Sunshine & Stories

I expected my previous post from the airport lounge in Dublin to be a one-off. Everyone knows that airport lounges are for rewarding yourself with a beer, returning calls and trawling through unread emails, not capturing front-of-mind thoughts in LinkedIn posts. However, I couldn’t resist, and so here we are and this time, the airport lounge of choice is sunny Cairo.

Having had to postpone my trip in May, I wanted to make sure I visited our team in Cairo and as a pale white guy, decided that the 40 degree heat of July would be the perfect time….. and in hindsight, it was. I got to invest time catching up and listening to how my team is feeling about our transformation journey and as always, I leave feeling proud and inspired by what I heard.

Through a series of Town Halls, 121’s, floor walks and demos, the team has shown again that they are fully engaged and excited by the change journey we’re on, driving hard for results and experimenting with new technologies to deliver better employee experiences and customer outcomes.

I also came away feeling especially impressed by the persistence shown by our Customer CARE team to overcome barriers and reinvent key elements of our operating model and proposition to ensure we stay relevant to, and valued by, our customers. Their results are impressive and whilst I could go on to share their KPIs etc, instead I wanted to share a powerful story from a member of the CARE team.?

Hanan Elewa is a Team Leader in our Billing Activations team and she stopped me in the corridor on Tuesday to say hello and share the story of her own personal transformational journey with VOIS .

She told me about her experience that started 12 years ago when her two daughters began their careers at _VOIS, ‘’marking the first step in her family's journey with our company’’. She went on:

‘’For a woman over 30 and a mother of four, finding a workplace that balances professional growth with personal fulfillment seemed like a distant dream. But this place has become my second home. It’s not just a job; it’s where I used to spend precious moments with my daughters, watching them grow and flourish while experiencing my own growth alongside them.

_VOIS has not only embraced diversity but celebrated it, creating an environment where everyone feels accepted and valued. This acceptance has given me the strength and confidence to pursue opportunities that I once thought were beyond my reach. The learning and development programmes have been instrumental in my personal and professional growth, allowing me to acquire new skills and expand my horizons.

Every day, as I walk through the halls, I am reminded of the incredible stories that exist behind every screen, wall, customer, and colleague. These stories are what make this place so special. They remind me that we are all part of something bigger, a community that supports and uplifts one another. The relationships I’ve built here are more than just professional connections; they are friendships that have enriched my life in countless ways.

I am profoundly thankful and forever grateful for the opportunity I've been given to be part of this extraordinary family. For me, Vodafone is more than just a network provider; it’s a way of life. It represents a place where dreams are nurtured, and possibilities are endless. This journey has been transformative, and I look forward to many more years of growth, learning, and cherished memories’’.

As we’ve engaged our colleagues around the world at our #DiscoveryDays, the consistent theme when feeding back on the critical success factors for our change journey is culture. It’s the one thing our people will not allow us to lose and when I hear a story like Hanan’s, it reinforces why this is the case. I found this an extremely uplifting story that brings to life the ‘100% Human’ culture we’ve created and endeavour to nurture. What I’m really excited by is the prospect of hearing more because Hanan is absolutely right, there are more stories of innovation, humanity, community and excellence behind the screens and walls of all of our centres and I hope we can unveil more of them in the months and years ahead.

On our change journey we are creating the new. New products and services to take to new customers in new markets using a new commercial business model. These changes are both exciting and essential if _VOIS is to remain as relevant in 10 years’ time as it is today. Our culture however is not something we need to change, but simply cherish.

James Magill Pedro Sardo Petah Green Sara Heuer Sara Tavacoli Wayne Spillett Mohamed Sami Heba El-Farnawani Yamen E. Dina Salem Ehab Raafat Tony Samy Rania Kaysarly Rania Salah Amira Nagui