CEO awards 2015
Recognition and reward
Aligned to the new vision for the group – Inspiring a World of Difference – this year’s CEO Awards’ nominees demonstrated how they inspire a world of difference by delivering shared value for all our stakeholders. Importantly, these outstanding employees also inspire a world of difference among their colleagues as they lead by example, living our values of Integrity, Excellence, Teamwork, Commitment and Sustainability in their respective roles within the group.
Winners of the 2015 CEO awards
Barloworld Equipment Iberia: Nela Varela Senin and Sonia Borrás Gonzalez representing the Barloworld Iberia Marine team
Nela Varela Senin and Sonia Borrás Gonzalez of Barloworld Iberia Marine were named the winners of the 2015 CEO Awards at a function at Summer Place on Friday, 6 November.
These two remarkable women have overcome many challenges – including very difficult market conditions and succeeding in a male-dominated field – to excel in the sales and after sales marine markets respectively. Our Power Marine business has enormous global potential and Nela and Sonia have shown how this can be unleashed through their understanding of the industry, passion for the brands they represent and a team-driven attitude.
Nela and Sonia, working in the sales and after sales Global Marine business respectively, have made a very significant contribution to our growing reputation as a leading marine power specialist.
Nela was appointed head of Cat Propulsion in the Iberian business in 2013, responsible for the development and growth of our Cat propeller and propulsion systems business. Having shown promise in the after sales engine business, Sonia rose to the position of MaK product support manager.
The team’s achievements have been recognised by Caterpillar as Finanzauto received a Global Dealer Excellence Award for Marine, being one of only two dealers worldwide that received this accolade.
Finalists representing the other business units included:
Barloworld Automotive: Kim Crawford and Duncan Atkinson representing the Budget implementation team
Barloworld signed an agreement that enables Avis SA to also operate the Budget car rental brand in the southern Africa region for the next 15 years.
This major announcement unleashed a dramatic chain of events – leaving the team with less than 20 days to go live! The process demanded the dedication and commitment of every Avis Brand ambassador.
In just 17 days, the Avis team successfully implemented the operational infrastructure from the ground up and was ready to meet and exceed Budget customer expectations. This process would normally take up to five months!
Barloworld Logistics: Kumuran Naidoo representing the Telkom bid team
The Telkom contract is one of the largest deals the business has won in the last 10 years. It is the first deal which includes every business service Barloworld Logistics offers and is an end-to-end supply chain solution. In developing the solution, the bid team used their network modelling and inventory optimisation tools to maximum effect to analyse the Telkom supply chain adequately and come up with solutions – achieving the cost reduction that Telkom was looking for.
Barloworld Handling: William Tsheisi
William Tsheisi is the developing markets manager for Barloworld Agriculture and has played an invaluable role in growing the high-technology Massey Ferguson footprint. William Tsheisi has played a lead role in developing and conducting training courses to dealer staff and customer drivers on an expanding product range. He was tasked to focus training on large-scale farming operations, fleet change deals and to ensure we succeed in delivering products that will be optimised through correct application and operating procedures.
William’s operator courses not only improve skills but develop a passion for the brand. He conducts his training in 11 languages!
Barloworld Equipment southern Africa: Vishala Panday
Vishala Panday is the corporate compliance manager for Barloworld Equipment. In a short space of time, Vishala has revolutionised the approach to developing policies and procedures which have been rolled out across the regions with great success.
Vishala has also developed an E-learning training initiative which incorporates Barloworld’s Code of Conduct and anti-bribery and corruption polices. All material was developed in English and Portuguese and rolled out across the business. The programme also promoted the ethics hotline and whistleblowing policy, which has since resulted in an improvement in our compliance practices.
Barloworld Equipment Russia: Roman Smirnykh
Roman has been with the company for eight years and started off as a trainee. Through a very successful career, he is now the project manager and together with a team of specialists headed by him ensure technical support to Sovrudnik, a Russian gold mining enterprise. A few years ago Sovrudnik had virtually no Caterpillar equipment in its fleet, whereas now it makes wide use of Caterpillar equipment. As one of the main players of the Eastern Siberia’s gold mining market, this partnership opens new horizons for Vostochnaya Technica in this promising region.
Roman’s commitment and passion for our brand led the increase of customers’ loyalty to CAT machines and to significantly increased sales. These sales will create great product support opportunities for the Russian business in the future.
Barloworld Corporate Office: James Murphy
Dr James Murphy has been a Barloworld stalwart for 31 years. During this time his position evolved from chief medical officer to being involved in several strategic projects. Most recently, he is the principal officer of the Barloworld Medical Scheme and Barloworld Retirement Fund and his outstanding performance on the retirement fund made him a worthy winner and nominee for Corporate Office.
Dr James managed the process of selecting, concluding and transferring the assets and members of the Barloworld Retirement Fund to the Old Mutual Umbrella Fund. It was a demanding process which lasted 18 months. During this process Jim was passionate and meticulous about ensuring that the interests of the 2 500 members were protected. His efforts have resulted in members of the Barloworld Retirement Fund benefiting by receiving an extra allocation of their pensionable salary to investment.
