What was it like joining Novacroft?
My family and I moved to the UK from South Africa in August 2020, for better lifestyle, education and work opportunities. 18th December 2020 was my first day at Novacroft. I was nervous. My previous roles were more business development focussed, within IT – I was exposed to a call centre environment, but there was more support at Novacroft, right from the training. I started as a
Contact Centre Advisor, and after my first few calls, the nervousness went away. I built a good relationship with the team, there was a lot of support from Team Managers, there was always someone to talk to. The type of camaraderie I have experienced at Novacroft is very rare.
How have you grown here?
When the Training Facilitator role popped up, I thought it was a good way for me to build a rapport with Novacroft. I’ve been involved in training and facilitation before, as well as putting materials together, so it was a fit for me. I had an awesome interview, did an awesome role play, and got the position. Soon after starting the role, I was contacted to ask if I wanted to be a Team Leader – I applied and I got the role.
Sene understood the challenge and the importance of supporting each other.
– Jo Toes, Senior Contact Centre Team Manager and Training Facilitator Project Manager, Novacroft
Tell us about your role as Training Facilitator…
The role started on 1st February, although before this, all of us that were appointed as Training Facilitators (24 of us) did 2 hours a day, over 3 days, as an introduction into facilitation. Then, when we officially started, we did train-the-trainer for 8 days to learn the course content ourselves. It was intense training, and a huge learning curve.
We started delivering the course to our learners on 17th February 2021. As Team Leader, I had 8 Training Facilitators in my group, as did each of the other two Team Leaders. We were there to support them. For example, we had to put together reports on how they were doing, and jump in on calls to assess them while they were training. We had to make sure they were all meeting KPIs and that
the project was on track. I had input on where the training materials could be refined, too.
We were delivering the training virtually, and the biggest challenge for me was tech issues. For the first three days, we were sorting out issues with log ons, and with hardware. Some people fell behind. As Team Leaders, we supported each other and each other’s teams. We were there to help those people that needed it. We completed the project together and we had 100% pass rates.
What do you love about the role?
It was good, it was exciting, it kept us all on our toes. It was engaging. Where we felt we were struggling, the strength we had from our Team Managers – as well as from the other Team Leaders, and the camaraderie between the trainers – saw us through.
What are the values that drive you?
Life throws obstacles in many different shapes and sizes, you just have to get through it and make the best of it. For this project, we worked together to do that. Collaboration is critical.
As much as we were all colleagues, I feel that we built a family, and reacted as a family.
Share a fact about yourself!
My spare time is spent motor racing, drag and track. I have my own race car, which is still in South Africa, that I would love to bring to the UK. I have a dream of racing it at Santa Pod. I love the speed, and my daughter does too!
What’s next for you?
I see myself staying at Novacroft, if the opportunity arises. I’d like to continue delivering training to people or if possible work in customer service.
This role has taught me a lot of fundamentals on how processes work.
#GrowWithNovacroft