August Apprentice of the Month - Nazmul Islam
We are happy to announce that the winner of the LDN Apprentice of the Month is Naz @ Madison Logic!
Naz is making excellent progress with his Level 3 Digital Marketing Apprenticeship and has recently passed his Principles of Coding exam!
Nominated by LDN Skills Coach, Howard - we received some excellent feedback from Naz’s line manager James, as well as the other brilliant nominees, which you can read below…
Naz’s Skills Coach:
Naz continues to impress me with his enthusiasm, his desire to develop, and his ability to think laterally, solve problems and plan his many tasks efficiently. He smashed all of his targets this month and is right on track with his coursework, passing the coding exam at the first attempt and submitting a solid first project for his portfolio.
Naz’s Line Manager
Energy:
Something I really appreciate about Naz is his drive to continuously take on new tasks, it shows a willingness to strive forward and continue to work on problem areas. He is currently demonstrating this as we enter an important time not only for ML but for our team. He now understands the problem areas of our processes and what we can do to begin fixing those issues. His next step in this process is to begin rolling out his ideas and seeing them make a change. It’s rewarding watching someone like him take on a project and make moves in the right direction no matter how big or small.
Enthusiasm:
This is Naz’s superpower for sure, the amount of feedback I get from multiple stakeholders about his level of enthusiasm is second to none. It is something I see across the board with LDN members, for Naz, he is always looking for the next thing to work on and improve. His positive approach to solving an issue and taking something on has gone a long way internally, that enthusiasm has been rock solid from day one which feels like only yesterday which is largely due to the ease of which is to work with Naz and the way he conducts himself.
Willingness To Learn:
This is an area Naz is striving in mainly for his approach to learning new concepts and processes. As he discovers more of the ML world and where he can fit in, he takes the time to actually go out of his way to learn something new. A good example of this is our Programmatic side of the business. When we kicked off the training sessions last quarter I mentioned to him that there were some historical videos he could use to get up to speed, his answer was “already done them”. He’s not afraid to just go that extra distance to learn something.
Ability To Take Feedback:
This one is difficult to answer for me because it has only been positive feedback that he has taken on board with great professionalism. We are setting new goals, rules, and processes as we expand our team under great pressure from the work volume that’s incoming to us. Naz has been able to take on feedback from multiple corners of ML and put that into action immediately seamlessly. For example, rolling out new account assignments he was warned of some internal teething problems that would occur from the change and to help guide other departments over the initial few days/weeks on how to act so immediately began to divert people to the correct holders of accounts whilst ensuring the transitions happened internally with the Campaign Managers.
Propensity To Take Action:
We have an issue process, Avails. This process was produced many years ago when the team was a handful, we are now a globally managed org across timezones with many more sales reps to cater. This old process is breaking to the point it causes more issues than it solves. Naz’s action, create a new route for Sales people to get directly to him and a streamlined way so that they could get their needs back quicker. The solution is simple, short term but helps take some workload off him and others. He actioned that all by himself and this is the exact point I am looking forward to seeing grow in the coming months
Our runner-up for this month is Level 4 Business Administrator apprentice and LDN’s very own Talent Scout, Casey Rehill Shenton! Casey was nominated by LDN Senior Skills Coach, Steve, with feedback provided by line manager, Alex.
Casey’s Skills Coach:
Casey has been working incredibly hard to complete his Level 4 Business Administration Apprenticeship in a timely fashion this month. Casey has really taken ownership of his qualification over the past few months, dedicating his time to his studies, whilst balancing the high demands of his job role simultaneously. Casey has been very strict with his time management, which is a key part of the Level 4 qualification, producing work of a very high standard throughout.
Casey has shown true resilience over the past year, battling with the pandemic, being put on furlough, and working in isolation from home, but has still managed to keep producing work for a very demanding course at the same time. In addition, as well as working diligently and consistently on his qualification, he is also looking to further his career internally, showing a very strong ambition and drive early on in his working life.
Casey’s line manager:
Casey is brilliant, whenever I ask him to do something, his answer is, ‘no problem - I can do it’!
I know that I can count on Casey to get on with the task at hand in an organised manner and will get it done on time, within the deadline. He has managed his apprenticeship work brilliantly, being on target to finish his apprenticeship this month!
Casey has a strong interest in business development and has grabbed every opportunity on the job and his apprenticeship coursework to learn more about the business. It has been a pleasure to work with Casey, to watch him grow, and I cannot wait to see how he does with his next venture, I am sure he will be successful.
Here’s what was said about the other nominations:
Roisin McClarnon @ Livability:
Roisin has impressed my senior desktop team with the knowledge she already has and her ability to learn. If you ask or show Roisin once that's it, she will never need to ask or be shown again. Roisin has found and fixed dozens of pieces of equipment making them fit of use again, saving the charity several £1000's. Items have included Laptops, desktops, mobile phones, and printers. A real asset to the Organisation, has made an immediate difference.
Alex Lang @ EuNetworks:
The amount of effort Alex puts in every project or task set is astonishing. The level of commitment is really high and the more projects he’s involved in the more confidence and knowledge he gains which translates to a very effective level of work and high efficiency! Alex in our team is a giant breath of fresh air. His dedication, passion, and positivity pervaded the whole team. We are enthusiastic about his enthusiasm and curiosity. He knows that he can leave a mark and his point of view is priceless given that, being younger than us and in his first office position, he sees things from a different perspective.
Jack Helsdown @ Bloomsbury:
Jack has dived straight into the split academic/trade editorial apprenticeship (with Major Reference Works and Osprey) and its busy workload with great energy. In a very short time he has got to grips with both teams, and he balances the ongoing and complicated projects of MRW with the often urgent and very varied tasks at Osprey with great commitment and enthusiasm, often delivering tasks before the deadline!
Goorkinun Kaur @ R3:
In Goorkinun’s first project, she was able to achieve 84% of the criteria. Although she is quietly unassuming but has demonstrated the knowledge, ability, and attention to detail in her work. This is the perfect opportunity to give her the recognition that she deserves.
Robert Daniels @ Alain Charles Publishing:
Since joining ACP, Robbie has proved to be a fantastic asset to the editorial team. He is phenomenally productive, gaining a wide range of experience writing across our various magazines and websites, and impressing with his well-organised and methodical approach to tasks and ability to prioritise multiple tasks and deadlines in a fast-paced magazine environment. He has been able to juggle his key role as Deputy Editor of our flagship publication while continuing to contribute to our other publications.