It is beyond just a learnership but an opportunity to fill the gap between university and the corporate world, says Lebo.
About Lebo
Lebo Leseillane born and raised in Limpopo, sees herself as a spiritual person who values family and religion. Lebo moved to Gauteng to further her studies in Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Johannesburg after completing her matric.
In 2018, after two years of unsuccessfully finding work, Lebo was afforded the opportunity to participate in the Health Product Sales Rep Learnership with Medtronic.
“In my opinion I think that we were very fortunate to be taken through the Learnership as detailed as the one that Reinet was running,” Lebo says, “because I see that the learnerships that are being offered in our company today are not as structured and not as interesting.” The medical sales representative learnership we did was more than just 12 months in a company receiving a stipend to survive, it was an opportunity to start from scratch. The group of learners were given the basics of work readiness, time and stress management, the ins and outs of anatomy and physiology, to the excellent hands-on in-field experience offered by Medtronic. This knowledge prepared the group for everything needed to be a successful medical sales representative.
- The Social Styles course stood out for Lebo. She states that she really underestimated the impact on the types of relationships that an individual builds with people. When an individual understands what people’s social styles are, it becomes easier to know how to handle and cultivate a relationship, and not rub them off the wrong way. Social styles fascinated Lebo, it taught her how to tread carefully around people and give them exactly what they want. To this day, Lebo is still implementing social styles in her daily life.
- She further speaks about prioritizing tasks. What is urgent, what is important, what is not urgent, and not important? Lebo still implements this time management matrix which she internalized from the Time Management skills course.
- She remembers Territory Management where she learned about having A, B, C, and D customers. Once the A,B, C, and D segmentation tool was applied to the HCPs in her territory she would know who to focus on and how to address their needs appropriately.
- She also remembers the importance of personal branding. Personal branding is part of a strong business strategy. It allows you to connect with customers authentically and identify yourself as a professional in the industry.
“These are the little bits of nuggets that I took from the Learnership that I still implement to this day and they are of utmost importance to me.” – Lebo said.
According to Lebo, the office was well-structured and very effective for her. She really enjoyed the way it was run because she spent 2 weeks in the field and 2 weeks at the office. This enabled her to merge the two experiences because she was getting both hands-on experiences as well as learning the theoretical part. Her willingness to learn allowed her to grab all the necessary knowledge needed to be a successful Health Product Sales Representative.
“I have managed to create lifetime amazing relationships with both my classmates and facilitators. The facilitators were very informative, patient, and willing to help us.” -Lebo
During her Learnership at Medtronic, Lebo’s mentor, who she was co-traveling with at the time, had resigned. It was decided that she was fit enough to run the area while they were still looking for a senior to take over. A year later she got permanently employed by the company and moved to Pretoria where she was in charge of her own territory. Since then, it is just been promotion after promotion, she has new responsibilities, new areas to work in, and bigger budgets. She is now a trusted partner of a strong team.
Lebo continues to grow in Medtronic now, and is proud to say that this Learnership was a building block to a successful career. A large portion of the 2018 learners, from her Learnership group, were officially absorbed into the company and are still working at Medtronic today.
Struggles and issues
A major challenge that Lebo faced was understanding the operational aspects of Medtronic. It is a big innovative organization that deals with a broad range of medical devices. We serve a complex community that requires us to learn new things on the run every day.
Advice to new learners
- Be like a sponge that is ready to absorb all the knowledge and do not underestimate the importance of everything they do.
- Have an open mind, and commit yourself to the learning process fully.
- As much as you might think that you are a new graduate and that you know everything, remember that you still have a lot more to learn, especially in the job market.
- A Learnership is a foundation for your future title, be willing to learn and appreciate small beginnings
Lebo’s advice to companies to take on Learnerships
- Learnerships allow companies to shape candidates according to the company’s values and culture, and to take over leadership positions in the future.
- “Companies need to invest in the talent of graduates to ensure that the right people are representing the organization in the best way that they can,” Lebo says, “If I was in the position to implement learnerships, I would definitely partner with Diverse Conversations because they are doing a great job at preparing us for the market.”
The future for Lebo
Lebo is personally happy with where she is now. She has just accepted new responsibilities and has a new territory. She still sees herself at Medtronic for the next 4-5 years.
She would like to eventually grow to a leadership position and believes that after a year or two, she may be the perfect candidate for a managerial role. Perhaps she could work for another MedTech company should the opportunity avail itself, but she truly sees herself remaining at the Medtronic Group.
In closing, Lebo thanks Diverse Conversations and the Medtronic group for investing in learnerships and for the opportunity that she was granted. She emphasizes that she experienced more than just facilitators and mentors, it is more like parents grooming their children to go out there and be the best individual that they can be.