As part of one of the first groups of the Diverse Conversations in association with Sandoz learnership programmes in 2014, we are proud to celebrate Tshepiso Nkamoheleng Leballo, now a Sandoz brand manager. Tshepiso is a highly inspiring individual that pushed and excelled from the word ‘go’. Her growth and development are truly empowering to the Diverse Conversations family and we are eager to share her journey with you.
Originally from the West Rand, Tshepiso completed her learnership in 2014 before she was approached by a Sandoz manager and offered a job in the East Rand. She was told by the manager, once having co-travelled with him, that there was an open position that he wanted her to interview for. She attended the interview in the East rand, where she was offered a permanent position and excelled.
At first, Tshepiso started off as a pharmacy rep and then a doctor detailer in the East Rand, but this is not where her journey ended:
- She moved to a pilot area of Sandoz, called Joburg Central, where she stayed for a year as a doctor detailer.
- She then moved to Joburg North where she continued as a doctor detailer for another 2 years.
- Eventually she moved back to the East Rand where she still continued doctor detailing.
- And finally, after 7 years of working for Sandoz, she got promoted to become a product manager.
She is currently an anti-infectives brand manager, where she has now been for 2 years, and admits to be absolutely enjoying the opportunity.
“I always wanted to be challenged so I was very thrilled when I got moved into new areas and into the different portfolios because I always got to learn something new,” Tshepiso says, “the thing about repping is that, in my experience, if I am in one area or detailing the same thing for many it does grow a bit boring and non-challenging.” She found that moving to different territories was positively challenging and it gave her something to look forward to every few years. “I really enjoyed it and I think that is what has contributed to me being at Sandoz for nine years,” she admits.
Tshepiso reflects on what the Diverse Conversations and Sandoz staff, Reinet and Doreen, always said, “before you get into management, you need to carry the bag.” She believes that she has now truly carried the bag, having experienced all different aspects of positions and territories, and having now finally moved into management.
“My dad always said that I am book smart but I am not so street smart,” Tshepiso says, “so what I loved about the learnership is that it taught me both.” Beyond the theoretical part, which she is very strong at, the etiquette course was a new and interesting experience for Tshepiso. She reflects on the invaluable lessons learnt on how to engage with colleagues and senior management, as well as how to engage with the customers during a conference. Tshepiso feels that, coming from an African background, she was taught simple yet important skills that she didn’t know at the time, but still uses till today and is what she goes on to teach her son.
Tshepiso also emphasizes the importance of all the add-ons beyond the contents of the course, “especially in the space of the POE’s (Portfolios of Evidence), where we did both the theoretical part and the practical part in terms of role playing.” She reflects on the feeling of comfort she now has when performing roleplaying in the workplace and relates this back to the coaching received in the learnership on how to do these simple yet effective activities.
We asked Tshepiso to share her thoughts on learnerships from the viewpoint of a manager, to which she replied “I am very pro learnerships so I definitely encourage companies to invest in them.”
Learnerships benefit companies by providing a platform for the employer/recruiter to assess the pool of graduates that have been hired. It gives the employer an unbounded opportunity to ask ‘does this person fit our values and behaviours’, and ‘can this person be a success in our company?’ This helps companies to weed out personalities over qualifications as most people employed into companies have strong qualifications and are quite knowledgeable, but lack the team spirit and company values.
Learnerships also give graduates the opportunity to showcase themselves, while simultaneously being exposed to what to expect in the company and in the professional world. Graduates are then more equipped to embark on the journey of becoming a permanent employee.
Tshepiso advises future learners to not take learnership opportunities for granted, take each day as a learning experience, and most importantly, enjoy the process and have as much fun as you can while learning. “The learnings that you will get in the course are lifetime learning,” she says, “it might not all be learnings that you use in your medical repping position, but they are so useful as you progress higher.”
“The learnership with Sandoz and Diverse Conversations gave me invaluable tools and skills to conduct myself in the working environment,” she says “I very grateful for the experience, the journey and the people I got to interact with in the process. I learnt a lot from both my coaches and my peers and I recommend it to anyone starting even if not in the pharmaceutical field.”
“I would like to send a huge thank you message to Sandoz and Diverse Conversations team for granting a young black girl like me development opportunities and believing in the beauty of my dreams”