Yesterday afternoon, the ANSA McAL group of companies awarded its top sector performers for 2013 during a luncheon held at the Jaffa restaurant in the Queen’s Park Oval. Awards were given to one employee from each sector of the ANSA McAL group which comprises automotive, beverage, distribution, financial services, manufacturing, media, retail and services sectors.
Giving the opening address at the event, group chairman and chief executive A Norman Sabga said the judging process for the awards was not an easy one since all of the nominees demonstrated great talent and commitment to performance. He told the winners and other nominees present that they personified all the qualities that ANSA McAL looked for in its employees and encouraged them to see the company as a place where they could build a future and develop their careers further.
Human resources director Teresa White listed the three main criteria in selecting the winners which included “excellence in execution, acting as an owner and getting the people basics right” and she urged the winners not to become complacent. Each winner received a 32-inch flat-screen television. For the automotive sector, the award went to divisional manager of the ANSA Automotive repair centre Deryck Chanardip.
Managing director of ANSA Automotive Jerome Borde said between July 2013 and now, the auto repair centre had gotten back on budget and employee absenteeism was down 80 per cent, largely due to Chanardip’s performance. The award for the beverage sector was presented to Cindy Lutchman, marketing manager of the soft drinks division of Carib Brewery Ltd. Head of the beverage sector Andrew Sabga praised Lutchman for “hitting targets and budgets each and every year” even when faced with challenging circumstances.
Electrician in the maintenance department of Guardian Media Ltd (GML) Mark Luke took the top performer award for the media sector and GML managing director Lisa Agard thanked him for his dedication to duty. She said that the critical work carried out by Luke and his team could not be taken for granted as it allowed for the smooth functioning of all GML’s day-to-day operations.
The corporate services sector award went to reporting team manager in the Group Finance Department Nadia Beepersad and the financial services award went to Sarita Persad who is the legal and compliance manager at Tatil. Business analyst at Standard Distributors Marina Thomson took home the award for retail while assistant operations manager at ANSA Chemicals Ltd Anil Maharaj was named the top performer in the manufacturing sector.
Jameel Baksh, information technology lead at ANSA McAL Trading Ltd in Guyana, flew into T&T yesterday to receive the award for the top employee in the distribution sector. The only awardee who was unable to attend the event was Catalina Echeverri, business development co-ordinator for ANSA McAL Trading in the US and winner of the 2013 top performer award for services.