December Apprentice of the Month - Robert Ukandu
We are happy to announce that the winner of the LDN Apprentice of the Month is Robert @ Warner Bros!
Nominated by LDN Skills Coach, Mati Mato Gono - Robert is the second apprentice from Warner Bros to accolade in 2020!
We received some awesome feedback from Robert’s line manager and Creative Services Manager, Sian Hewitt, which you can read below!
Robert’s Skills Coach:
Robert has been producing some outstanding coursework and has just finished project managing his own project at Warner Bros within his own team. Robert has been consistent and willing to work with others during the Third Thursday Tutorials, contributing to the overall success of the sessions.
Robert’s Line Manager
Energy:
Rob was already with the company when I joined WB and so I leant on him a lot to “learn the ropes”. It was obvious from the outset that Rob has the most incredible energy and nothing is too much trouble for him. He faces all the work/tasks that he is assigned with this same energy which in turn has a positive effect on the rest of his team members. A lot of the requests that come into our team and last minute with fast turnaround times and Rob deals with these head-on and to a high standard.
Enthusiasm
Rob is always enthusiastic about all tasks that he is asked to execute no matter how mundane they are. This could be anything from a simple translation request or putting together a complete artwork template. All tasks are greeted with the same enthusiasm. Rob is always keen to look at improving processes and often brings new ideas to the table for discussion which is great for a manager as you get a different opinion/outlook. He gets involved in team meetings as well as any events that we put on for the launch or promotion of our titles and is ready and willing to put his hand to whatever is needed to get the job done.
Willingness To Learn:
Rob is actually on his second apprenticeship with WB which I think is a testament in itself to how much he is willing to learn. WB’s training program is very good and if there are any ever courses being put on that would benefit Rob, he is always one of the first to sign up. He is always asking questions and is inquisitive in nature to understand and learn more, not just about processes and the everyday workload but also about WB and its people.
As a Creative Services department, we use Adobe Photoshop a lot. Rob is a “self-taught” Photoshop user but has built on his skill set during his time at WB to increase his knowledge and usage of the software. We get asked to create localised assets on a daily basis and this involves creating language-specific pack shots and text on any marketing assets that are distributed around Europe as well as the Middle and the Far East.
Rob is now my go-to person for creating these assets as he is fast and accurate. He has also created my templates to make these quicker to produce – all whilst teaching himself and stretching his capabilities within photoshop. In addition to this, he has also played a major role in getting our new intern trained up on creating these assets and has done this with both patience and professionalism.
Ability To Take Feedback:
As Rob’s manager, we have weekly 121 meetings where we go through any business needs/requests, workload, working from home and any other work or personal issues that need discussing. During these discussions, Rob is very open to receiving feedback from me and always accepts any comments and guidance. This is shown through his follow up actions and that he always carries this through meaning that he has listened and taken any feedback on board. He always asks for feedback and opinions too which is a good sign that he isn’t afraid to ask for and accept input.
This doesn’t just stop at me as his manager though. When fulfilling requests from our brand managers, Rob will never shy away from asking if he needs clarification or further guidance on a request. We also have to send any artwork assets through for approval from our territories, and sometimes feedback from our markets can be quite harsh, but Rob takes this in his stride and will always respond politely and professionally.
Propensity To Take Action:
Rob is a very pro-active member of my team. As well as an apprentice (Rob), I also manage an intern. Rob has taken both of the Interns that I have had since I joined the company “under his wing”. He has been both a teacher and a leader in ensuring that they are supported and are trained up on all aspects of our department’s responsibilities. This was not a request from myself, Rob just took the initiative and ran with it in his usual energetic, passionate and committed approach.
Rob always responds in a timely manner to any requests that come through and treats all contacts with the same respect no matter what their level is within the company. Rob is always willing to put in the hours needed to get work completed and delivered on time.
Due to a recent title that Rob was working on there was some apprenticeship work that needed to be given some attention but we agreed what targets needed to be met and by when and worked out a plan of action to allow him time to meet these targets. As always, Rob delivered!
We are a small but very busy department of just three and I lean on Rob a lot to ensure we get any requests completed and delivered in a timely manner. Since introducing a new packaging process, it has meant that I have been able to train Rob up on this new way of working and I can now share some of my workloads with him. He has picked this up extremely quickly and managed his first complete project on his own for a recent Fortnite title with very little input from me. During this project, he liaised with senior stakeholders, US and EMEA marketing members as well as our agency. This was a massive learning curve for Rob but he dealt with all queries and hurdles in a professional and responsive manner.
Rob has bloomed since he has been attending LDN Apprenticeship and I think that is due to the combination of Rob’s commitment as well as having a supportive and dedicated tutor.
Our runner up for this month is Angelize Williams at Springer Nature, who was nominated by Publishing Skills Coach, Vimbai! With feedback provided by Angelize’s line manager, Laura Lee.
Angelize’s Skills Coach:
I am extremely proud of Angelize’s extra hard work this month. She has pulled out all stops to ensure that all her project work, portfolio evidence and apprenticeship work are up to date. She has taken a thoughtful, structured and focused approach towards her work and demonstrated a gritty determination to succeed on her apprenticeship.
Angelize has always worked hard and often took the lead in discussions and workshop group exercises, using her organisational skills to rally everyone together for a lively debate on some of the industry’s topical issues.
Angelize’s line manager:
Angelize has oodles of energy, she is always smiling and is a pleasure to work with. Whenever we have our team catch-ups her vivacity is infectious and we always come away smiling. She has been with the team for over a year now and I am very much looking forward to working with her in 2021 and beyond. After the year we have had and the adapting we have had to do we can face anything!
Angelize is always open new tasks and projects, she never shies away from a challenge and she has built up a reputation in our department for areas of expertise. She has become our goto chief for the company monthly newsletters, she took this on as a new task to our team and made it her own. She changed up the workflow so that it is easier to follow and now she has been asked by a Manager Editor to help out with Advisory Board emails which I a brand new task but follows the same process as the Newsletters. The ME isn’t her immediate department so it’s awesome she has been asked to help out with that.