A real story! Fortune Mtombeni: from unemployed graduate to learner to Sandoz rep of the year and CEO Field Award winner!
It can indeed be a challenge to implement learnerships in such a way that the learnerships create sustainable business and personal transformation. Once the learnership is complete learners should ideally not only be employed and increase company absorption rate they also need to become so good at what they do that your company cannot go without these young entrepreneurs.
This is indeed possible! The story of Fortune and his learnership at Sandoz is one such an example.
The solution to sustainable business transformation is to co-develop and coach employable learners with an industry expert learning and development provider.
Fortune Mthombeni completed his learnerships with Sandoz in Jan 2020. His last few months of the learnership was completed in a real territory working alongside one of the representatives in the beginning and then on his own.
Fortune says: ‘I knew it was mission critical to get permanently employed – it was not guaranteed. I remained optimistic! I trusted that if I stay my authentic self and implement the things, I’ve learnt during the learnership, I will at least achieve’
He started his permanent position later in 2020 and that is when the Covid19 pandemic ensued. Fortune continues: ‘Things got absolutely challenging as we had to work remotely. That came with its own encounters. I was a young black guy coming into a predominantly Afrikaans area hence building relationships was an arduous task to accomplish’.
Start-up Conference 2021 – Sandoz Rookie of the year – Fortune Mthombeni!
As the Covid levels eased off, Fortune continued to work harder even though everything seemed difficult and uncertain. During the middle of 2021 he started seeing more results and realized that the relationships being built began paying off. This motivated Fortune even more as he implemented more and more of the support and advice, he amassed from various stakeholders such his colleagues, first line managers, training managers and product managers at Sandoz.
Start-up Conference 2022 – Pharmacy portfolio Anti-infectives award, Cluster award as well as Sandoz Rep of the year winner – Fortune Mthombeni!
Upon reaching an executive representative status, Fortune also discovered that he has received the CEO Field Award three weeks post conference.
The CEO Field Award is the most prestigious award which goes to over achievers of the company. This award means that Fortune will be going to Switzerland to meet with 220 other over-achievers from Sandoz and Novartis around the globe, having the opportunity to meet the Novartis CEO in person.
Fortune says: ‘This is my first overseas trip ever. I am still overwhelmed, there’s still a lot of emotion going on. I have lots and lots of gratitude. I never thought this would happen!’
Fortune advises current learners to take all the small things that are seemingly insignificant seriously. He refers to things such as:
- Submit your PoE on time, do it early, show up with a great smile and co-operate with others in a team.
- As learning has become digitalized, one needs to be able to go above and beyond to ensure that you are seen and noticed.
- Learn as much as you can, become inquisitive about what you’re learning as this will enable thorough understanding, ask questions when not sure.
- In the basis of anything, humbleness and humility go a very long way.
The good thing about the year of learnership is that the content is critical to understand and apply in every way. Fortune says that the implementation of the blended learning methodology was great! He continues to say that it created a smooth transition for him to be able to ease into a real position and perform at his best. The knowledge flow and the guidance from the facilitators and assessors was brilliant.
Fortune advocates and suggests to other corporates: ‘In a climate where there is a high unemployment rate, and many young graduates who are seeking such opportunities, it is critical for organizations to bring about learnerships to the benefit of the company and the young graduates. Undergoing a learnership like this, there is more value as you learn and contribute far more to the company due to a thorough understanding of complexities of the business from ground-up.
In conclusion Fortune wants to say a huge thank you to Sandoz for the tremendous support and learning he received from the various stakeholders within the organization. He continues to put emphasis that Sandoz really ensures that their employees are well nurtured, nourished and supported.
“My ultimate goal is to pick up the next person and support them. To pass on the knowledge that I am so grateful for”, says Fortune.