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Tag: Construction for female employees

Rostwa Engineers Ltd > News > Construction for female employees
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What a Man Can Do, a Woman Can Do

October 4, 20240

Akide Grace the female builder walks towards me so calmly, with an anxious face that had no idea what to expect from the interview. As she drew closer, Grace is dark skinned with a smooth and clear skin complexation, a beautiful wide smile and medium sized 25 year old lady,  born from a family of 3 children, Grace is the only girl .She is a resident of Kilokoitio village, Nyekidi parish, Laperebong Sub County, Agago district. Grace is a student at Adilang vocational training Institute (AVTI) pursuing a national certificate in building and construction year one. Grace and her course mates have practical part of their studies from Rostwa Engineers company sites in Adilang where several AVTI school blocks are being constructed.

Grace during work
Grace during work

On Fridays which is the only day with full time practical lessons, she normally wakes up at 5:30 am, freshens up, leaves for morning preps that runs from 6:00am-8:00.am.The practical lessons start off at 8:00am till 5:00pm with only 30 minutes breaks at 10:30am then an hours break from 1:00pm.She says working with men is not bad, since they are willing to share knowledge that she might not have understood in class hence polishing her skills. During work most of students and site workers share a lot of stories both educative and comical which makes work push on easily.

When asked about her how she finds working with men being that she is the only female, She smiled and said, ‘‘whenever I go to site, workers get so excited to see me, I don’t know why’’. Her School Administrator Mr. Okello Tonny says, ‘’Grace is one of the best performers in her class, she is very active in and outside class and holds the position of UNSA(Uganda National Students Association) president at the institute’’

Her future plan is to be an independent lady so that she can encourage other ladies who aren’t independent that it’s possible. She wants to get done with the certificate, upgrade to diploma then degree. She hopes to be an instructor of Building and construction or Administrator of an engineering company. Grace hopes to be married one day after all the studies are done and she chose being an instructor or administration because it doesn’t need much movement hence stable marital home.

Her advice to young girls is, ‘As long as you are alive, as a girl you need to try to get something to keep you independent, what a man can do a woman can do’. Her slogan for life is ‘start from nowhere but hope that you will reach somewhere’

Work place etiquettes tips.

March 29, 20230
Some of the technical staffs during a planning retreat in Entebbe.

Your behavior in the workplace can dictate your success and reputation because how you present yourself to others in the workplace matters influencing the overall environment for you and your coworkers. A summary of some work etiquettes which will be helpful at a work place is shared below.

Make a Good First Impression: People often form impressions about others within seconds of meeting them, so it’s important to ensure you present yourself as a professional. Be aware of your body language and how others may perceive it. A good rule of thumb is to stand straight, maintain eye contact, and smile!

Understand your Work Environment: The values, policies, and procedures of a workplace can be difficult to discern at first. If you are in \ organization with a structured human resource division, you may have access to an in-house trainings to keep you informed of your organization’s expectations. Lastly, observing the atmosphere and actions of others can help you understand what’s appropriate and what’s not, and how to best navigate the workplace while maintaining your professionalism.

Communication is Key: Communication is an important part of workplace etiquette. It’s sometimes not what you say, but how you say it that counts so be mindful of how you communicate with your colleagues in meetings and one-on-one conversations. In regards to email, be sure your correspondence inside and outside of your workplace is written clearly and free of spelling errors.

Make it a habit to be prompt: Being on time offers an easy and manageable way to make a good impression. Consistently being punctual shows that you value the time of others in your work environment. When possible, plan to give yourself extra time between meetings so that you won’t be late if something unexpected happens.

Avoid interrupting: When you attend meetings or talk with others in the workplace, let them finish speaking without interrupting. Allowing them to complete their thought or presentation shows your respect for their opinion and efforts. If you have a thought you want to share while someone is talking, jot it down and stay silent until the person finishes.

Use people’s names: Using someone’s name when speaking with them can convey your respect and attention. You can ask them if you don’t remember or know their name. Use their name organically throughout the conversation without too much repetition. Next time you see the person, greet them by name for an additional sense of friendliness and respect.

Be Personable yet Professional: Sharing information about your personal life is your choice, but be cautious when it comes to what you share; some colleagues may be more open than others and might choose to keep their personal life private as well. Similarly, you may want to limit personal calls, emails, and other non-work related tasks to after work hours.

Dress appropriately: Regardless of the policies, you may benefit from dressing slightly more professionally than required to show your professionalism and commitment to the role. If you meet with clients or prospective clients, dress in more formal business attire. Striving to mirror your boss’s style or level of formality can help ensure you dress appropriately

Conflict resolution at work.

March 10, 20230

The fact of the matter is conflict in the workplace is unavoidable. The ability to recognize conflict, understand the nature of conflict, and to be able to bring swift and just resolution to conflict will serve you well as a leader , the inability to do so may well be your downfall. Here are some ways to manage conflicts at a work place.

Define Acceptable Behavior: Just having a definition for what constitutes acceptable behavior is a positive step in avoiding conflict. Having clearly defined job descriptions so that people know what’s expected of them, and a well-articulated chain of command to allow for effective communication will also help avoid conflicts.

Hit Conflict Head-on: By actually seeking out areas of potential conflict and proactively intervening in a just and decisive fashion you will likely prevent certain conflicts from ever arising. If a conflict does flair up, you will likely minimize its severity by dealing with it quickly. Time spent identifying and understanding natural tensions will help to avoid unnecessary conflict.

The Importance Factor: Pick your battles and avoid conflict for the sake of conflict. However if the issue is important enough to create a conflict then it is surely important enough to resolve. If the issue, circumstance, or situation is important enough, and there is enough at stake, people will do what is necessary to open lines of communication and close positional and/or philosophical gaps.

View Conflict as Opportunity: Hidden within virtually every conflict is the potential for a tremendous teaching/learning opportunity. Where there is disagreement there is an inherent potential for growth and development. Divergent positions addressed properly can stimulate innovation and learning in ways like minds can’t even imagine.

Laboratory block at Mater Ecclesiae Nursing and Midwifery School Luweero.

Bottom line is I believe resolution can normally be found with conflicts where there is a sincere desire to do so. Turning the other cheek, compromise, forgiveness, and compassion, empathy, finding common ground, being an active listener, service above self, and other approaches will always allow one to be successful in building rapport if the underlying desire is strong enough.

Self evaluation at a work place.

December 21, 20221

As the year comes to an end, employees needs to have a self evaluation in order to better in the different tasks in which they perform. Periodic evaluation is a chance for employees to review the recent past and discuss future expectations. An evaluation also serves as an opportunity to set goals as individuals and a team. we’ve created a sample self-assessment to guide you as you create your own.

Strengths: Clearly point out your strength that you feel is your strong point at work. Their is need to also get better ways to use your strength in order to meet your work goals.

Weaknesses: Every one has weaknesses and their is need to clearly list them especially when it affects your work. Every employee has to find away to work on their weaknesses since it always sabotages work.

Testing of the borehole drilled in Adilang Vocational Training Institute, Agago.

Core values: Have a list of your values, beliefs and check if all you did through out the evaluation time period is in line with them, if not their is still a chance to align your self with them again.

Accomplishments: Their is need to look at your accomplishments and be proud of them, this is a source of motivation to strive better. No matter how the evaluation period was their was a point where you strived this means you can even strive the more.

Goals: During self evaluation at work their is still need to look at the goals set during that period and check if you aligned with them, their is also need to set more goals/targets higher than the ones set hence hard work.

Feed back: Feed back from superiors at work is also an important element during self evaluation, it gives you a genuine report about your performance and areas of Improvement.

Note: Keeping things simple and using short, declarative bullet points are key to writing an effective self-assessment. While the exact nature of your self-assessment might depend on your position and job description, this basic model can help guide you in writing a self-evaluation.

Staffs during MTN marathon in Kampala November 2022

THE 13th ANNIVESARY (ROSTWA DAY).

May 18, 20220

Happy 13th anniversary Rostwa Engineers Limited .The day began with a  chilly and cold  morning, the birds were singing in the sky (seemed like congratulation messages)everything seemed calm, almost all colleagues were in jackets and coats to warm up the cold body but our hearts were warm because of the 13th anniversary. The journey has been long but with our partners, clients and a well built team of staffs we have managed to reach this mile stone. We send our sincere appreciation to all our staffs, clients and partners for standing with us all through.

Rostwa staffs after having an agricultural training.

During the 13th anniversary celebration we decided take a little different journey for the celebration. In order to fulfill our 3nd core values of Responsibility to the community in which we operate, we decided to have a corporate social responsibility activity of planting more than a hundred trees in one of our sites as a way of protecting the environment (St Clare Primary School Aber Oyam District).

Rostwa staffs during tree planting at St Clare Primary School Oyam District

We looked at our staffs and saw a need of having an agricultural training since our country has agriculture as its back bone. The training was not directed to the day to day company work but to help in subsidizing income and future retirement plans of staffs. The onsite time had a training on first aid, financial literacy, job awareness and company core values. Hence improvement of quality of life through our work.

Pictorial moment during an Agricultural training in Entebbe.

Rostwa SACCO was also launched on the 13th anniversary, this was to address developmental and emergency needs of life which always happens during work. The SACCO will help develop a pool to create resources and encourage savings to enable improved life through work as our 1st core value states.

Rostwa On site team during a training session in Luweero.

As the day drew to an end for team building purposes, dinner and drinks were served, the team interacted with fun. Indeed EXCELLENT NEVER IS ENOUGH we will continuously improve the quality of our work in order to meet more than what is expected from us.

The on site team having a meal during Rostwa day celebration.

A female porter/helper at a construction site .

November 25, 20210

Adoch Salama during the interview at Luwero site.

As she enters the interview room looking shy and not sure of what to expect. Her clothes looks a little dirty full of concrete and cement, she is calm and soft spoken, Adoch Salama is the only female porter/helper (unskilled builder), born in 1986 a mother of 4 children but also takes care of 2 nieces and 1 nephew. Wakes up at 6:00am does home chores like fetching water since the water source is far from home, cleans up home and showers before reporting at work/site.

Pictorial moment of the interviewer and Adoch Salama at the Luwero site.

Arrival time at site is always between 07:00hours to 07:15hours, at the gate she takes the COVID 19 SOPs seriously before registering in the attendance book. After registering then she changes to work clothes (which includes the safety wears).Between 07:15hours-07:30hours is site meeting which includes allocation of work to different people for the day. As a helper/porter she is allocated to masons (skilled builders) who expect her to mix the right ratio of materials to make concrete the quantity is mixed according to the speed of the masons and supplied to the people she was allocated to.

Breakfast is at 10:00hours for 30 minutes this comprises of porridge (she takes 1 and half cup of porridge) and lunch at 13:00hours to 14:00hours this comprises of beans and posho(she takes a plate of food).Work ends at 18:00hours, she cleans up tools, equipment used and remaining materials to the stores, then signs attendance to close the day before freshening up(includes getting off work clothes) then heads home at 18:30hours to meet the family after a long day.

Adoch Salama during work at the Luwero site.

When asked how she got to Know the vacancy, “it was through friends who told me about the vacancy and they were not sure of me taking it seriously” says Adoch.at work since she is the only female casual worker she faces challenges, “am always teased by the male workers and they joke a lot about me but I push on because I need the money to feed my family” says Adoch. Her future plan is to save money and buy a machine that processes ground nuts and simsim to peanut butter.

EXCELLENT NEVER IS ENOUGH