In a bid to motivate and reward long service employees, Nortex, a textile company based in Francistown held its second long service awards ceremony in Francistown over the weekend. The event marked yet another milestone in the growth of the company, which boasts of 24 years of existence in the country. The company currently has 458 employees, 20 of them expatriates.
103 employees who served the company for between 10 and 23 years were awarded with certificates. Giving a brief overview of the company, the Managing Director of Nortex, Mukesh Josh said his company was started from humble beginnings and grew tremendously to be rated as one of the leading textile industries in Southern Africa.
“Our products are mainly exported to South Africa, Asia and the United States of America. We also feed the local market. The company continues to contribute immensely to employment creation,” he said.
Josh added that Nortex experienced challenging times mainly due to the world economic recession, but managed to stay afloat.
“We had a tough year in 2014 when South Africa devalued its rand because that is where we export the bulk of our products. However, we will be resilient, absorb the stress and surge on,” said Josh.
He also revealed that Nortex faces the problem of acquiring requisite skills and often engages expatriates in areas where there is need. However, Josh said his company subscribes to the values of citizen empowerment. When giving a keynote address, Minister of Labour and Home Affairs Edwin Batshu lauded Nortex for realigning itself with modern day management strategies.
“These awards bring hope to employees of the good things to come. Performers must always be identified and rewarded, which in turn motivates other employees, to appreciate that success is a process. Hard work pays and loyalty rewards,” he said.
He added: “Rewards have a lot of meaning to the recipients. They give a sense of pride to the recipients in the eyes of their families, co-workers and society. The employees and their beneficiaries start to regard the company in a positive light.”
Batshu also commended Nortex for absorbing graduates through the internship and Tirelo Sechaba programs, which seek to impart necessary skills to unemployed youths.
“I am also happy to learn that though your company had a high number of expatriates, locals have gradually taken over and they continue to acquire more skills and technical expertise. I must also appreciate the love of the expatriate staff members who have patiently continued to transfer skills to the locals,” said Batshu.
