Employees give Eveready thumbs up

Date : 21 November 2006

Eveready was placed eighth in the seventh annual Deloitte/FM Best Company to Work For survey.

Described as a "yardstick for assessing the best workplaces in the country” by Deloitte principal of consulting David Conradie, the survey included unrestricted interviews with employees and employers at 121 companies nationwide.

Employees’ opinions accounted for the bulk of the final rankings – 85 per cent – while those of employers made up the difference.

Eveready managing director Avijit Das said it was the changing of the company’s mindset from "they and we” to "us”, which was characterized by self-improvement and mutual respect, that allowed it to stand apart from the pack. "These values are a strong part of our culture and we live them on a daily basis.”

General Manager of HR Charles du Toit made the following observations in a recent interview. "We are extremely excited about the result, we did not enter the competition with the intention of doing well but rather benefiting from the climate survey conducted.

"What makes the difference at Eveready is our belief that People are critically important to the business.” We have tried to create a climate where everyone is important and this is reflected in our open door policy.

We strongly promote company ethics – which we call best behaviours – such as honesty, integrity, trust and mutual respect and we hold one another accountable.”

One of the ways in which this is done is through a "360 degree performance appraisal” where every employee is rated in terms of their commitment to living out the culture by superiors, peers and subordinates.

It was also important for the company to reject "big corporation mentality” by focusing on the individual needs of the employee rather than loosing them in an impersonal sea of labourers as happened in many large companies.

"We want to be a big company brand with a small family-like, professional environment. If a junior staff member wants to talk to the managing director, he or she can.”

Article excerpt from The Weekend Post: Saturday, October 7, 2006; by Brian Hayward