PRIP Bill Boyd presenting a Pride of Workmanship Certificate to Anita Greenland of The Professionals Real Estate. |
Pride
of Workmanship Awards were awarded by the Rotary Club of
Manurewa-Takanini, NZ on September 21, 2015 to 11 awardees, including
security guards, teachers, supermarket supervisors, a personal
assistant, a secretary receptionist, a beverages and catering manager,
an artist and a team leader. Their employers ranged from a primary
school, beautification trust, real estate agency, supermarket, and a
shopping centre to a local board and a golf club.
Awardee
nominations came as a result of personal contact with employers known
to members, a mail-out to local businesses with a personal follow up,
and from approaching a school principal who was a guest speaker earlier
in the year.
Every
business has staff members who excel at their jobs or think outside the
square to ensure that the duties they have been allocated are finished
both accurately and on time. These same employees may volunteer to help
other employees with their tasks. Many businesses value special
employees, but due to financial restraints or company policies, they are
unable to reward them for their extra efforts.
The idea behind the Pride of Workmanship Awards is
to help employers recognise these employees, so each year we select a
small group of local companies to participate in these awards. The
employers nominate their staff member along with a short resume of what
they do and why they are nominating them. It is not a competition, so
nominees are all automatically accepted by the club and certificates are
printed and framed.
The
presentation dinner is attended by the employer and their nominated
employee, plus any other employees the business wishes to bring along,
or even family members. The Rotary club pays for the employee and the
employer pays for themselves and any other people they bring along. We
include a short speech about Rotary opportunities, then a keynote
speaker on a related topic, and then it is the presentation of
certificates with the employers explaining why they nominated each
awardee.
It
is always a great night where we all recognise excellence and the
recipients go home feeling appreciated. We recommend annual Pride of
Workmanship Awards to all clubs.
Words: President Ken Haines, Rotary Club of Manurewa-Takanini, NZ
Photos: Colin White, Rotary Club of Manurewa-Takanini, NZ