NPL gears for new strategies

Nation Publications Limited (NPL) has vowed to live up to its vision of being Malawi’s media house of choice by devising and implementing strategies that ensure success, safety and dignity for its staff and customers.

NPL chief executive officer Mbumba Banda said this at the end of a media advisory training on strategic planning for some of the media house’s managers and supervisors in Lilongwe on Friday.

She said the multi-award winning company feels duty-bound to tap from the vast knowledge and experience of World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA)  to have strategic policies that will ensure continued success while creating a workplace environment which enhances the safety and dignity of both members of staff and clients.

“As we have heard from the facilitators, a lot of strategic plans in many organisations sit on shelves gathering dust. We [NPL] don’t want such a scenario, especially now that the people sitting around this table are better equipped and are geared to embark on new strategic plans, including the revision of its sexual harassment policy,” said Banda.

WAN-IFRA Women In News Programme Africa director Tikhala Chibwana commended NPL for its passion for the safety and dignity of its staff and customers.

“If we must cling to only one take-home message today, it is that even the best-crafted strategy counts for nothing in bringing change to any organisation if it is not implemented.

“And research reveals a very shocking reality that nine out of 10 companies fail to fully implement their strategies,” he stated.

In her module on sexual harassment in the workplace, Kenya-based Jane Godia, who is WAN-IFRA project manager for East and Central Africa, stressed that sexual harassment needs to be eliminated because it destroys careers, relationships and organisations’ reputations.