The Dialog Awards - a pioneering HR initiative - MTI

Ensuring a motivated and engaged talent pool is critical for any business, more so if you are dealing with over 3,000 employees and at the cutting edge of technology.

Entering the market as the fourth player to Sri Lanka's mobile sector in 1995, Dialog moved to the top in the telecom and technology domain and in the process building a Rs 63 billion business - one of the most fiercely competitive industries. How Dialog managed its HRM function has been a critical success factor.

As a learning organisation that strives for continuous improvement in all it practices and process, Dialog constantly looks for ways to improve its HRM function.

It is in this context that the pioneering 'Dialog Awards' is considered a breakthrough best practice in Human Resource Management.

According to research by MTI HRM Solutions, many companies recognise employee performance via awards, which can range from 'Employee of the Month' to 'CEO of the Year'. There is an increasing trend for companies to jump on this bandwagon so as to not be left out from the peers in the industry. MTI said that most of these awards fall short on effectiveness and typically falls into one of the following 'syndromes'.

Sales Centric - Whereby only those who bring in the revenues are awarded Rotational 'Flavour' of the Month - in many cases given to service staff and rotated to keep all happy.

Ego-driven - In cases where 'Big CEO' awards are given with a lot of fanfare and become the centre of attention, often neglecting the base of the organisation.

Opinion based - Other than sales, most of the other awards tend to be opinion-based and with it comes biases and favouritism.

Lacks independence - Whereby there is no external and neutral intervention And most importantly, where people expect to be recognised and rewarded and are not willing to apply, present and make a case.

"It is in this context that we feel the Dialog Awards is unique - because it covers the entire value chain of the organisation at multiple levels and gives employees the option to apply, present, nominate, vote and/or be evaluated on numerics.

Most importantly, the judging includes independent professionals, presenters are challenged and cross-functional senior management team augment the entire judging process that goes on for over two months," said CEO, MTI Consulting, Hilmy Cader, who has been instrumental, along with Dialog Axiata Group Chief Executive, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, and the Company's senior management team in conceptualising and designing this trail-blazing HR initiative.