A group of Assistant Vice President employees from John Keells drew a plan to imbibe in all their colleagues across the Group of the urgency and the need to be innovative. The management supported this quest by naming 2011 the “Year of Innovation”. Appreciating the fact that competition fires up innovation, they also introduced a reward system to recognise the Group’s top innovators.
All levels of staff embraced this initiative. Thinking-outside-the-box was encouraged as was making mistakes enroute and learning from them. Specific innovations that came to fruition spanned conversion of waste cooking oil and bio-diesel to growing plants without soil.
Shanez Wijesinghe – KHMS observed, “innovate has given me the opportunity to be different. It is self satisfying and lets me break away from my usual work patterns.”
A special Chairman’s Award (the Group’s highest honour) was presented for Innovation to the staff of John Keells Maldivian resort Chaaya Reef Ellaidhoo. Their Innovations included construction of a sand barge, linen trolleys, which could be used in sandy terrain, and the initiation of the hydrophonic garden.
