By Ndoumbe Bell Joseph Gaston
The public relations (PR) and Communications entity, Fab Afriq Media Group organized a press conference at Bonapriso to acquaint the entire public of the transparency, fair play, authenticity, vision and to dispel any form of foul play and arrangements in the results as they count down to stage their 8th edition of their annual corporate awards 2022 at Krystal Palace (on Friday November 11) recently, themed “Benchmarking your Corporate Stories”.
Reacting to questions from a bevy of media practitioners, Fab Afriq CEO Adeline Sede said “a company can either be nominated or express interest in taking part by sending an e-mail” as directed in order to receive the detailed modalities of participation or the voting link. She went on stating that the results of findings of the selected categories from an independent research team deployed to the unknown nominees will then be forwarded to their board for verification, evaluation and the winners selected.
press conference
The award categories such as investor in people, gender equality, employer of choice, employee relations, innovation and adaptability, health safety and environment (HSE) including corporate social responsibility, are said to recognize companies creating and maintaining a positive working relationship between the employer and employee. Judges seek evidence that the initiative and actions of the employer are creating positive relations in the workplace to the benefit of both camps. Being that there have been significant changes in the ecosystem, two innovated categories such as the sustainability of the company (in the aspect of the environment, social responsibility and governance) and workplace wellbeing, had to be added. Adhering to the pressure of the media, the CEO is seriously considering the participation of SMEs in awards at some time in the future.
Adeline Sede outlined the objectives to include creating benchmarking and helping to promote best practices, reward companies making strides to impact society and to encourage a holistic approach in human capital management among others. “it’s all about people” she exclaimed. The winners of some of the categories will be detected through voting rights of a cross section of the public.
In another hallowing event last Thursday Nov. 10 prior to the corporate awards, Women in Leadership now 8 years old also attracted strong participation within the alpha membership and other interesting parties. First was the alpha poetry whose resonance raised their spirit of the session to go for high value strategies to attain growth.
Then the CEO and founder of Fab Afriq Mme Adeline Sede recounted that she created this platform for sharing the storms in the diaspora in addition to professional and cultural domains that dominated the times. She then decided what to give back what she had learnt in Cameroon. She then encouraged women to take their destinies into their own hands, move right to the top of the pyramid and to live fulfilled lives.She revealed that the event is a pan-African event which in 2023 will take them to countries like Ghana and others in the West African and Central African States.
The Fab Afriq CEO used the biography of Mme Gwendoline Abunaw, General Manager of Ecobank and President of APPECAM as she wished and urged all the alphas to emulate her professional experiences among others. She called on participants to subscribe to Corporate Women in leadership network for the many advantages or benefits.
On her part, Mme Abunaw highlighted the efforts made by Fab Afriq in organising this edition and that it contributes enormously to inspire and shifts the narrative of gender equality in Cameroon and Africa in general. To alpha women, Mme Abunaw hoped that her presentation met with all group aspirations as to how to find high value strategies to assure growth.
The innovator of women in the business sector Mme Abunaw continued by suggesting four prescriptions or principles which she uses in her personal life. First know what you want. Outline your plan or strategy to grow in a special way, speak to the right people and work with the right people. The third is self-evaluation, reset and move forward. Reaching the first destination does not mean you have arrived. The fourth is after success try to be consistent because pressure is on you to continue. These are problems that come with success. So remain afloat and finally equilibrate or have good balance. The Ecobank GM asked for continuous innovation and creativity. To alphas, she recommended high-value strategies.
There were three sets of panelists that drew the women in leadership edition to a halt. The first panelists, in a nutshell, were very vocal on taking control of one’s career using agency authenticity, connection and wholeness. The second set of panelists discussed giving back through corporate social responsibilities (CSR) and being true to yourself while the master class panel delved on a blend of both sessions, helping the participants to strategise on the steps they are to take to help them grow. Results of the corporate Awards proper will soon be published.