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Econet Wireless Zimbabwe recognised its top performing staff at a colourful company event held in Harare on Friday evening.

The leading telecommunications and technology company, which supports a high-performance culture among its people, last year embarked on a programme to publicly recognise and reward its top-performing employees on a half-yearly basis. This is over and above other performance incentives that the company awards its employees from time to time.

Speaking at the awards ceremony –  attended by the company’s top management, the winning employees and a few selected guests –  Econet Deputy Chief Executive Officer Mr Roy Chimanikire  said the ‘EcoStars Awards’ programme recognises and rewards talent and hard work among staff that “consistently go above and beyond” their performance expectations in order to deliver excellence.

“I believe you are here today because you have embraced the culture of excellence in every aspect of what you do within the organisation, in your families, churches, and in the community at large.

“I applaud you for your excellence because I know it’s a way of life that goes beyond your official working hours at Econet,” said Mr Chimanikire.

He told the award winners that they were part of “something far bigger” than themselves: “part of the Econet story”.

“The Econet story has many special players in it and invokes a certain level of energy, excitement and passion. It is a story of people who had a vision of creating something meaningful, that would change lives and continue to reverberate in terms of impact across our society.

“I believe Econet has a special place within Zimbabwe because of what it stands for, and I would like to believe that you are all proud to be associated with Econet because of the impact it has had, and continues to have on many lives,” the company’s Deputy CEO said.

Speaking at the same event, Econet Chief Operating Officer Mr Kezito Makuni said part of Econet’s leadership strategy was to focus on important issues to staff, such as recognition, a healthy work-life balance and striving to offer staff a unique all-round and exciting experience in which they can thrive and grow.

“Performance awards are a key part of performance management, and are meant to recognise the great effort people make for our organisation and our teams, and ultimately the sacrifices they make for their families.

“I want to appreciate all the people who are receiving awards this evening and say I hope the recognition spurs you on to do even more, and that it encourages others to achieve the same,” Mr Makuni said.

In her remarks, Econet Chief Human Resources Officer Mrs Rosseweater Usayi said creating a performance culture was sustained by the art of recognition, among other core fundamentals, which are important in how a business continues to be an employer of choice.

These, she said, included embracing diverse talents and the contributions of individuals and teams who “contribute in the extra-mile, making the extra-ordinary effort as required in these extra-ordinary times”.

“Tonight we are recognising individuals and teams that have made personal sacrifices in many regards to contribute with creativity and innovation. Those contributions have ultimately been highly impactful to our customer community and to our business as a whole,” she said.

Mrs Usayi  emphasized that accomplishing the vision of the business; “To create a digitally connected future that leaves no Zimbabwean behind,” would certainly require extraordinary effort and ‘extra-mile’ performance.

While over 50 top individual performers and more than 10 teams were recognised and celebrated on the night, Mrs Usayi noted that she looked forward to congratulating more staff members on the glamorous awards stage in the ongoing ‘Ecostar Awards’ premier programme.

The company holds the awards on a half-yearly basis, and the awards are based on individual and team performance across the organisation.

Econet Wireless Zimbabwe, a blue chip counter on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, has in the past won numerous company awards, including scooping the Old Mutual and Fingaz sponsored ‘Top Company of the Year Award’ for two years running, in 2020 and 2021.