Business Times
Troubled Suntel wins ‘Best company to work for’ award
Suntel, whose majority stakes has been up
for sale for several years, said this week it
won a major award for being one of the
best organisations to work for in Asia. In a
press announcement, the company said it
was declared winner of ‘Asia’s Dream
Employer Award - Best Large Organisation
to Work For’ at Asia Leadership Awards
2011 held in Dubai last week.
The award is judged on the quality of
working relationships, trust and respect
for staff, recognition of self-worth and
career development, and honoured
Suntel’s corporate culture as the best in
Asia.
In accepting the award at the Taj Palace
Hotel Dubai, Sanjiv Wijayasinghe Director
of Human Resources of Suntel, said “We
are very pleased to be honoured and
recognized for creating and maintaining a
unique corporate culture that values
people and their devotional contribution”.
”The award was ironic for an organization
where morale and motivation has dropped
to a low ebb ever since its major
shareholders including Sweden’s Overseas
Telecom AB 2007 decided to sell out.
India’s MTNL, Dialog, Etisalat and Sri
Lankan Telecom have been among those
making bids that have however failed to
materialize. While no staff has been laid
off, workers have been encouraged to quit
and in some cases long leave given a few
months wages.
The Suntel press release on the award also
quoted Jeremy Huxtable, its Managing
Director as saying, “It is the people who
make a difference in any business. We
have undoubtedly done well in creating a
strong and sustainable emotional bond
not only among our own staff but also
with the outside world”.
”The awards were organized by the Asian
Confederation of Business and partnered
by CMO Asia, CMO Council and the World
HRD Congress, the Asian Leadership
Awards and was said to recognise over 20
categories for their achievements and
reward exemplary leadership in Asia’s
post-recession economic development.
 L6C EMPLOYABILITY AND SELF DEVELOPMENT

TEST 1

Read the case study on page 2 and answer the following questions.

1. The Suntel press release on the award also quoted Jeremy Huxtable, its Managing
Director as saying, “It is the people who make a difference in any business”.

As an individual employee, discuss how you would become an effective contributor to the
Suntel team [15]

2. ‘The Asia’s Dream Employer Award - Best Large Organisation to Work For’​ won by
Suntel is judged on the recognition of self-worth and career development amongst
other criterion.
Explain why career-development is important for an employee [10]

3. ”The award was ironic for an organization where morale and motivation has dropped
to a low ebb ever since its major shareholders including Sweden’s Overseas Telecom
AB 2007 decided to sell out”

Outline the key employability skills that could have been used by​ ​Sanjiv Wijayasinghe,
Director of Human Resources between 2007 and 2011 to revive the business’
performance [15]