North East Employee Of The Year

I have been asked why our shortlisted employees were nominated in their respective categories so thought it would be a good idea to share some highlights and reasons why we think they are all worthy nominees (and hopefully winners)

We have 2 finalists for Apprentice of The Year which is something we are immensely proud of and it supports our belief that they are a real asset to the business and the local economy.

Chloe Renwick often wonders what she would be doing if she hadn’t joined Sage. She feels that she would have followed the route many of her friends have taken of not working or attending college. Chloe quickly demonstrated a natural ability to sell. Her customer focus was obvious and she quickly started to receive feedback from customers about how helpful and caring she was. On the back of feedback like this Chloe started to build on her confidence and move out of the shadows of more assured members of the team. She started to believe she was as good as anyone else, and since then she had exceeded every target that has been set for her, often out performing her colleagues. Either way you look at it, she feels that this Apprenticeship has given her options that she would never have considered previously.

Nicole O'Hagan has experienced an alternative Apprenticeship. On leaving school, she made a bold move to go into mechanical engineering, a male-dominated environment. This taught her to adapt to new situations and stand up for herself. It was a bold move to accept her first choice was not the right choice, however this led her to Sage where she has made an immediate and memorable impact. Nicole is the natural leader in the Apprentice team, and she has created a scrapbook which has documented the team’s journey through their Apprenticeship. She did this because she wanted to keep the team united and give them the ability to reflect. Nicole has quickly built strong relationships, and as a result she was invited to attend lunch with the Sage CEO and the John Lewis board of Directors. They were all interested in Nicole, and were keen to hear about her apprenticeship experience. 

In the Leadership category, Geoff Watson has been shortlisted alongside 3 other candidates. In under 2 years, Geoff built a channel enablement and partner recruitment team. He created a vision aligned to the wider Sage business goal which has delivered over ￡5 million pounds against a target of ￡3.5 million in just 15 months. Geoff is an example of how you can effectively create a high performance culture whilst still prioritising customer experience. He has done this through intelligent recruitment, with a focus on lateral thinking, velocity, and first class product knowledge. Geoff supported this with the introduction of 90 day support plans for all new starters. It was important to him that Sage delivered a powerful first impression alongside clear direction – ultimately setting people up for success.

Having a positive impact in the local community is something that Sage are proud to support through Sage Foundation, so it is great to have a finalist in the Making A Difference In The Community category. Inspirational is the word that comes to mind when I think about Sonia Davison. She leads the Sage Foundation programme at a department level (just under 200 people). This involves the co-ordination and motivation to ensure that everyone delivers on the company commitment of 5 CSR days per year. Since starting this role, Sonia has worked tirelessly and has brought 7 local charities (Bright Red, Benton Cat & Dog shelter, Dilston College, North Marine Park, Great Park Community Centre, Safe Families for children and Silverline Memories) into the programme who now benefit from the support of the Sage Foundation through CSR days and matched funding. Sonia leads from the front, and has helped to organise companywide volunteer days for up to 400 people where a local park or public area receives a makeover to make it more usable or safe for the local community. She has worked closely with Forward Assist to support ex-servicemen find work, and she also led a team who made a memory garden for dementia patients at Silverline.

Being a PA is not easy, but Zoe Strong makes it look effortless, she is prepared for all situations, never appears to be phased by new or challenging situations – all which makes her a fantastic PA, and a great nominee for PA of the Year. Zoe is constantly taking work from her executives to ease their workload. She has a mission to search and destroy their inbox to identify the tasks she can take on. This seems to be done effortlessly due to the vast array of disciplines Zoe has under her belt, (Legal, Construction, Healthcare, Government, Academia, computer gaming, town planning, technology) – but her desire to do more and be better never seems to lessen. Her energy and enthusiasm to be an outstanding PA never wanes. In addition to her core role, Zoe has also immersed herself in charity work, and was the driving force behind a recent clothing drive in Sage. She received the following feedback from the charity. “We are passionate about taking the Smart Works service to help as many women as possible and we are so grateful for you for supporting us on this journey. We wouldn’t be able to do this without support such as yours.”

Finally, we have Lyndsey Stephenson in the Unsung Hero category. In my years of experience, I have rarely seen anyone with the level of drive that Lyndsey displays. A great example of this is last year our recruitment of Apprentices started later than expected. Interest levels were low so Lyndsey took it upon herself to contact local schools and arranged to deliver presentations accompanied by some of the Apprentices from the previous year. This was a great success and out of the Apprentices that were recruited in 2016, a large percentage applied directly following one of Lyndsey’s visits. Lyndsey also proactively volunteered to run a department coaching talent pool initiative. Funding was secured to work with a local college, and Lyndsey facilitated all activities, ensuring all participants were provided with sufficient opportunities to consolidate their learning. As a result of her support and collaboration 100% of the group passed the course and have a formal coaching qualification.  Lyndsey’s biggest challenge came when she was volunteered to project manage elements of the recent London Sage Summit. She had to plan, co-ordinate and manage the travel, accommodation and clothing for all Sage attendees (400 in total - with some based globally). She also had to ensure that every Sage colleague was allocated a role at the event to match their skill set to ensure that customers had the best experience at the event.

Good luck to all of the finalists for the Awards on 14th July.