Frik Rademan, the recently retired CEO of mutual insurance society Avbob, has been granted a Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Management. The accolade was granted by the SA Professional Services Awards sponsored by Sanlam and W. Consulting.
Professionals from various organisations were set to gather at a gala dinner in Montecasino Ball Room on the evening of 19 March 2020 to honour the best amongst them. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the SAPSA Awards were indefinitely postponed. The organisers of the event have subsequently undertaken to progressively announce the winners for the 2019/2020 edition prior to hosting a gathering for all finalists and guests. This marks the fifth edition of the Awards following a rigorous process of determining winners through strict criteria.
Janette Minnaar, the chair of the adjudication panel explained how the winners were determined.
“They were judged based on a host of attributes including demonstration of leadership skills, changing of paradigms and innovation within the bounds of available resources. We also conferred a number of Lifetime Achievement Awards to deserving recipients who had served their professions faithfully for many years,” said Minnaar.
The firm awards were based on the following criteria – business growth, customer service, technical excellence, contribution to the community, contribution to the profession, transformation record and commitment to ethics and professionalism. The criteria were not equally weighted, a strong showing in one category was sufficient to put the firm above the rest
On receiving his trophy and certificate for the Award, Frik Rademan expressed that he was truly honoured.
“I am very humbled to receive this award. I did not expect to be honoured for doing something that I have enjoyed doing for almost 38 years of my life. I wish to thank my wife and two children for supporting me as I worked long hours away from home. I also wish to thank our clients, stakeholders and board of directors for enabling me to execute my role and build the company to what it is today,” Rademan said.
Frik Rademan grew up in the Free State and studied his articles in Accounting through Unisa. In 1982, he was approached by a friend who asked him about whether or not he wanted to work for AVBOB as a financial manager. Although not convinced at first, he went for an interview and immediately liked the atmosphere within the company, which proved to be the beginning of something great as through the years, he made his way up the corporate ladder and eventually became group CEO in 2011.
In his role as CEO, Rademan has been at the forefront of establishing the Group as Africa’s largest mutual assurance society. His passion was to create wealth for the company and for policy holders.
Watch Frik Rademan’s acceptance speech below:
