13 Oct 2014

Orapa Letlhakane and Damtshaa Mines (OLDM) have rewarded 240 employees for their long service thus celebrating substance and quality of work they all contributed.

OLDM general manager, Dr Adrial Gale said at the ceremony on October 10 that employees’ efforts had made the mines to be the best in Sub-Saharan Africa hence their performance over the years bear testimony.

Dr Gale stated that OLDM’s ability to retain staff in such a dynamic and highly competitive business environment made a difference between the mines and their competitors.

The awards ceremony therefore, he said signified commitment and loyalty that had and existed between all recipients, OLDM and Debswana group.

That, he added, indicated that they were all fulfilled in their jobs and that Debswana could proudly brand itself the employer of choice.

Further, Dr Gale observed that in the last 10-15 years remarkable transformations took place in the company as it continued to embrace corporate and global change, adding that Debswana has thus far been agile to adapt to the change.

Such agility, he said could be attributed to the company’s highly innovative strategies and world class committed workforce.

Dr Gale further appreciated employees’ input in ensuring growth of business as they continued to collectively find better, innovative ways of doing business as they embark on a new operational strategy in the 2018 High Performance Organisation; “Always Ahead - OLDM one team.”

The long service awards also aimed to recognise commendable traits such as loyalty, determination focus and drive in their employees.

Dr Gale said committing years of life to any organisation demonstrated that employees believed in its values and vision. Thus, he was adamant that with employees continued support, hard work and zeal, their mission to be the global benchmark diamond mining business would be achieved and sustained.

He stated that OLDM continued to record some impressive achievements, attributable to the spirit of oneness among the employees.

Again, he indicated that through the QUANTUM series initiative, the Total Reportable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) was reduced from 0.91 to 0.68 in 2012 then down to 0.50 in 2013.

As such, he highlighted the need for them to continue pulling together to create a safe working environment in the company’s operations.

On the other hand, senior service manager, Mr Thatayaone Sithole said OLDM was honoured to have employees of their calibre who have contributed significantly to growth of business.

As a result, Mr Sithole expressed hope that they would continue working for OLDM so that they continued working together to transform Debswana into a high performance organisation. ENDS