Awards, awards and more awards
View(s):Some years back, a well known local firm – on the verge of selling out as it was losing business – asked its employees to look for other jobs. Perks were reduced and employees with families were desperate.
During this crisis period, the company applies and wins an award by a Mumbai-based Asian organization for being the “best HR company in the Asian region”! The award is publicised widely in the local media.
In another awards presentation, a company that has had problems with villages where one of its factories are located, wins for being a ‘model firm’. Another firm, resorting to unethical practices, gets an award for sustainability.
If there were only a cluster of awards 10 years ago that the corporate sector vied for, today there are hundreds of awards in Sri Lanka and across the world; some genuine but many dubious and charging enormous fees for entry.
Not a week passes with the media being informed by two or three companies that they have won awards from an unheard of organisation. Corporate sector offices are filled with these awards aimed at promoting the image of a company.
What is the credibility of these award-giving institutions? How are they defined? Is there some kind of regulatory process that can guarantee such awards to ensure they are authentic and have legitimate backing?
These awards and certification are then thrust on an unsuspecting public to prove the credentials of a company. Some years back, there was an organization in Spain doling out awards so much so that some unheard of Panchikawatte companies were also being declared the “best in Asia”!
Check the shelves of a supermarket and all its products, some well known; some unknown, would have some award or certification printed on the label to show it is a credible and safe product.
The corporate world has gone insane over awards and in some firms, there are teams working only on garnering awards through glossy annual reports, powerful presentations and eye-catching e-applications. On the field however, interaction with the public in terms of the quality of the product and the after-sales service leaves much to be desired. There are scores of examples of widely-awarded companies who have sold bad products, provided bad service or not responded to customer complaints.
In most cases, probably all cases, foreign awards (ones not organised by reputed agencies) are given based on an application, a mass of documents (often with doubtful authentication) and ‘impressive’ credentials. No independent ground check is undertaken to verify whether the information furnished is true.
Some years back, an awards scheme organized by a reputed institution saw a team of technical experts being sent to independently verify the claims made in applications. Sudden visits to factories and places where these companies had CSR projects revealed a story that was entirely different to what was claimed in nice, looking annual reports and presentations.
With the culture of ‘awards’ becoming infectious, bordering on a level of desperation, there is a need for a system that would assess the credibility of these award-giving institutions. This will not only help the private sector in garnering authentic awards but also improve their credibility status amongst the public.