Business awards urged to broaden scope
Pauline Dikuelo | Friday October 30, 2015 15:37
Former vice president, Ponatshego Kedikilwe said this recently at the inaugural Private Business Growth Award where Sprint Couriers emerged as the winners.
The awards were organised by Grant Thornton in collaboration with Business Botswana.
The selection criteria was capsuled into categories of innovation, market development, people and culture strategic leadership and financial performance.
To be considered for the selection for the award, businesses had to demonstrate innovation in terms of product and service development as well as improvements in their internal processes.
“Another criterion for eligibility should address the mismatch between training and the world of work through programmes offered by organisations such as Junior Chamber Botswana,” suggested Kedikilwe.
He added that this initiative complements a promising trend of collaborative and coordinated effort, adding that it should foster networking, research and information sharing to avoid fatal business assumptions and bad decisions.
According to Kedikilwe, the awards should nurture the spirit of enlightened self-interest in hope that successful enterprises are well advised to mentor and assist local entrepreneurs in the interest of social harmony, which is a pre-requisite for business growth.
“Growth generated through these awards will send a message to potential investors as foreign direct investment has been eluding the country in that good governance and ambient business environment have not attracted a commensurate level of investment,” he said.
For his part, managing partner at Grant Thornton, Jay Ramesh said the awards are intended to honour businesses that have demonstrated holistic growth and encompass a broad range of activities across their businesses.
He said: “These include innovation, market development, people and culture, strategic leadership, and improvements in financial measures.
In areas of market development, businesses had to demonstrate their market strategies, expansion into new domestic or international markets”.
Ramesh added that the selection criterion was a close one as the finalists were all deserving the award.
The winner walked away with a trophy, tax and consulting services worth P25,000 from Grant Thornton as well as free full-year subscription from Business Botswana.
“We concurred that the best way to thank the private sector was by instituting this Private Business Growth Awards to highlight the performance of the top five achievers in the private sector arena,” he said.
Other finalists who made it to the top five included Flotek PVC manufacturing, Gabs foam, which manufactures bedding, Jamal Trading, the building suppliers as well as Security Systems.