Our own Nomsa is spearheading the Pilot training for our new company, Footprint!  We had an inspiring week, working with Soweto communities and testing our new ‘Money fo’ Sho’ product on financial literacy. 

Go read Nomsa’s account on our new Footprint website!

Some of you know Jules, some of you don’t… and some of you might simply think you know her.  

Whatever the case, find out the inside story here, our very own BossChick, Jules Newton, has had her story published in this month’s copy of Get It Magazine.  She talks about her background, her philosophies and her life. 

Don’t miss this one!

My name is Klaas Mojela and I am 32 years old, I live in Kensington currently but I am actually from a little village called Mmametlhake in Hammanskraal, Mpumalanga.  I was raised by my grandparents because my mother was working in Johannesburg.  She normally only came home on month end and as we all know if you work far from your home it is not easy to come home often.  My mother is a single mom and I have a younger brother (Alfred Tshepo Mojela) one step brother on my father’s side and three step sisters.

I arrived in JHB in 1993 after I finished my matric.  I started working as a labour worker in a company called Three Degrees making furniture, and in 1994 I decided to change jobs and worked in a bottle store as a cashier then was later promoted to supervisor.  After a while I moved on to a company called Mining Information International, here I did many things including driving, compiling reports, data capturing and house-sitting when the owner went away on holiday.  I drove the kids around to school, swimming and to friends.  I like driving kids around because I love kids; I make sure they are always happy by telling them great jokes.

My hobbies and interests:  I love soccer (playing it and watching it), socializing with friends and helping others.

I came to Avo because of a man named David Rochekelly (Minfo).  For me the Avo family is a family of happiness, joy and love.  My challenge in life is to manage myself but I am enjoying it because of the teamwork in Avo.   During my spare time in Avo I am learning different types of jobs and how everybody is doing their jobs as well as getting to know the different Avos and what role they play in the company.

People always say that I am a man of many talents, why? Because I like doing as many different types of jobs as I can and I like learning how they are done.  Attending Kudos and Cock-ups was a first for me, this is the first time in my life I have ever attended such interesting meetings.  I also love my coaching sessions with Meryl, I now know that there are people out there who recognise my skills and abilities by just talking to me
Being in the family of Avo I am feel at home because of the warmth that is given, from the first day that I joined until today, and into the future.  Each person in Avo is important to me; these are my sisters, brothers and parents.  I am enjoying every day of my life at Avo for sure!

So what happens when you put away your tools, give up the difficult hard labour and become a manager?  Would you fold under the pressure or would you flourish?

Jules hits the front page of the workplace yet again, with her article on what would happen if you become a manager, she talks about a leading teacher at Jeppe Boys High School (Mark Grace) who is moving onto greener pastures and transforming from a gifted teacher to a headmaster.

Read the article here to find out more.

Its a terrible time of year for those with little children!  All the snotty and chesty bugs seem to hit our little ones at once, and its hectic to have sick children at home and try to work at the same time! 

Bring on the Avo space: this is one place where parents can take a deep breath!  Little ones are welcome in our space.  Here is a photo of sick little Kevin.  He couldn’t go to school because his asthma was just too bad to be away from the beady ear of his dad.  So dad arrived, with Kevin in tow, and attended the Project Management training session for the team just like normal.

Young Kevin just spent the day with dad, taking in some project management insights, and also making short work of the conference centre sweets! 

Happy child, productive dad, happy company.  It IS possible for work and life to live together!

Hey Avos and Bangani… let me tell you mgozi (gossip).  I took Rae to a TFMC meeting ne…. with the rest of the Call Center management team to let them know about the Persuasive Conversation course we will be running for the 60 agents and then we will do the rest of the 500 managers….(the last part is a wish, a prayer, a dream that I will make sure comes true.)

I suggested that Rae should do the first part of the presentation…. she just said “what? nnnnnnnnooooooo.”  in response I said “oh yes”, and the rest was history.

Bethuna…. You should have seen her!!!!!! Yes at first she was nervous…. that’s fine I did not panic cause I did not think she would be bad even though she is new at this, I really believed in her……  And then right before my eyes she exploded……. it was like she just became taller…. more beautiful…. more knowledgeable…. And before I knew it she had all of them eating out of the palm of her hands.  I swear I thought she was about to take off…. she was flying.

Hey bangani!!! It’s amazing what happens when you get in touch with the power within. When you reach in and touch that special piece of you and fly.

This chick rocks…. they are very happy with us and now they really can’t wait for the training.  They loved us we love them.  This is in the essence of the word, a love affair!

Rae….. she was great and definitely performed better than what I thought she would.
Raelene Rorke Rocks! She Rocks!!!

Avo Rocks but SSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH remember don’t tell any one… this is umgozi, we give people the chance to be the best they can be.

Call me and we will chat more
Sego
Sales: 072 693 9727  
 

Extra, Extra… Read All About It!!! 

This is the moment we’ve all been waiting for and after all the anticipating it has finally arrived… 

The international channel CNBC Africa came to interview the founders of Footprint SA on Avo grounds.  After a successful day of shooting, our Footprint insert will be flighted on CNBC Africa (DSTV 410) this Saturday, so tune in.  The show starts at 19h00.

Enjoy!

:)

Most of us have at least caught a glimpse of the TV reality show, the Amazing Race. Thousands of miles later, only one team hobbles into victory! Winner takes all! The rest head for the hills, licking their wounds.

On the 20th of August the intrepid Lafarge Cement Sales & Marketing Teams
set off on their Ama-zing-zing Race…

…and what an incredible day it turned out to be!  It was destined to be nothing but that from the start…  Firstly, to Maria Sazeides from Lafarge - From the moment we started planning, Maria was very clear about two things – she wanted the race to make a positive contribution to the communities we visited and to make sure her team experienced a different side of Joburg – different from what most of us experience everyday.  Huge kudos to Maria for her openness to doing something different and for her generosity.   Secondly, to our amazingly talented and passionate about making a difference where others fear to tread, Tracy!  Thanks Trace – you put an amazing day together.  Thirdly, to a great logistics team – you can’t believe the nitty-gritty painful amount of detail that goes into planning one of these things – so a special thank-you to the Nomsa’s (ours and Lafarge’s!), Gill, Raelene, Shirley and Evelyn. And last but not least, to an incredibly enthusiastic gang from Lafarge – they rocked from the word go!

The Avo team created an Amazing race with a whole different spin. Sure, there was competition: teams raced down historic main street searching for clues from egoli’s mining past, teams had to out-create each other with spray paint on the star graffiti wall and there was also a race to get as many African greetings as possible from the New York of Africa…our very own Jo’burg!
 
But the highlight had to be the time spent with the children of the Sunshine Nursery school in Yeoville.

Each team was tasked with creating a learning aid for pre-school kids: a letter of the alphabet to be stitched onto a colourful cushion. With the clock ticking, teams madly designed, stitched, stuffed and decorated with the whirr of the seamstresses’ sewing machines humming energetically: the wind beneath their product’s wings. Then they hopped into their taxis and raced to Yeoville. Here, each adult carefully took the hands of two little ones and embarked on the BIG WALK to the church. This was a great space to play and sing and learn. Learning aids came to life, smiles stole hearts and then the MacDonald’s Happy Meals arrived. It was a day of great fun and huge heart…

And the winners were:
6 Seamstresses in the fashion district
26 team members from Lafarge and most of all…
45 children from a tiny nursery school in Yeoville.  They were not only the big winners of the day, but as a result of our time with them, the Lafarge team has now adopted them!  So a huge, heartfelt thank you to Lafarge for their commitment to continue making a positive impact in the lives of these kids .