Celebrating Outstanding Employees

Showing love by donating blood

By Shiphrah Njeri and Linnette Leyi

Picture this – you head a team of brilliant, dedicated, motivated staff working hard all year round to ensure all your departmental targets are met.

They do this with a lot of ease and your department is praised for work well done.

But when was the last time you told them that, or showed your appreciation for their tireless support for this work? When was the last time you publicly acknowledged their incredible input? Clearly, you should be doing it at every opportunity.

This is because there’s nothing better than having someone, especially your employer, take notice of your effort. It can make your day, put a smile on your face, and boost your sense of connection to an organization.

That’s perhaps, the biggest reason why having an ‘Employee of the Year’ or ‘Employees of the Year’ award makes so much sense.

After all, an employee recognition program is designed to highlight someone’s outstanding contribution, which leads to myriad benefits for the individual, the team, and, importantly, the employer as well.

But what is the Employee of The Year Award? This is a workpay initiative to recognize and celebrate the valuable contributions employees make throughout the year in businesses and organizations.

It is a badge of honour employers give employees to recognize and celebrate their efforts and contributions toward propelling the company’s visions.

Organizations use this award to distinguish employees from their counterparts and acknowledge them for their disposition, attitude, and performance.

While it’s often awarded on an annual basis (hence the name), this isn’t a hard and fast rule. You could choose to recognize employees in this way every week, once a month, each quarter, or all of the above!

Kenyatta National Hospital has not been left behind. The hospital recently revived the excellence awards program that had been halted a few years ago.

For a start, the Human Resource Department did a pilot program that saw employees from twentyone (21) departments participate in the exercise to vote for the best employees.

Director of Human Resource Division- Mrs. Winnie Mwangi says that the award will enable the management to show the staff that they recognize their effort.

“Outstanding staff will receive a letter of commendation, and a framed photograph which will be displayed conspicuously in the departments for everyone to see,” she says.

The new program is different from the previous one because the latter involves staff directly.

“Employees undertake the nominations themselves, the one who receives the most tallies has their performance appraisal scores evaluated, and depending on their score, they then receive the award,” she explained.

“Even after the nomination, the performance of the nominee has to be outstanding, various factors like customer care and alignment with hospital core values are considered,” she said.

Speaking to Newsline, Mr. David Mwanga-in charge of Performance Management in the Human Resource Department noted that previously, Heads of Units and Departments made the selection themselves, and this raised complaints of favoritism.

“We engage departments using a simple two-page questionnair, mostly based on KNH core values, we then allow for voting by all members. The form was formulated at Executive Management Committee (EMC) in consultation with Human Resource Department. The process is instantaneous and the winner is announced on spot,” he says.

The program will benefit the Hospital in many ways. Mrs. Mwangi is positive that this practice will bring the best out of staff in the hope that they get recognized for their hard work. Consequently, services rendered to clients will improve. It will also help to improve the relationship amongst staff, enhancing teamwork.

**Dr. Ireri Salome Kahomi-Senior Dental Specialist (Dentistry)**

**Damiano M. Mwangi-Snr Assistant Orthopaedic (Orthopaedic Technology)**

Mr. Festus Osinde, a Human Resource Officer, who is a member of the team undertaking the awards program said staff from the sampled areas are happy with the exercise.

**Priscah Angwenyi-Marketing & Communication Officer (M&C)**

**Mr. Philemon Orwa-Senior Office Assistant 1 (HR)**

“Even though only a few areas were sampled under their HR pilot program, gradually we will have every Department/Unit participate. We have also gathered a lot of feedback on how to improve and we have forwarded it to our Director. We hope to adopt some suggested feedback that will make the process even better for the next financial year.”