February Apprentice of the Month - Amy Thomson
We are happy to announce that the winner of the LDN Apprentice of the Month is Amy @ 3Keel!
Nominated by LDN Skills Coach, Mati Gono - Amy is one of LDN’s Class Reps and has continued to support the new Level 3 Business Admin cohort!
We received some awesome feedback from Amy’s line manager Will Schreiber, which you can read below!
Amy’s Skills Coach:
Amy has consistently asked questions and even progressed through her learning up to100%. I have seen her confidence grow and develop over the past 4 months whilst showing leadership skills in steering peer-to-peer discussions during Live sessions.
She is now one of the Class Reps and has continued to welcome & support the new BA L3 cohort that started last month through posting messages in the Slack channel and by sharing her tips regarding the apprenticeship.
Amy’s Line Manager
Energy:
Amy is an extremely hard worker. She always brings a smile and a constructive attitude whilst taking ownership of the goals and tasks she has been given. Although she has joined our company during these challenging times, she has not let that hinder her ability to reach out to others to display an earnest interest in the work we are doing together. She challenges us and asks 'why' whilst thinking beyond what is directly in front of her.
Enthusiasm:
I can always depend on Amy to try to find a solution to the challenges we are trying to address. She demonstrates a proactive spirit that helps generate positivity that lifts others in delivering our wider purpose. Amy has worked on a variety of programmes and initiatives since joining us in September. She displays genuine enjoyment in getting involved in a wide range of activities - from spearheading our knowledge management system redesign to working with hundreds of companies on the transformation of their supply chains to more responsible production.
Willingness To Learn:
We use a range of tools and systems in ways that are uncommon to even the most experienced people - that's what makes our company unique. This creates a double challenge for her as there are not only the basic skills that are needed (e.g. Excel) but also the way in which we use them in different circumstances that could make joining our team difficult.
Whilst Amy always listens and asks questions, she also goes beyond what we do together to try to learn additional applications through her own research and problem-solving. For example, after getting up to speed on Microsoft PowerBi I asked that she try to build a similar dashboard system in Google Data Studio. As a new tool - even to me - I trusted that she would earnestly try to see how it could work - and she succeeded.
Ability To Take Feedback:
I have weekly meetings with Amy to support her work and review her progress. If there is ever a moment where I have given constructive feedback, or she has produced an output, she always makes sure that feedback is brought up in our meetings. If I've already given positive feedback, she inquiries what made it work. If I've provided less positive feedback, she wants to know what she can do better. From the first feedback I gave regarding one of her initial tasks - which was a fairly positive 8 out of 10 - she pushed to know what she could do to make it a 10. She never argues, deflects, or excuses any of the suggestions that have been returned to her. She sees feedback as a point of improvement and she proactively seeks it.
Propensity To Take Action:
I never have to ask Amy to do the same thing twice. I know she is listening, and I rely on her to follow up on agreed tasks. She enquires about prioritisation and I never doubt that she will follow through. In the five months she has been in our business I have never had to give the same feedback or reiterate things we had already gone through together - she listens and moves forward.
Our runner-up for this month is Chris Etonde at Landmark, who was nominated by IT Skills Coach, Aziz! With feedback provided by Chris’ line manager, Luke Andrews.
Chris’ Skills Coach:
The main reason I have nominated Chris is due to the feedback Chris receives from his Line manager who always compliments Chris on his contributions to the IT team supporting the company's staff staying connected and working remotely. Also, he is due to get in his apprenticeship gateway this month as planned.
Chris’ line manager:
Over the last 12+ months that Chris has been with us, he has cemented his position as an important member of both his immediate team and the wider department. The conditions have not been favourable given the fact that Chris was only with us for 4 months before the COVID-19 pandemic came along and turned the working world upside down, the way in which he has coped, maintained his energy, level of commitment, and dedication to the cause is a testament to Chris and his willingness to succeed during his apprenticeship programme.
Chris has the responsibility of being a member of our front line team, the face of the department and one of the first people that come into contact with colleagues and clients in times of need. The way in which he has taken this in his stride is commendable, and shows the progress that he has made since joining the programme and Landmark as a business!