Fairfax has announced it will reward the newsagents that have been selected as finalists for Newsagent of the Year 2006 with 2% bonus commission under the terms and conditions of Fairfax’s contract. The problem with this is the award process. There are no published criteria. Success is not based on any published KPI. Nomination is up to suppliers. To my mind, without detracting from the many worthy winners over the years, the Newsagent of the Year awards are more about patronage than business success. I know of many successful newsagents who are not politically connected and who have a low profile who have not even attracted a nomination.
In 2001 my company, Tower Systems, came 14th in the BRW FAST 10, 21st in the Deloitte Tech fast 50 and I was a finalist in the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year. I know something about award processes. In each of these three cases the process was rigorous and independent of the awarding body and sponsor. Getting to the finals required meeting considerable KPI measurements. The entire process was transparent and this gave participants trust in the outcome. Also, the process itself was beneficial.
If newsagents want to grow up and be taken as serious business contenders they need to ensure that their annual awards process is more transparent from the nomination process up. While many past winners would win again, a broader pool would be included in and benefit from the journey.
Fairfax and News could start the ball rolling by establishing criteria for nomination. That their Account Managers can nominate is a flaw because the nomination list comes down to personal relationships and they depend, to a certain extent, on brown nosing.