I salute GraceKennedy

THE EDITOR, Madam:

GraceKennedy Group Jamaica Limited, a true and time-tested Jamaican company, has over the decades consistently exhibited to the nation a genuine, efficacious framework underpinned by an abiding commitment to quality customer service coupled with superior products and services. Notably, this formidable conglomerate was the recent recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Excellence at the Jamaica Stock Exchange Best Practices Awards for yet another year and shared the title of PSOJ Corporate Governance Award for 2020. Further, their devout and unwavering allegiance to nation-building and community development is exemplary and unparalleled. The philanthropic arm has over the decades appreciably invested equitably in positively shifting the fate of many lives by giving back to innumerous and diverse community-based organisations, as well as varying initiatives nationwide. This has been unquestionably pivotal in firmly deterring dysfunctional behaviour and keeping aspirations alive across varied sectors of society. As Jamaicans, we ought to salute the benevolent efforts of this steadfast establishment.

Chiefly, Senator Don Wehby and his team must be commended for their extensive foresight and proficiency in painstakingly fine-tuning a unique business model that ensures organisational equilibrium and continued success year over year. Remarkably, on the eve of its 100th birthday, it was announced by the GraceKennedy Group recently that it would be gifting shares to their over 2,000 employees to commemorate this special juncture. This is the best performance strategy any company could undertake as it’s a well-known fact that when employees feel valued by their employers they are more proactive and resourceful, thus deriving customer loyalty, higher productivity levels and profitability, ensuring inevitable success and expansion. GraceKennedy has undoubtedly secured the key to assure the vitality and longevity of its brand.

Evidently, the GraceKennedy Group is committed to nothing less than excellence and will continue to bear fruitful results owing to their unceasing appetite and strategic market manoeuvres to forge ahead despite incalculable occurrences.

Based on the foregoing, I hasten to reiterate that companies should follow suit and grasp the very simple notion that the ‘customer is king’. It is, however, anticipated that organisations, governmental and private, specifically service-based entities, earnestly seek to explore and adopt similar strategies that will potentially assist immensely in revamping their existing customer and service mandates to the public as it is woefully lacking across the board for many. Steve Jobs aptly stated, ‘’Customers don’t measure you on how hard you tried, they measure you on what you deliver.’’

TARA HENRY