SHINING STARS 2023: AND THE WINNERS ARE...
On Thursday 15 June, we held our Shining Star Awards ceremony, recognising colleagues nominated for going above and beyond their jobs to help our customers and colleagues in 2022.
The Shining Star Awards celebrate colleagues' fantastic work and achievements across all business areas. For this year's ceremony, The People Steering Group reviewed 422 nominations. Without further ado, we are pleased to announce our winners.
Employee of the Year
Winner: Hakim Bouhedja, customer host
"The team were with me every step of the way, and they turned this into a success story. The team has transformed me, and I cannot thank them enough for everything they've done. I love working with my team, we push each other day in day out and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to work with. This award means so much to me." - Hakim Bouhedja, customer host
Customer Award
Winner: Frances Forde, sales West Anglia
Frances used her nursing knowledge to identify a customer in poor health as he stumbled off the train. She kept him and his wife calm and reassured them as they waited for the ambulance.
Shortlisted: Kareem Ahmed, customer host & Ahmed Saleh, sales West Anglia
Station of the Year
Winner: Dalston Junction
"It's down to the teamwork of everyone at Dalston, the station staff, management, agency, GPRs. I feel lucky to work with a great team that works so well in any circumstance. If someone does one job, the other person does another; it's always seamless. I feel privileged to work with such a great group of people." - Wale Agunbiadé, customer host
Shortlisted: Edmonton Green
Safety Award
Winner: Joanna Gorniak – customer host GPR
Joanna helped find a customer who said they had chest pains and had two heart attacks in the past. She was instructed to put the customer on the floor and use the defibrillator after calling 999. The passenger was unconscious by then, and they carried on with CPR. The paramedics stated Joanna had helped save the person's life.
Shortlisted: Khalid Shaikh – station assistant dispatch, Albion Bucka – driver & Barry Dempster – driver
Unsung Hero
Winner: John Menezes, duty resource manager
"I thank Scott Ive, Matt Pocock, Stuart Giddings and my line manager, Peter Louw, for nominating me for this award. I thank the shining star award team for giving me this award and ARL for keeping this award category and recognising my deed, which came from my Christian upbringing. I want to let my colleagues know that we, as a team at Willesden, are always there to help whenever needed." - John Menezes, duty resource manager
Shortlisted: Peter Jackson, project co-ordinator, Laurielle DeBoer, HR advisor, & Mohammed Tohow, customer experience manager
Leadership Award
Winner: Steve McDaniel, current operations manager
Steve has provided exceptional leadership over the contingency planning activities that have dominated a challenging and eventful summer for ARL and the wider Rail Industry.
Shortlisted: Pauline Lawler, service delivery manager
Team Award for Excellence
Winner: Train Planning team
"It's a fantastic achievement to win the Team Award. The train planning team worked hard throughout industrial action and operation London Bridge to keep London moving. It required a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes to ensure we could fulfil our customers' needs." – Lucy Russell, senior LTP specialist
Proposal for Exec Special Recognition Award
Winner: Dujon Toussaint, stations operations manager
Dujon has shown incredible leadership skills since taking on the CE lead for IA. He is diligent and thorough and thinks about the issues faced and how to address these with a plan that can be well communicated to the business and then used again.
Operational Excellence
Winner: IVU – Rostering / Payroll project team
IVU has been a transformational project which has come with notable challenges. It has replaced our rostering system and is a significant part of our payroll process. This has been a complex project, and just the payroll rules alone have required configuration to multiple sets of terms and conditions, all requiring thorough testing.
Shortlisted: Driver Resource Managers & Debbie Coram, driver
Congratulations to all of our nominees and to those who won an award. Further details from the event will be shared in the next issue of Exchange. Coming out at the end of June!
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