October Apprentice of the Month - Ruby Rowland
We are happy to announce that the winner of the LDN Apprentice of the Month is Ruby @ Christie’s!
Nominated by LDN Publishing Skills Coach, Vimbai Shire - Ruby is the second Publishing apprentice to win the Apprentice of the Month award!
We received some awesome feedback from Ruby’s line manager and Business Manager at Christie’s, Will Arthur, which you can read below!
Ruby’s Skills Coach:
Ruby has kept a steady and consistent pace of work throughout the course and is always cheerful, helpful and quick to respond to any calls for action. I was particularly impressed with the routines she put together to motivate her to stay on track while on furlough and she has produced excellent projects as a result of this focus and dedication, and continued this discipline since she has returned to full-time work.
On the course, Ruby is thoughtful and makes every effort to relate what she is learning to her organisation. The feedback she then relays to the rest of the group is always detailed and useful for peer-to-peer learning – in particular, because Ruby works for a non-traditional publisher, which falls outside the common sectors of the industry. she is able to offer valuable insight to others as she gains competency in her own organisation and that has been great to see.
Ruby’s Line Manager
Energy & Enthusiasm:
Ruby has shown enormous energy and enthusiasm which has continued to grow as her time has progressed. When she joined the team she quickly started to contribute and engaged with everyone and her personality and enthusiasm shone through making her a popular member of our global team very quickly. Since Ruby joined there has been an unprecedented amount of change both from the pandemic itself and in changes to the business as a result. Many changes were being planned but implementation has been accelerated. Some people would have found this difficult or confusing but Ruby has embraced it all including the ups and downs, and her energy, enthusiasm and open mindedness has helped her deal with it in a very mature and professional manner.
Willingness To Learn:
Ruby has proven continually that she is keen to learn as much as possible not just about Christie's and the Art world but about the wider publishing world. In terms of supporting the Department she has taken on a wide array of tasks and needs to be told only once and then she's on it. She has also shown good judgement when asking questions in order to better understand the context. As a result colleagues have learned to trust her to provide quality work which in turn has resulted in them asking her to help with more and more pieces of work. Her engaging nature means that she gets a lot more insight out of people as a result
Ability To Take Feedback:
I believe that feedback both positive and negative is really helpful and encourage others in the team to provide it. I feel that Ruby has taken feedback in a very positive, professional way and has considered it and then applied it. This has been apparent in her approach to projects such as trying to step out of the detail of a situation and looking at the bigger picture. Another example is when supporting our Client Service colleagues. Her eagerness to help others can result in doing more than is required which can be taken advantage of. She took the feedback and learned to judge a request for help, and judge how much to do for the person and how much to help the other person do it themselves. She also then developed her assertiveness and willingness to push back in a friendly professional way.
Propensity To Take Action:
Ruby has shown that she just needs to be pointed in the right direction and is very happy to do what is required. This has been very evident in her approach to new projects. She has shown that she knows when to ask for more information, which is essential, but also when to take the initiative as well. One excellent example was recently assisting the Publishing Manage for EMEA region with scheduling some 3D photographic work while she was away. What started out as a relatively simple task became complicated very quickly due to unexpected operational changes. Ruby took this on board, collaborated with the colleagues and suppliers involved and managed it brilliantly earning a glowing review and ensuring the work could go ahead in the most efficient way.
Following the departure of a colleague Ruby has taken on responsibility for setting up purchase orders and invoice processing for the publishing team worldwide. In addition, she has supported me (Business Manager Global Publishing) in the production of a new user guide to capture all the different cases and process involved helping ensure we have continuity going forwards. She applied her experience to verify and provide feedback as required.
She now supports the Publishing Managers in each region (EMEA, America & Asia) and well as myself. This now facilitates efficient payment of our suppliers and helps Accounts Payable colleagues in their role and also helps ensure that month end reviews are working with the most up to date financial information.
Our runner up for this month is Manveer Dass at Tempest Resourcing, who was nominated by Business Admin Coach, Mati! With feedback provided by Manveer’s line manager, Jane Tinker.
Manveer’s Skills Coach:
Manveer is doing an absolutely brilliant job working through Litmos. He does so well when learning new things and always asks various questions to understand. Manveer is a keen learner and always gives 100%.
Manveers’s line manager:
The energy that Manveer spreads in the company is amazing, he makes sure everyone is uplifted and motivated. I am happy that Manveer is part of my team and know that he will be working smart when getting the job done! I believe Energy and attitude is essential when working in a fast paced environment.
I can see how much Manveer wants to grow and progress in the financial sector ladder and if he keeps the same energy, mindset and determination he will definitely go far in his career. I can see the interest Manveer has and is definitely intrigued in learning.