February Apprentice of the Month - Renée Ramsay-Nicol
We are happy to announce the winner of the LDN Apprentice of the Month is Corporate Responsibility & Sustainability Apprentice, Renée Ramsay-Nicol @ Computacenter.
Nominated by LDN Skills Coach Devina, Renée's nomination stood out for the impact she is making, not only to the business but also to the young people she works with as well as her local community.
Check out Renée’s winning Apprentice of the Month nomination along with our other fantastic nominations below!
Renée’s Skills Coach:
Renée has been smashing it as an apprentice! She's really committed to having an impact at work and it really shows through her awesome assignments! She is always on top of things for the apprenticeship and delivers really interesting pieces of work outlining how she’s helping to drive positive social impact in the communities she works with. I have really enjoyed learning about the exciting initiatives she is organising and supporting to encourage more girls to consider careers in tech (amongst many other great social impact drives Renée is working on)!
Renée is dedicated to facilitating the best outcomes for the young people she works with and is extremely humble about it too. Renée is always willing to help others and is generous with her time doing so, this is something that her line manager has highlighted during her coaching sessions. She has been a brilliant addition to the CR&S cohort through her welcoming attitude and her interest in others and their sectors.
Renée is a star apprentice and it is a joy to work with her!
Renée’s Line Manager:
How have they improved/impacted the business and the team since they started their apprenticeship?
Since beginning her apprenticeship, Renée has significantly boosted the business output on Social Outreach and team dynamics. Her fresh outlook has sparked creativity and encouraged innovation around our strategic approach to outreach activities and its impact on not only the local community but to us as a business. Renée's dedication and hard work has set a high standard and inspires her colleagues and volunteers daily. Actively pursuing growth opportunities, she continuously enhances her skills, contributing effectively to tasks. Her collaborative approach fosters teamwork and communication, creating a supportive work environment. Overall, Renée's impact is substantial, driving growth and innovation while uplifting team morale.
What three words best describe them? (Please give an example/expand on each)
Passionate: Renée approaches her work with unwavering enthusiasm and passion, evident in her tireless efforts to pursue innovative solutions. Whether she's brainstorming ideas for a new project or addressing challenges, her evident passion for her job and its responsibilities ignites motivation within the team, driving everyone towards shared goals
Dedicated: Renée's commitment to excellence is unwavering, as seen in her consistent dedication to tasks, projects and her studies. She invests time and effort into every endeavour, ensuring that quality is never compromised. Her dedication serves as a guiding light for her colleagues, inspiring them to match her level of commitment.
Inspirational: Renée's actions and attitude serve as a source of inspiration for her volunteers and school children across the UK. She leads by example, demonstrating resilience in the face of obstacles and unwavering optimism in pursuit of success. Through her passion and dedication to delivering opportunities to school students, Renée motivates others to push their limits and strive for greatness, creating a culture of excellence within our business.
An example of an outstanding piece of work, project or task they have worked on.
Renée's new 'Bright Futures' strategy has revolutionised our approach to social outreach, embodying our commitment to community impact. By partnering with local charities, creating strong mentoring initiatives, and re-igniting our volunteer programme, Renée has cultivated meaningful relationships and extended our reach to those in need. Her innovative idea around aligning her strategy to our people strategy and creating a clear vision of why and what social outreach can do to support communities and our business has gathered widespread support and enthusiasm from both employees and stakeholders. Through 'Bright Futures', Renée has inspired a renewed sense of purpose within the team, fostering a culture of giving back and making a tangible difference in the lives of others.
Our runner-up for this month is LDN Business Administrator Apprentice, Jack! Jack was nominated by LDN Skills Coach, Steve, with feedback provided by the team at Warner Bros.
Jack’s Skills Coach:
Right from the very start of his Apprenticeship, Jack has been extremely keen to learn as much as he can, develop himself and get the most out of the course. He has been hit with some tough setbacks throughout the year, some of which would have stopped other learners from progressing. But Jack, on the other hand, has used these as motivation to improve himself, taking the feedback he has received and turning it on its head, defying misguided opinion and demonstrating how much potential he has. Jack is even more determined to finish his maths, which is a constant barrier, but he is getting ever closer to passing, which will be a superb achievement in itself. Jack’s emotional intelligence, ability to deal positively with constructive feedback, as well as his empathy and awareness of others will serve him very well throughout his life and career I’m sure.
Jack’s line manager:
When Jack started his apprenticeship, he was shy, quite standoffish and seemed almost afraid to pick up the phone. It’s quite incredible how much progress he has made in his time with us – he has blossomed into a confident and knowledgeable team member with a wicked sense of humour and an impressive wealth of film knowledge. Jack is totally comfortable showing visitors how our systems and processes work and I think has surprised himself with how much he has learned. We are all very proud of him for what he has achieved – as well as keeping on top of his coursework.
Here’s what was said about the other fantastic nominees:
Alina Sacalus @ Bowmer + Kirkland:
Alina has been a great addition to the teams since the start of her apprenticeship. She is a unique apprentice throughout the business as is the only apprentice not on a construction-related pathway. She has been exceptional in her demeanour and conduct in the workplace and has supported raising the profile of the social value across the business. She is a pleasure to work with and inspires her wider teams with enthusiasm and energy when delivering with social value.
Mia Ciuro @ JSP Ltd:
Since Mia has started the apprenticeship LDN I have noticed a great uplift in her confidence and approach to her work. Mia was already a well-rounded and dedicated member of my team and I was really pleased with how she handled her role as it was not a direct area that she studied in. I suggested that she undertake the apprenticeship in order for her to learn some new skills and to boost her confidence in digital marketing. I had explained that this would be a significant undertaking and that it would be a lot of extra work on top of her already very busy working week, but Mia was very excited and pleased with this opportunity and we had no trouble signing her up for the course.
Abbie Gould @ Bloomsbury:
Abbie’s role is unique in our team, in that she is the only person to work across both marketing and publicity. She understands the responsibility that comes with this and has been a huge help to the team in providing administrative support. Abbie also provides creative ideas and useful market input to campaign brainstorms: she is particularly well-read in fantasy and YA and this extracurricular reading puts her in a great position for the mind of the consumer at the early planning stages of an M&P campaign.
Husna Bashir @ accountants247:
Husna is a conscientious learner who is always striving to improve and develop and takes on board all feedback given to her at our coaching sessions. She has made a really positive start to her apprenticeship journey in the last 5 months. She has successfully passed her Principles of Coding exam with a really solid score, which is no mean feat. She has also submitted her first project and mapping document on time which is looking really good. Husna is always completing her training plan activities in line with her deadlines and in sufficient detail. On top of this, she is consistently progressing with her cognassist activities, BKSB and smart targets each month. Overall, she’s an absolute pleasure to coach and mentor and it is no surprise to me how well she is doing at work researching and driving her company’s social media activity to the next level.
Charlie Dutfield @ Fusion:
Charlie has made a very welcomed impression on the team since starting with us. He is always friendly, approachable and willing to learn and improve where he can. He takes information in and asks the right questions to understand the task at hand. It has come to a stage where departments throughout the company are more than happy to call on Charlie for assistance with remote fault finding for a customer or being sent out to site to investigate issues or to provide new solutions. Charlie is showing signs of promise and is well on his way to becoming an invaluable member of the team.