Janashakthi’s conquerors triumph at ‘Awards for Excellence’ 2011

Janashakthi Insurance with its history of creative and spectacular award ceremonies in Sri Lanka’s insurance industry recreated the elegance and grandeur of the mighty Roman Empire as it rewarded over 150 sales and other achievers with air tickets, cash rewards, trophies and certificates of excellence at their Annual Awards for Excellence 2011.

This gala event was held last week at the Sirimavo Bandaranaike Memorial Exhibition Centre under the distinguished patronage of Chief Guest, Chairman W.T. Ellawela; Guest of Honour, Deputy Chairman C. T. A. Schaffter; Managing Director Prakash Schaffter and the Janashakthi Board of Directors – L.C.R. de Wijetunga, Deshmanya Dr. Nihal Jinasena, Eardly Perera, Anushya Koomaraswamy, Ramesh Schaffter and Manjula Mathews, the top management, special invitees and selected staff who completed the list of over 1200  invitees.

This year’s theme “The Conquerors” took all invitees 2000 years back in time when the world was conquered and ruled by the mighty Roman Empire … from England to Africa and from Syria to Spain … when one in every four people lived under Roman law. Much of the Roman Empire’s conquests and victories are attributed to its army which was one of the most successful in the history of the world. Similarly Janashakthi’s sales force is a group of loyal, well disciplined and highly trained group of warriors who have gone beyond the call of duty and achieved heights of success that others only dream of.

Held for the 17th consecutive year since 1995, the awards are Janashakthi’s springboard for excellence which recognises, reward and honour high flyers not only in sales and marketing, but also in several other areas of accomplishment including sports and special achievements. Rewarding individual successes, outstanding team achievements as well as effective partnerships, the awards showcase Janashakthi’s commitment to innovation and to delivering continuous service improvements.

Over 150 winners demonstrating the highest standards of best practices and innovative initiatives during 2010 were duly recognised. Some of the main awards which were presented are as follows. Best Life Sales Person award was won by M. Thangiah of the Mahawewa Area Devolopment Office while the award for the Best Overall Life Team was won by U. S. N. Fernando of the Negombo Branch. K. M. S. Lakshman of the Dehiattakandiya Branch won the award for the Best Life Business Promotion Sales Supervisor while K. P. M. K. Kariyawasam of the Hanwella Branch walked away as the Best Business Promotion Assistant in Life Sales.

Further P. H. D. S. Fernando of the Negombo Branch was awarded as the Best Senior / Business Promotion Executive in Life Sales. The Best Assistant Business Promotion Manager for Life Insurance was J. S. Adihetti.

When it came to General Insurance, the award for Best Sales Officers in Non Motor was won by P. H. A. Madhushanka of the Colombo Metro Branch. M. Thangiah of the Mahaweva Area Devolopment Office won the award for the Best Area Development Office recognition award while K. H. Rajmohan of Colombo Intergrated became the Best Business Promotion Sales Supervisor in General Sales. Further G. L. N. C. de Silva of the Piliyandala Branch became the Best Business Promotion Assistant in General Sales whilst H. M. S. M. B. Herath of the Kurunegala Branch became the Best Business Promotion Officer in General Sales. R.  P.  W. Miyuru of the Colombo Metro Branch was awarded Best Senior Business Promotion Executive in General Sales whilst M. K. G. W. S. Ranasinghe of the Kandy Branch walked away with the award as the Best Assistant Business Promotion Manager in General Sales.

M. R. Fairoze of the Colombo Metro Branch was presented the award for ‘Star Performance’ in General Insurance. M. K. P. K. Perera of the Negombo Branch  became the Best Assistant Portfolio Manager in Life Sales whilst M. S. Sampan of Colombo Metro became the Best Assistant Portfolio Manager in General Sales. H. M. D. S. Randika won the award for the Best Regional Sales Manager for General Insurance and Sakuna Jayasooriya won the award for Best Regional Sales Manager for Life Insurance.

The highlight of the ceremony was the crowning of M. K. P. K. Perera, winner of the much coveted Chairman’s Award as he was duly recognised duly for his great achievements in sales. The winner was brought on stage in a chariot with great fanfare and pomp and pageantry as befits a winner.

Another notable feature was that some of the members of the sales force were recognised for their international standards. Five such highflying members of the Life Sales Team qualified for the world’s premier association for financial professionals which is MDRT (Million Dollar Round Table) in 2010. G.S. Ruwan Kumara of the Hatton Branch made history by qualifying for the MDRT for the seventh consecutive year. This is considered a landmark in Sri Lanka’s insurance industry. Together with him four more members of the Janashakthi family qualified for the MDRT – Saman Morawaka, M. Thangaiyah, B. L. J. Sri and T. Jayasinghe.

Further 47 Janashakthi family members received IQA (International Quality Award) awards while 151 members were selected for IAP (International Award for Productivity) awards including 19 platinum qualifiers awarded by the world’s largest life insurance research agency LIMRA.

Chairman of Janashakthi W.T. Ellawala thanked the staff for their dedication over 17 years of excellence. “Our achievements in 2010 were extraordinary. Despite competition becoming sharper and stiffer with 19 players in the insurance arena, we continue to record strong growth. All credit goes to you, our strong sales force”.

Ellawala also paid tribute to the founder of Janashakthi C.T.A. Schaffter, a living legend in the Sri Lankan insurance industry. “Counting more than 50 years in the insurance field, he is an encouragement and a great source of inspiration to us all.”

Speaking on the occasion, General Manager Sales and Marketing Ravi Liyanage expressed delight that the 2010 sales figures were positive. Thanking the winning team for its dedication and commitment, he outlined the targets for this year and expressed confidence that greater support and greater dedication would make 2011 a greater year.

Managing Director Prakash Schaffter said, “Today we honour our successful soldiers, those who led in the battle field. We salute the best of the best — the most successful Conquerors. Last year was an exceptional year with the introduction of new trends to Sri Lanka’s insurance industry. Our harvest of awards also grew with victories both at local and international levels.”

He said that the Company’s sales force is the symbol of professionalism. “You are the Janashakthi Family, the ambassadors of the Company. You all have the potential to go out there conquer the market, and continue to achieve greatness, which is what we are celebrating today.”

While expressing his deep appreciation of the sales force for their noteworthy accomplishments, Schaffter thanked the staff who travelled from far and wide, especially from the North and East, to share in the triumph and glory that evening.

Creating a paradigm of excellence necessitates pursuing new initiatives and opportunities, and building on core competencies, which Janashakthi embraces by pushing boundaries to new heights and raising standards each year. This striving for excellence has reaped rich results and firmly positioned Janashakthi as a company that creates and markets some of Sri Lanka’s most recognised and innovative brands within a value system that goes beyond mere business objectives to embrace transparency, trustworthiness, dynamism and dependability, which are the very essence of the Janashakthi brand.