Tennis is not just a game. It is a leadership class. It teaches the importance of timely decisions, perseverance, collaborations, networking, endurance, mental and physical performance for increased productivity.

1. VRA NEWS ►
corpcomm@vra.com / www.vra.com | 17
VRA TENNIS CLUB:
BUILDING SOCIAL
COLLABORATIONS FOR IMPROVED
PRODUCTIVITY & BOOSTING
VRA'S IMAGE.
colleague who wondered why
AVRA should continue funding
activities of the VRA Tennis
Club recently approached me.To her, it
was a waste of resources. In her view, it
is appropriate for VRA to sponsor
Associations like the “VRA Ladies”
because they promote the welfare of
the women and contribute to projecting
thepositiveimageof theAuthority.
I took the opportunity to educate her
briefly on the benefits of the VRA
Tennis Club including improving
productivity, saving medical expenses
and branding of the VRA. This is what
I sharedwithher:
1. Savings from Medical Expenses.
Playing tennis is a form of exercising,
as the game requires players to stay fit.
Due to the regular exercises that comes
with playing tennis, members of the
tennis fraternity are healthy and very
fit. Just to mention a few: Mr.Yaw Carr
(a VRA pensioner) still plays tennis at
age 78, Mr. Ellias Nanoo (also a VRA
pensioner) is very fit and plays tennis at
age 68, Mr. Paa Kofi Grant (who is
nearing retirement) plays some
beautiful tennis and is very healthy.
Records at VRA Health Services
Department show that the Authority
spends very little on staff who play
lawn tennis. According to the medical
records, the tennis players mostly visit
health facilities for routine checks.
This saves the Authority money which
otherwise would have been used to pay
medicalbills.
2 Social Collaborations for.
Improved Productivity. I once
read a book titled “Great Teams”
by Harvard Business Review. In
the book, the author stressed the
i m p o r t a n c e o f s o c i a l
collaborations and sited examples
of fortune 500 companies that saw
productivity shoot up after
consciously creating avenues for
staff to “hang out” after work.
R e s e a r c h h a s s h o w n t h a t
organisations that create the
platform for social collaborations
grow. Such organisations also
spend less on staff health/medical
expenditure, in addition to having
high staff retention rate. The VRA
Tennis Club provides the platform
for informal collaborations
amongst staff.After playing tennis,
members “sit” to relax and discuss
ideas that enhances productivity.
These social connections and
engagements between members
also strengthens the bond between
staff (from different Departments)
and enhances team work.
Building social collaborations for
improved productivity is an HR
function and so funding platforms
f o r d e v e l o p i n g s o c i a l
collaborations – like VRA Tennis
Club– is notmisplacedatall.
3. Platform for Customer Education.
More often than not the VRA
Tennis club hosts other tennis
clubs from most institutions in
Ghana. These institutions are users
of VRA's product and services.
Some share their frustrations and
disappointments with us hoping to
get solutions or directions. We
(members of VRA Tennis Club)
take the opportunity to educate
these friends and customers
(mostly indirect customers) and try
andassist inresolvingtheirissues.
4. Leadership. Tennis teaches the
most valuable skills and principles
leaders should have and uphold.
The game of tennis requires correct
timing, good anticipation of your
opponent's moves (foresight),
speed, positioning, determination,
resilience, character, good attitude
and of course fitness, it takes a great
mental attitude and focus to win a
tennis game – and that is the lesson
tennis teaches. So, if you want to be
a great leader just play tennis and
you would develop the skills and
attituderequiredforsuccess.
Promotion of the VRA Brand. For me
a “brand” is what you promise and
deliver to your stakeholders, simple!
It’s okay if you don't believe, but I see
the VRA brand to be “EXECUTION”.
We execute whatever goal we set
ourselves, and that is what the VRA
tennis players exhibit when they
participate in any tournament. We
execute the winning agenda -WE PLAY
TOWIN!
WinningWays
Talking of winning, it was all fun and
excitement as VRA Tennis Club won
the Independence Day Tournament
organised by Golden Tulip Tennis Club
on March 4, in Accra. The tournament
formed part of activities outlined by the
hoteltomarkGhana's 60thBirthday.
by Ing. Mrs. Sophia Abena Tijani
Contd. on pg.18→
Nana Sam-Awortwi receiving the trophy

2. VRA NEWS ►
18 | corpcomm@vra.com / www.vra.com
Three teams made up of the Golden
Tulip Tennis Club, the Volta River
Authority (VRA) Tennis Club and the
Ghana Army Officers Mess Tennis
Club (AMTEC) battled for the
prestigious cup at stake, which VRA
won.
It is worth noting that in 2016 the VRA
Tennis Club won every tournament
they participated in. We beat Ashanti
Tennis Club both home and away,
Accra Lawn Tennis Club, Golden
Tulip Tennis Club, Ghana Commercial
Bank Tennis Club and Koforidua
TennisClub.
So, the next time you see the Chairman
of VRA Tennis Club, Mr. Samuel
Odartey Lamptey and his able Captain,
Mr. Alfred Okang, congratulate them
on the good work they are doing to
promote and market the VRA brand,
By John Chobbah & Angela Laryea
lant Manager of the Kpone
PThermal Power Station (KTPS),
Mr. Darlington Ahuble has
stated that the “Station's decision to
institute a monthly Plant Cleaning and
Housekeeping exercise is to guarantee
its availability and preparedness
whenever the system operator required
it”.
Speaking in an interview, the Plant
Manager indicated that because of the
long spell of dry season, substantial
quantities of dust particles have settled
on some key parts and areas of the
generating unit, requiring cleaning and
h o u s e k e e p i n g t o e n s u r e i t s
preparedness to deliver power
whenever the Station is required to
support griddemand.
He stated, currently, some of the
Authority's thermal plants are idle,
following the Authority's dependence
on hydro generation owing to
substantial inflows into the Volta Lake
last year. This according to him has
called for a periodic maintenance
strategy to ensure the plant's
availabilityandreadiness.
Some of the activities undertaken to
keep the Unit, Electrical Panels,
Motors and Electrical system clean
included cleaning of the two Gas
Turbine Thermal Blocks, Generator
Compartments and Fuel and Nox
Water Blocks. This they did by
sweeping, dusting, removing cobwebs,
mopping,etc.
The maiden exercise on January 14,
KTPS INSTITUTES MONTHLY PLANT
CLEANING & HOUSEKEEPING EXERCISE
2017 although aimed at keeping the plant clean also afforded the Staff and
Managementtheopportunitytobond andshareideasonrelevantissues.
COMRADE T. K. AKYEA-OBENG RETAINED
AS ACCRA LOCAL CHAIRMAN OF THE VRA DIVISION OF PSWU
ro. T.K. Akyea-Obeng of the
BFinance Department has been
re-elected Chairman of the
Accra local branch of the Volta River
Authority (VRA) Division of the
Public Services Workers Union
(PSWU) of the Trades Union
Congress (TUC),Ghana.
Bro.Akyea-Obeng polled 44 votes out
of the 68 valid votes cast to secure a
third term in office. Other elected
Executives include Bro. Solomon
Ayornu, General Services Department
as first Vice Chairman, Sis. Gloria
Mbeah, second Vice Chairman, Sis.
Lydia Pomaa Ofosu, Secretary; Bro.
Applause Sedziafa, Assistant
Secretary, Bro. Daniel Ametepe, as
first Trustee and Bro. Samuel Afriyie
By: Michael Danso, Corporate Communications Unit, Accra
asthesecondTrusteerespectively.
Comrade Martin Kofi Boateng, the
Greater Accra Regional Industrial
Relations Officer of the PSWU of TUC
Ghana supervised the elections and
swore thenewexecutivesintooffice.
In his acceptance speech, Bro. Akyea-
Obeng expressed gratitude to his
→Contd. from pg.17
VRA Tennis Club: Building Social Collaborations for Improved Productivity and Boosting VRA's Image.
colleagues for
the confidence
reposed in him
and promised to
e n s u r e t h e
g r o w t h a n d
sustainability of
theUnion.
Mr. Akyea-Obeng
ensure continuous leadership
education of members of the club as
well as foster social collaborations for
improvedproductivity.
I also take this opportunity to thank
VRA Management for their undying
support for VRA Tennis Club and
assure them that their sponsorship is
not an expense but an investment in a
fruitfulcourse.
AyekootoVRATennisClub!