One of the grand events at Atlas Battery is the family function that they have every year. I was hearing about it since I joined 8 months back but I surely had no idea how it would be like. Organizing an event for 4500 people, that too belonging to different standards in the company together is not a very easy task. The invitees included people who were from labour class to the GMs of Atlas Battery and Atlas Group. It’s called the ‘Family Function & long service awards’.
The significance of the Family Function & Long Service Awards cannot be underestimated. Long service awards is one way to praise the efforts of all those people who have given at least 15 years of service to Atlas Battery. There were 7 categories of Long service awards that included; retirement awards, 40 years, 35 years, 30 years, 25 years, 20 years & 15 years awards. The event is not just a way to praise the efforts of people but is also a means of interaction for employees with the chairman & ceo. This is a collective gathering of 4500 people with their families and is one of the biggest events held at Atlas Battery.
One week prior to the event, I got a call from HR asking me if I could host the Family Function for them. I was hesitant in the start but decided to give it a try as there were a total of 4 hosts in sets of two. The first set belonged to 2 people from HR department, Ms. Hijaab (HR Head) & Mr. Shahzaib, (Asst. Manager HR); and the second set included me and Mr. Mohsin (IT Department).We had 5 days in total to prepare the script & practise it. The initial 2 days were spent at SITE office preparing the script & creating puns to entertain people. The other 3 days were spent practising it & adding value to the content.
The event was held at the convention hall of PAF Museum. The event was very well organised with proper set up for fans & seating. The color theme of the event was white & light blue with 6 feet tall stage. It can be said that the event was very well organised as even in 33 degree centigrade temperature, the seating wasn’t suffocated & it wasn’t very hot as compared to the temperature outside.
We were told to reach the venue at 4 pm and we followed the time. As soon as we reached the venue, we were served with refreshing welcome drinks. To my amazement, the punctual chief guests; Mr. Yousuf H Shirazi (Chairman, Atlas Group), Mr. Iftikhar H Shirazi (Member Advisory Board) & Mr. Ali H Shirazi (CEO Atlas Battery) arrived exact at 4:30 stated invitation time. The guests were seated on the stage & Mr. Ahmar Waheed (GM HR) inaugurated the event with welcome speech. Mr. Yousuf H Shirazi (Chairman, Atlas Group) gave a speech praising employees who have served Atlas Battery all their lives & motivating the new entrants. Ceo Atlas Battery, Mr. Ali H Shirazi was then asked to give a speech. His speech highlighted the mission & vision of Atlas Battery, also sharing the future goals & upcoming projects.
Once both the speeches were done, the long service awards session was commenced. Ms. Hijaab & Mr. Shahzaib inaugurated the event announcing award for 4 categories. The other 3 categories were announced by me and Mr. Mohsin. Every award was announced in a unique manner highlighting qualities of the people it was given to. This made the hosting memorable for most people. The audience applauded on most of the awards. Once the awards were done, Ahmar Sahab (GM HR) awarded some awards like the best signer award, the birthday boy award etc.
Once these awards were completed, the dinner was served. The dinner included a three course meal which included Biryani, Karhai, Barbq & Ice berg icecream. After the dinner, cultural performances were held for employees as a source of entertainment for them.