Ghanaian employees who excel in their various fields of endeavour will from this year receive due recognition on a national platform. Accra-based Public Relations and Events Management firm, Cheetah Communications Limited, the brain behind the event, will in collaboration with the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare, the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Ghana Investment Promotion Council and the Ghana Employers’ Association roll out the maiden edition of the programme this year. The event is a rare departure from the internal recognitions given to hard working employees of various companies. The awards programme, dubbed “Corporate Ghana Employee Awards” which will be launched in few weeks will target employees of companies within the Ghana Club 100 for this year’s event but hopes to extend the coverage to other institutions across the country which are outside the club. “This programme is meant to provoke Ghana’s labour force to positively contribute their quota to the realisation of corporate objectives”, Cheetah’s communications manager, Stephen Gyasi Jnr., stated. He explained that the decision to use companies within the Ghana Club 100 bracket for the maiden edition was to ensure that they had a relatively limited area of operation for this year which can serve as a prototype to fine-tune subsequent editions. “In fairness to the prospective award winners, nominees will be categorised into sector-specific areas such as Financial Services, Petroleum and Mining, Infrastructure, Education and the like, to ensure that prizes go to deserving employees based on the strength of their contribution and performance in that particular field ”, he explained. The programme will award a winner each in ten categories with the overall best employee taking home an extra prize. According to Mr. Gyasi Jnr., some human resource experts have been drafted into an Evaluation Committee to assess and screen nominees from various companies and determine their eligibility for due recognition based on the criteria established by a Technical Committee made up of representatives of Cheetah Communications and its collaborating institutions. “One of the prime objectives of the technical committee is to set standards and provide intuitive education to safeguard the objectivity and transparency of the award process”, he explained. He said the process leading to the selection of winners in the various award categories will be carefully monitored and scrutinised by technical committee and other duly constituted oversight bodies to ensure that eventual winners emerge devoid of the post-ceremony rancour, mudslinging and procedural criticism that have enveloped some award programmes in the past. “The integrity of the awards and the competence-based justification of winners are very crucial to the sustenance and credibility of this programme, and Cheetah Communications is committed to ensuring that the sanctity of this process remains its most abiding trump card”, the communications manager stressed. Mr. Gyasi Jnr. disclosed that the Corporate Ghana Employee Awards programme is one of the numerous novelties his outfit intends to roll out in the near future in furtherance of the company’s avowed objective of giving a new lease of life to 21st century public relations practice and cutting-edge events management. “Cheetah Communications is uniquely configured for the speed, breathtaking innovation, strength, swiftness and the precision needed to win in today’s evolving integrated marketing communications world”, he posited.