Local company Blue Waters and Barbados entity Armstrong Agencies Ltd have been awarded the 2022 Caribbean Best Managed Companies by Deloitte.
At a ceremony held at the Brix Hotel last Friday head of Blue Waters, Dominic Hadeed said the award reflected team work.
“We manage by exception, we look at all of the things that go wrong and we try to fix them. And when we win all these awards we know all of the things that are still wrong by us....it’s quite an interesting approach and it’s not that hard for people to do; to focus on the ‘reds’ and deal with them,” Hadeed explained.
In a video presentation, Pradeep Subrian, CEO at Blue Waters, also noted that over the years the company has won many prestigious awards, as he paid kudos to Hadeed who has been keeping the team aligned and focused on its vision, mission and core values.
Subrian also thanked the employees for their hard work and dedication, saying without their efforts the achievement would not be possible.
“Together with all our customers, suppliers and all other key stakeholders, the company really is driven behind a culture of our vision, mission and core values and everything we do, every decision we make is aligned to those three pillars as we anchor into our daily working operation,” Subrian explained.
And testimony of the company’s resilience, he said, was demonstrated during the challenging times brought on by the pandemic.
According to Subrian, the team came together and set a plan on how to service customers and also support each employee in a way which did not disrupt customer service.
“We also had an in-house doctor stationed at the company and always on call. We also had a work-from-home initiative to support each member of staff so as we go forward and as we look ahead one of many key initiative is not only day-to-day operations but more focused in terms of risk mitigation and for things like ‘what could possibly happen and don’t wait’ for another COVID situation,” Subrian explained.
Post-COVID, he said, changes to the management system were also made which were aligned to the “new norm.”
“Recognising that lives for people and families have changed and we have also aligned our system and the way we do business to accommodate as best as possible all our employees and even our customers,” Subrian added.
Christopher Lambert, CEO of Armstrong Agencies Ltd in Barbados, who also gave remarks via a video presentation, shared some insights about the company, noted that it uses “two way feedback” to help make improvements.
“Our managers are generally willing to admit mistakes, recognise individual talents, support opinions and mediate disagreements,” he said.
Additionally, Lambert said the company’s leaders also exercise patience while considering the overall health and well-being of the teams and therefore, fostering a culture of “leadership by example.”
And on the impact of the pandemic, he said all businesses had to adapt.
‘The pandemic forced us to adapt faster and take steps that ordinarily would have taken months or years and these things we had to do in a matter of weeks and in some cases a matter of days,” Lambert revealed.
He added that in spite of the challenges, staff was not reduced.
Instead, the company focused on operational efficiencies and looked at every aspect to determine how to improve not only for the team but also for the customers and suppliers.
Armstrong Agencies Ltd also believes in creating an environment of well-being, facilitates training for employees and “discourages long work hours.”