01 Jul 2014

It is important that all individuals in an institution should work collectively and individually to strive to promote its well-being, growth and attainment of its objectives.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) deputy chairperson, Mr Ontumetse Motumise, said this when delivering a keynote address at IEC’s first ever awards ceremony recently.

Mr Motumise said government had created institutions, one function of which was to facilitate good governance. Within these institutions, he said were individuals who more than others, worked tirelessly and dedicated themselves towards the realisation of the common good and the ideals of the institution. 

“The IEC is such an institution and comprises staff who strive to work together to sustain democratic principles in the management of elections,” he said.

In addition, IEC deputy chairperson said government had also, in recent times, introduced reforms across the public service to improve service delivery. Such developments, he said had improved service delivery and, in no small measure, had also led to job satisfaction among many workers.

For some time in the past, Mr Motumise said the Commission had been facing a high staff turnover. Therefore, he expressed gratitude that notwithstanding this challenge, many officers had stood the test of time and had persevered. 

In the past few years, IEC deputy chairperson said there was significant evidence of staff retention, which he said was a positive development and the awards ceremony was a testimony of that fact.

The ceremony, Mr Motumise said was meant to recognise and acknowledge the outstanding performance and wonderful service of all award recipients. 

That, he said was also a way of showing all the awards recipients that their efforts were being seen and appreciated. Therefore, he encouraged employees who did not receive awards to work even harder so that in future they would be counted within the awards recipients. 

The recognition of certain individuals within the commission, he said “should not be seen as discrimination of any kind. It is just an opportunity to say thank you to those selected for showing extra resilience, perseverance and commitment to the course of election management as s unique process, even during its most trying cycles.” 

“Let us not look at this event as a competition, but rather as an encouragement to all staff. We should also not look at the event as a creation of silos, but rather as a process of creating cooperation and team work within the various units of the Commission,” he added.

Furthermore, (IEC) deputy chairman implored IEC staff to nurture a culture of excellence through working together as a team and transferring their skills and expertise to new and young employees. This, he said would contribute a lot in creating a positive and favourable work environment that allowed productivity and creativity. 

Commissioner Motumise said the IEC serviced very sensitive stakeholders who required high levels of diligence from the staff. If it loses trust, he said the Commission would inevitably lose its credibility, and, once credibility was lost, nothing would ever be the same again. The awards were divided into the following categories; beauty contestants’ awards, performance awards, chairman’s award, employee of the year award, employee’s choice award, and most improved employee. ENDS