Initiating and nurturing a good working culture

Inocensia //Aribes joined Sanlam as a client service advisor in March 2016. In the client service department, she was exposed to various roles ranging from call centre consultant and claims consultant to front office consultant as well as working on the central email address to answer client queries. She is currently the learning and development officer for the policy administration department at Sanlam, and was appointed in January.A journey //Aribes describes how she took on her new position this year -despite doubting herself at first. She was initially sceptical about applying for the position, saying the “imposter syndrome crept in and told me how terrible I would be at this job. I thought there were other people who would be a better fit,” she said. However, after several colleagues encouraged her to apply, she gained the confidence to give it a try. She was shortlisted for the interview where she excelled and thought the panel liked what they saw. Thereafter, she was appointed to take on the position as the learning and development officer for the policy administration department at Sanlam.After settling in and getting to work, “I realised that I can actually do this and I enjoy doing it,” she said. Additionally, she said contrary to popular belief, one does not need to know everything to be a trainer. “You actually learn a lot through teaching others and over time, you will master the art.” As a learning and development officer, her job involves initiating and nurturing a good working culture for Sanlam employees. She gives training to newly appointed employees and provides refresher training to existing employees. “Some of my duties also include compiling and updating standard operation procedure (SOP) documents for the ongoing learning process of our employees. Sending out updated information on our internal rules and work procedures in the form of memos and emails is also part of my job description. “I am responsible for quality assessment on the work of staff members who fall under the policy administration department,” she said. All her work is done to ensure that all staff do their work to Sanlam’s standards and it helps the company identify the need for additional training.Some of the challenges //Aribes faces include overloading her new students with information, because training sessions run for three weeks. Within this time, they have to grasp the basic product knowledge and run processes on all the company systems. “My first group of trainees are doing well in the field. That, for me, is a proud moment - to see my chicks flap their wings on their own and do a stellar job while at it. It shows that I have done something right,” she said. In her free time, she loves listening to music and enjoys journaling to best express herself and document her ideas. //Aribes said she inspires herself. “How I have managed to come out of bad situations and that I do not allow them to break me propels me to new heights in all my work endeavours. I would not have been able to do it all on my own. I turn to God when faced with challenges. I am also blessed to have a strong group of people in my corner. God has surely blessed me with the very best,” she said.

Initiating and nurturing a good working culture

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Initiating and nurturing a good working culture

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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