State Enterprises Commission (SEC) is taking steps to boost productivity and efficiency of enterprises under it with the revival of the state-owned enterprises (SOEs) Excellence Awards.

The awards are designed to ginger government owned enterprises to excel in service delivery and deliver value to all stakeholder, including the public and the government.

At a press conference on Monday, the Executive Chairman of SEC, Dr. Camynta Baezie, disclosed plans for a wider recognition event where outstanding staff and individual SOEs will be recognized and awarded.

The event is scheduled to hold on Friday 28th of April 2017 at the State Banquet Hall with the theme: ‘Leading SOEs to Enhanced Sustainability and Higher Productivity’.

The awards have not been regularly held as they were held in 1991 and 1998. Dr. Baezie, determined to revive and continue it, described the awards one of the best tools to “encourage innovation and excellence through the recognition of the efforts of the SOEs that have successfully embarked on good initiatives for improved service delivery towards the public, their trade partners and stakeholders”.

These awards will now be an annual event for the SOEs as part of steps being put in place to reawaken the service and value delivery consciousness amongst SOEs on the one hand, and amongst the employees of the SOEs on the other hand”.

He said, this vision comes at a time when much expectation is on His Excellency President Nana Akufo-Addo’s administration to deliver on its promise to the people.

He also said that “the performance or non-performance of the SOEs affects the socio-economic growth of the country, hence the need to appraise, recognize and award those who are excelling”, while also challenging others to seek to be better every day.

Dr. Baezie disclosed that panel of judges for the awards was carefully selected and consisted of credible individuals from various sectors of the economy, who are respected names in their areas of endeavor. The panel has been working for months on this and will determine the winners for eight of the nine categories.

The award categories are: Presidential Prize for the SOE of the Year; Chief Executive of the Year; Employee of the Year; Good Corporate Governance Innovation; Disability Inclusive Organizational Structure; Human Resource Innovation; Technology Innovation; and Operational Excellence.

The Award category for Public Service Innovation, which seeks to recognize the SOE that has provided improved access about its services, delivering efficient, effective and seamless customer or public service while maintaining a strong service ethic, will be decided by members of the public through sms voting. The SOEs under this category include ECG, Ghana Water Company Ltd, Graphic Communication Group Ltd, Metro Mass Transit Ltd, GOIL, GIHOC, COCOBOD and STC.

The event is being supported by a host of organizations including Unibank and Fidelity, which was commended for being at the forefront of assisting SEC to get the SOEs on better footing through this recognition project.

He sought the cooperation and assistance of the media as a critical partner in making the project a huge success.