2nd Place and Anglo American Platinum Limited received 3rd place for their submissions. This award recognises organisations for the alignment of their remuneration reporting and disclosure, against the key principles of the King IVTM governance guidelines which exemplify fair, responsible and transparent policy and practice. Submissions were evaluated by a panel of independent and expert judges across all spheres of stakeholders. President’s Award A special President's Award that honours outstanding achievement in the field of total reward was awarded to Morag Phillips from 21st Century. Morag has served the South Africa Reward Association over an extended period. She continues to contribute to the value that the association creates for its members by chairing the Thought Leadership Committee, and previously the Conference committee and also makes herself available as a Mentor on the Mentorship programme. She has written many articles and spoken at numerous conferences on HR and Reward matters and is viewed as an industry specialist and leader in her field. Morag is an integral part of the leadership team that ensures SARA continuously innovates value adding services to members. Morag’s inner strength, inputs, and research have enabled the SARA Exco to optimise the diversity of its members. The association is honoured to acknowledge Morag’s invaluable contribution to the profession, our community, country, and continent at large. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, [email protected], www.atthatpoint.co.za For more information on SARA please visit: Website: www.sara.co.za Twitter: @SA_reward LinkedIn: South African Reward Association Facebook: SARA – South African Reward Association
0 Comments
Since the pandemic began, Work-From-Home (WFH) has been lauded as the new working model for many occupations.
Now, with vaccination efforts ramping up, some employers are eager to get their staff back to the office. “Organisations need to plan and execute that migration sensibly and with sensitivity to keep productivity high,” says Muhammed Goolab, Exco member at the South African Reward Association (SARA). He offers the following advice on key considerations they should be aware of. Unique business needs Unique driving forces may require employees to resume their duties on premises. Certain types of teams are simply more productive working together than remotely. Some management structures and styles are not easily adapted for digital collaboration, or managers perceive a loss of control under a WFH model. It can also be more difficult to onboard new employees or impart essential skills to junior staff at a distance. Remote employees themselves could feel disconnected from the organisation and isolated from their peers. A lack of personal connection can weigh heavily on their mental health, well-being and productivity. “This is especially concerning when the customer experience is impacted by demotivated frontline staff,” says Goolab. Hybrid working models Although circumstances may require a return to work, employers will likely favour a hybrid model. A mix of on-site and WFH employees can increase productivity and offer flexibility that promotes employees’ overall well-being. While remote workers enjoy lower work-related expenses, like travel, employers can also scale back on office space, equipment, canteen and other costs. “Conversely, tensions need to be managed as on-premises workers may perceive their remote counterparts as less productive but receiving better benefits, and therefore unfairly remunerated,” warns Goolab. Culture shock For some employees, long-term WFH has become an entrenched work culture in their daily lives and a sudden return to the workplace could prove disruptive. Others are only too happy to get back to a professional environment free from distractions. “Employers can leverage these contrasting attitudes to map out a planned and gradual return that welcomes affected workers back a few days more each week or month to ease their transition to full-time attendance,” says Goolab. WFH as a reward Before getting all hands back on deck, organisations should review WFH as a benefit that can attract and retain in-demand talent. Employees with sought-after qualifications and skills, and who value greater flexibility, will be drawn to employers that afford them more freedom, trusting them to manage their workload responsibly. “Employers can also attract talent from a much wider and more diverse talent pool than they could if requiring staff to be at the workplace,” says Goolab. ENDS MEDIA CONTACT: Rosa-Mari Le Roux, 060 995 6277, [email protected], www.atthatpoint.co.za For more information on SARA please visit: Website: www.sara.co.za Twitter: @SA_reward LinkedIn: South African Reward Association Facebook: SARA – South African Reward Association |
Archives
December 2024
Welcome to the South African Reward Association newsroom.
Categories
All
|