What to expect as Employer of the Year Awards launched

Dar es Salaam. The Best Employer of the Year Award (EYA) under the Association of Tanzania Employers (ATE) can be a springboard to improve the working environment for employees as well as enhance productivity in business, experts said yesterday.

They believe that through the process established by ATE, every company that puts the interests of its employees and customers at the forefront gets the opportunity to improve, instead of just focusing on the award as a promotion. The association officially launched a special website for the 2023 search process on Tuesday as a continuation of a major activity initiated and carried out annually since 2005.

According to ATE’s Executive Director, Ms Suzanne Ndomba-Doran, the main objective of the award has been to identify and reward employers with the best foundations for manpower and human resources management. Through EYA, ATE seeks to promote and sensitise organisations that put people at the core of their businesses and have implemented policies, systems and processes that create and sustain enterprise competitiveness, productivity improvement, and industrial peace and harmony. “This award has been important as its purpose is to recognise employers who are doing well in putting in place the best strategies to increase productivity in business,” Ms Doran said.

She said that the award has motivated employers to put in place better employment policies and relationships at the workplace, compliance with the law and competition. However, Dr Adam Bushini from the University of Dodoma told The Citizen yesterday that all employers, especially small companies, should participate to be able to find a way to improve their performance even after missing out on the win.

“This award has existed, but still, most employees are complaining about their interests, poor working conditions and even some employers failing to achieve expected business productivity,” he said.

“Participation is not only for large companies; this is an opportunity for every employer to promote business productivity. However, the initiative should not be used only as a business promotion platform.” Dr Sophia Mosha of Mzumbe University said that in developed countries, competitions are very helpful in strengthening the whole chain, starting with employees, employers and businesses. “We expect that if we evaluate this award, we will see great improvements for participating companies,” she said.

According to Ms Doran, when an employer receives an award, he is assured of a better environment for his employees. She asked members to start the process, which has 14 aspects, including gender equality, quality in human resource management, governance and leadership, employee involvement, climate change, and the way companies deal with disasters like Covid-19.