Engen Petroleum, South Africa’s leading fuel company dedicated its 8thannual FormulaE awards to the star operations personnel that embody its customer promise, operational excellence and leading compliance with world-class health, safety and quality standards.
                              
The programme

The awards, an eagerly awaited event on the Engen calendar, took place at the end of a two-day programme kicked off on May 28th at Sun City with the Driver of the Year (DOTY) theory exam, fire-fighting simulation, vehicle inspection, road and fuel tests, and customer care exam. The main attraction follows on the second day, with a DOTY track event during the day and an evening gala ceremony, at which awards will be handed out in the following categories:

•         Driver of the Year
•         Depot of the Year
•         Workshop of the Year
•         Scheduler of the Year
•         Customer Service

A total of 190 guests attended the evening, with Joe Mahlo, the General Manager for Engen Sales and Marketing, delivering the main address and the guest speaker on the evening was Mr Collins Letsoalo  - acting CEO of the Road Traffic Management Corporation.

Heartbeat

Llewellyn Snyman, Engen’s national transport operations manager, says the glittering occasion is fitting recognition of the company’s operations teams, who he calls the “heartbeat of the company”. “Our drivers put up with demanding routes, tough traffic conditions and stringent procedures. The Depot, Workshop and Scheduling teams all work together to ensure top customer service. It takes a special person to keep up the required standards that can have a real impact on the company’s overall performance, and we do everything we can to ingrain excellence and vigilance in their professional life, ensure their well-being, and of course to reward a job well done.”
 He says Driver of the Year is Engen’s chance to show how proud its people are of its drivers. “They carry our collective effort with them. We want them to keep achieving their goals and to stay passionate about their jobs.”

Guaranteed excellence

DOTY, launched in 2005, later came to be contained within Engen’s larger FormulaE Operations Awards Programme, as awards for excellence in depot management, customer service, workshop management and scheduling were launched. Just how competitive the awards have become is evident in the qualification process. DOTY participants qualify at the hand of automated on-board tracking and monthly appraisals. Six perfect consecutive scores achieve Club600 status, whereas 11 to 12 perfect scores pre-qualify drivers for the regional knock-out competitions. Winners here make it as finalists to national DOTY. “The regional leg was introduced in 2008 due to increasing number of qualifiers,” says Snyman. “The number of drivers qualifying for the regionals increased again this year, making for an exceedingly tough competition at Sun City.”

True value

“The true value of the programme lies in the high standard of excellence it demands of participants,” he concludes. “It is this commitment to performance and added value that will guarantee Engen’s success in years to come.”