Management Assures Unions of
Improved Staff Welfare
By Halima Shuaibu
The Chief
Corporate Services Officer (CCSO), Mr. Mishra Uday has disclosed that Kaduna
Electric would be rewarding employees who have distinguished themselves on
their responsibilities as part of the company’s Staff Reward Package.
Mr. Uday
who was speaking at a meeting with the National Union of Electricity Employees
(NUEE) and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEC)
said the Shining Star Initiative is one out the numerous plans by the company
aimed at motivating staff and to improve productivity.
“Though
there are problems of liquidity owing to poor revenue collection, we are not
resting on our oars in ensuring that staff enjoy the best of working conditions”.
On the
issue of transport allowance, the CCSO said that would henceforth be paid or
reimbursed for all expenses incurred in the discharge of duties.
Responding,
the Assistant General Secretary NUEE, Comrade A.R. Raji said the aim of their
visit was to do a follow-up on the progress made on some of the resolutions
reached at the last meeting and to demand for better working condition for
staff especially in the area of safety.
Comrade
Raji also tasked the management on a number of other issues ranging from
Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), Employee Tax Certificate, work tools,
improved condition of service, stressing that management must give priority to
staff welfare as it is a precursor to the optimum performance of the company.
Other
members of NUEE present at the meeting cited insecurity in most of the
Injection Sub Stations, load rejections, inadequate transformers among others
as hindrance to progress of the company while calling on management to address
them as way out of some the challenges it is currently facing.
The
President, SSAEC Kaduna Chapter, Comrade Rilwan Shehu gave some suggestions on
what he considered a way out of the financial crisis the company is
facing.
“The
management should create a mechanism that encourages competition among
staff/Area Offices outside Kaduna especially. They should ensure that
Supervisors earn higher than their subordinates. When there is
a delay in the payment of salaries, it should be properly communicated to staff
in a timely manner so as to douse any tension or prevent rumors from
spreading.
“Imprest
should also be disbursed to BDROs as early as possible so as to enable
Supervisors tackle minor network maintenance issues like changing cables and
fuse”.
In his
closing remarks, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Major Bhaskar thanked
the union members for cooperation while promising to see to the implementation
of the resolutions reached.
Zero Injury at Work Place is
our Mandate
By Halima Shuaibu
The Head, Safety, Health and Environment, Mr. J. C
Adamu has said that safety training is a legal, moral and social obligation
that requires all employees to be aware of the potential hazards in their work
place in order to attain an injury free environment.
Mr. Adamu made the disclosure while speaking to Kaduna
Electric News shortly after the training session with the first
batch of participants.
He noted that even though the training was a refresher course it
still must be taken seriously adding that it is part of the company’s proactive
measure to forestall any form of accident.
The consequences of an unsafe act according to him, is far beyond
that which affects the victim alone but has economic, legal and moral
ramifications.
“If a victim is injured, the individual will not only be in pain
but it will affect the outcome of his job. In some cases, people die and the
families who are beneficiaries of his salary will suffer, he will no longer pay
tax to the government, the company is being made to pay fines; socially and
morally the colleagues of the victim will be traumatized.”
Speaking, the Lead Facilitator, Engr. Gimba Saleh expressed
satisfaction with the level of interaction with participants which he said is
an indication that safety consciousness will increase amongst staff.
Engr. Saleh while expatiating on the topic: “Behavioral Base
Safety” advised the participants to start by changing their attitude,
recognizing hazards and knowing what to do in emergencies. He stressed that the company safety objective
is to attain zero injury in work place.
“And to achieve the objective of a zero injury at workplace all
hands must be on deck to ensure that we are safety conscious and help others
remain safe.”
Project 415 Targets 1million
Customers
Team Lead Enumerations
By Asmau Muhammad
The Team Lead in charge of
enumerations and the coordinator of Project 415, Tijjani
Mustapha Galangi has projected that the ongoing enumerations exercise will
boost the customer base of the company from the present 455,000 to about
1million on completion.
He
made the disclosure in an exclusive interview with our correspondent Asma’u
Mohammed in his office recently.
According
to Galangi, the enumeration excise has also enabled the Company to take stock
of its assets, such as HT and LT lines, distribution sub-stations as well as
identifying all existing and potentials customers thereby providing more accurate
and reliable data needed for planning and project execution.
He
also disclosed that the project 415 has afforded the team
opportunity to sensitize the public on the operations of the Company, their
rights, obligations and other sundry information.
“The team members do take time
off to engage community and opinion leaders, thereby creating awareness among
the populace and reducing misunderstanding”.
He
relates Project 415 to the overall success of the company.
“This
project will help us find out and know our customers, we will learn what they
are lacking and how to serve them better, and of course it would enable us
bring in more customers into our data base and by doing that, we are increasing
the revenue capacity of the Company.
“Of
course once we have more customers that are registered in the data base and are
being billed, we would have a better chance to collect more money since the
energy is already out there and is being taken. In essence, the project will
help us identify all these issues, help us to bill our customers appropriately
based on what they consume; it will also help reduce our commercial losses”.
Galangi appealed to the Management to continue to support
the Project through the provision of all needed logistics wherever required.
There Will No Hiding Place for Under-Performing Staff -BDRO Sokoto
By Mohammed Abbah
The
Business Development and Relationship Officer, Sokoto Area Office, Abubakar
Ibrahim Hashim has called on staff of his Area Office to rededicate themselves
to duty, saying that it by so doing that their output can improve.
Hashim,
was speaking recently at a meeting where the newly appointed Feeder and
Technical Supervisors in Sokoto was formally introduced.
He
said there was a need for attitudinal change and for staff to shun all forms of
laziness, warning that no act of indolence will be tolerated.
He
also emphasized the need for the staff to work as a team towards improving the
cash collection of the area office.
The
BDRO reminded them of the meeting he had with the MD on the three months
Quarterly Performance Review of the company, which he noted was poor adding
that the outcome of the meeting was what led to the signing of a Performance
Bond.
According
to him, the implication of the Bond is that excuses will no longer be accepted as
reason for low cash collection pointing out that Service Center Supervisors
will now be held responsible for unmet targets.
“The
target given to the area offices in the month of August is realistic and
achievable if all staff will work hard towards attaining it. We must also
strategize on how to collect outstanding debts from owing customers”.
He
charged the Feeder Supervisors to analyze their feeder collection both prepaid
and post-paid and come up with a workable plan.
Hashim
lamented the drop-in revenue from prepaid customers and called for proper
monitoring of the PPM customers, adding that PPM monitoring is not only the
responsibility of metering staff but also the responsibility of all.
He
directed all the Sales Representatives to re-enumerate their customers as each
of them will be allocated transformers which clearly spells out the amount
expected from them, hence, there will be no hiding place under-performing
staff.
On his part, the Operation Supervisor for Sokoto, Kebbi and
Zamfara, Engr. Umaru Sani reiterated the need to embrace hard work as key to
ensuring effective service delivery to the customers pointing out that Feeder
Supervisors especially, should be mindful of energy management and channel the
energy to paying customers.
Cash Collection
to Be Monitored Weekly in Kebbi
By Nafiu Kabir
There is urgent need to focus our attention more on
effective cash collection by ensuring that set targets are met as the survival
of the company solely rests on how much revenue we can realize, the Ag.
Business Development and Relationship Officer (BDRO), Kebbi Area Office, Mr.
Stephen Ajayi has said.
He gave this charge during the Monthly Performance
Review of Kebbi area Office recently.
Ajayi directed that all Service Center Supervisors
should monitor their collection on a weekly basis by tracing it to the Sales
Representatives in charge and the quantum of energy received.
He emphasized the need for constant monitoring of
installations especially Prepaid Meters (PPM) while reminding the marketing
team that they are constantly being assessed based on their Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs).
Speaking on the newly assigned Supervisors, the BDRO
said the re-shuffle was necessitated by need for improved productivity, which
according to him should translate to increase in cash collection.
Mr. Ajayi requested them to always seek for
explanation on why energy supplied did not tally with cash collected, and to
reveal those behind nonpayment of bills.
In his remarks, the Distribution Engineer (DE), Engr.
Dogara Saidu noted that one of the most reliable ways to monitor cash
collection is by matching the quantum of energy delivered to transformers with
the cash received from the area stressing that all Service Center Supervisors
must key in to revenue drive project.
“It is from the revenue collected that we pay the
Market Operators, carry out maintenance and also pay your salaries. Let me ask
you, can all these be achieved without striving to collect back our revenue?
This is why you must always monitor both PPM and Non-PPM customers”.
