November 18, 2019
Kingaroy Rotary Club breathed new life into its “Pride Of Workmanship” awards on Saturday night, and was rewarded with more nominations than it could accommodate.
The awards were first introduced into Australia by Rotary’s Pennant Hills branch in 1975 to help encourage more Australians to take pride in their vocations.
They were created because Rotary members believed ‘Pride of Workmanship’ – the sense of responsibility to do a job well – was one of the greatest intangible assets in any community, and something that should be encouraged.
The awards motto – “Do It Once, Do It Well, Build a Better Australia” – resonated with employers almost immediately.
Since then, Pride Of Workmanship awards have been given out by more than 600 Rotary Clubs around Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific and Asia.
Kingaroy Rotary last announced awards in 2013-14, but then they lapsed due to a shortage of manpower in the club.
However, they were revived this year when new member, South Burnett Regional Council CEO Mark Pitt put up his hand to act as the branch’s Service Project Director.
“I had to apologise that I couldn’t take up the role of Secretary or Treasurer because my day job keeps me too busy,” Mark said.
“But this was a really great project I was happy to undertake.”
Mark put out a call for nominations from local employers in September and was floored by the response.
“I thought we might get three or four nominations, which would’ve been great,” he said.
“Instead, we got 10 really outstanding nominees, along with another four that missed the deadline but who I hope will nominate again next year.”
On Saturday night, about 60 local business people, nominees and Kingaroy Rotarians gathered together for a formal awards dinner at the SBCare hall.
After a dinner prepared by the Pioneer Lodge Motel’s catering team, employers were invited on to the stage to explain why they had nominated particular employees.
The employees then were presented with special plaques prepared for the occasion.
The audience heard uplifting stories from a wide range of local employers about staff who had grown to become the “right hand” of a business; staff who had upgraded their skills to become indispensable parts of individual business teams; and others who had overcome severe adversities to become inspiring role models for their workmates.
The awards were presented by Kingaroy Rotary Club president David Black, who said he was proud the club could bring the Pride Of Workmanship awards back.
Afterwards, Rotary members told southburnett.com.au the big response the club received to the awards showed there was a genuine need for them.
While the biannual South Burnett Business Awards recognised the excellence of individual businesses, there were no awards that recognised the excellence of the individuals that helped make those businesses so great.
Kingaroy Rotary now plans to make the Pride Of Workmanship awards an annual event.
