By Neo Kolane
The Vodacom Group CEO awards are an annual event that takes place at Vodaworld in Midrand, South Africa. These are internal awards are that seek to celebrate the contribution of staff members across the various Opcos in Africa i.e. South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, DRC, Lesotho, Ghana and Kenya.
Normally, the event is held live in Midrand South Africa, where all the nominees are hosted by the group CEO in South Africa, but because of COVID-19, the event was virtual. This year, Tokiso Nthebe was nominated and walked away with an award.
Born and bred in Lesotho Mafeteng, Tokiso Nthebe is a 32-year old male who is passionate about life, entrepreneurship, personal financial development and of course Vodacom – his home away from home. Tokiso who is famously known as TKay joined Vodacom in 2015 where he worked for a few years and then left to venture out into the financial services industry. His red DNA and passion for the telecommunications giant then led him back in 2018 where has since been working as the Manager: Sales and Distribution.
The Vodacom CEO’s awards as earlier mentioned recognize staff members who are nominated under the following categories; Individual, Volunteer and Team. These nominees must embody the values and spirit of Vodacom. Through their work, the nominees must bring about efficiencies to simplify process, save costs, increase revenue and or bring about innovation as individuals or a team. The nominees can also be nominated for the work they are doing in their communities to empower and bring about a positive change.
In an interview, Nthebe told theReporter that he was awarded the Group CEO award under the individual category. Nthebe was nominated for his contribution in driving an organizational culture change and bringing about efficiencies in the processes with the goal of improve turnaround times when servicing distribution partners.
“At first, I was not even aware that I was nominated for a Group CEO award.” I consider myself as an ordinary guy, who is passionate about the work I do and who is determined to show up to work and give it my best every day. It is not always easy, but I embrace the highs and lows with a lot of optimism and energy. It was only when I received an invitation to the awards that I realized someone noticed the impact I was making and then nominated me for the awards.”
Nthebe continued to say that the awards are very prestigious and every competitive. Each nomination is evaluated by the organizing team and the best nominations are then shortlist. Following the shortlisting process, the nominees are then invited the main event hosted by Group CEO.
“Winning this award was a big milestone for me, because I also got to represent Vodacom Lesotho amongst the other 7 markets. I was very surprised and overwhelmed because these awards are very prestigious and to get this kind of recognition was testament to my hard work and passion for what I do.”
In closing, Nthebe opened up: “Going forward, I commit to keep working hard and being a change agent both at work and for the clients I am privileged to manage. I commit to always show up in high spirits and with positive energy in order to make a meaningful contribution.”
