Projects

Once hiring was handed over to me, so that we could bring it entirely in-house, I worked to bring more structure to the process.

I redesigned our hiring process, working with team leads, to create a fluid process that worked for everyone, taking time-constraints into account.

I began conducting all screening calls for candidates, setting up all our interviews, as well as leading many of them myself (especially culture alignment ones, which was an area I was particularly focused on). I also redesigned our screening and interview question docs, restructured our cloud filing, designed my own candidate ranking sheet for keeping track of recruitment, and redid our HR system tags for new applicants.

I worked with samdesk teams across the globe to achieve more uniformity in samdesk's hiring process, so that every candidate who came through the recruitment pipeline and into onboarding received the same treatment (and enjoyable experience), and the business saved time where it could with its hiring processes.

The feedback I received from managers and samsters in general on this revitalized process was very positive.

When I joined samdesk, our onboarding process was decent, and we had the framework of something that could be expanded upon over time. Through a series of meetings with team leads, as well as samsters who had been hired quite some time back and recently, I gathered notes and recommendations on how we could improve the entire onboarding process.

I used this information to put forward some ideas I could implement for future hires, to give them an even better experience, helping them integrate quicker into our culture, and get up to speed faster in their roles.

An example was a 1-week check-in with myself (now that there was someone in a dedicated HR role), as well as a mid-point check-in during their probation, alongside checking in with their manager, to make sure expectations were being met, and they were fulfilled so far in their role.

I reviewed and updated a number of policies, including travel, for samdesk, bringing them in line with current business practices and employee expectations.

I also researched and launched new mental health supports that were added to our existing private medical plan for full-time employees in Canada.

I developed and then managed an improved system for tracking company-provided hardware, so that our payroll could use this for asset management during audits, and so that we had an easy time retrieving devices during offboarding, as well as replacing those that were deprecated.

Furthermore, I put together a system for tracking which of our samsters used certain paid apps (software platforms), for budgeting purposes as well as easy removal during offboarding, to protect company IP.

All products previously just went by name, including in company records. I developed a new product classification system for all items sold by the business, inclusive of new item codes, theme groupings, dimensions, and weights. These classifications formed the foundation of the new online store listings, as well as integrated with the new ordering system, both of which I also created for the business.

I designed and developed a brand new company website, which has provided the business with the first opportunity to sell items online. I also updated all existing company social media channels, and started new ones, such as Instagram and LinkedIn.

I facilitated a re-branding of the business, which at the point I began working for it, had existed for over 26 years. This was a large undertaking, but I developed a fresh, modern look for the company that spoke to its roots, but also projected the new digital path the company was taking. New company logos, documents, typefaces, and promotional materials were developed.

Due to my love of technology, and enjoyment of helping colleagues out during my spare time, I became the de facto researcher and person responsible for in-house training for numerous new software suites over the years.

These included two CRM systems, an internal communications app, a conference tool, a calendar management tool, a travel management app, a relocation portal, a payroll system, a webinar system, as well as moving to Google Workspace, and later to Office 365. The training I conducted included in-person sessions and creating written and video guides for future colleagues.

You can watch examples of the training videos I created on my videos page.

At the start of 2019, the Managing Director and I set out to breathe some life into the business and connect more with our clients through a humanization effort. Essentially, we wanted to add a more personal touch to the brand, so that our clients felt like they were more in touch with us.

Among the changes I implemented were; starting a new African spotlight series for our blog to highlight local accomplishments, creating Team Bios that featured photos and introductions to our team for use in client presentations, adding staff photos in a redesign of our email signatures, adding welcome and anniversary posts for team members to social media, supporting a Meet Our Consultants drive in the office to connect internal staff with remote staff, and adding a  Meet The Team page to our website for clients to learn more about what went on behind the scenes. We recevied universally positive feedback for our endeavors.

I was responsible for creating and driving new visual content for the business, so that we could hold the attention of not only existing clients, but attract new business in a more engaging way.

I launched regular webinars, where specialists at the company (including myself) hosted on rotation, either for the general public, or specific large clients, depending on the goal. I ended up planning, writing scripts for, and editing 12 live international webinars.

Alongside this project, I helped manage and edit 22 recorded immigration partner interviews, which we used to expand our YouTube channel, and provide African immigration information during the COVID-19 pandemic in an informative, yet relaxed, conversational manner.

I also hosted two live marketing workshops for our business partners, and edited and published numerous ads, as well as HR interviews with our Consultants around Africa for internal training purposes. I was the go-to for technical support for all of the above as well.

Up until 2020, the business integrated new assignees with their cities by having Consultants take them around physically, on school tours, home finding excursions, and general sightseeing trips. As a result of the pandemic, however, a new approach was needed for service continuation.

We decided to launch virtual orientation tours to supplement our existing services in cities that were under lock-down, and where travel was restricted. These could be general tours, or tailored to specific clients' needs.

I worked with the MD on putting together a strategy for how they would work, what content we would use, and how we would market them. I then set out to design assets to be used in the videos, source a filming partner, as well as conduct video interviews with many school directors and real estate agents around South Africa, which would feature in the virtual tours. We believe we were the first relocation company on the continent to offer these types of innovative packages.

Before I began in my role, analytics and reporting was lacking on a business-wide scale. I felt the need to change that soon after starting, and I linked up our website with Google Analytics, as well as began using all the insights dashboards for our social channels.

Furthermore, I tagged all the articles I wrote with tracking codes, so that we'd know where prospective client queries were coming from. I developed a monthly Online Performance Report that went to the Business Development Manager, and also assisted me with tweaking the website, social media, blog, and newsletters, as well as the business' 2 CRM systems that I managed.

Through these efforts, I managed to post over 700 articles, and grow the company's total social follower base by 117%, and total monthly average website visitors by 200%.

We realized that the Consultants we had posted around the continent were well-positioned to assist us with sourcing leads, especially taking into account the fact that certain cultures preferred in-person introductions.

I set out to design a Lead Generation Campaign training manual and letter of authorization, after which I trained select Consultants, and developed a tracking system for new leads across Africa. We integrated a referral payment system into the Campaign to incentivize lead generation, and as a bonus, I got to know a number of our remote staff a lot more.

I was tasked with redesigning our 3 monthly MailChimp newsletters that went out to thousands of clients and members of the general public. I also designed a Newsflash email template, as well as one that was used for our webinars and video interviews. I grew our newsletter base steadily during this period of change.

On the survey side, I designed and collected results for a number of new SurveyMonkey and Google Forms surveys, including internal well-being questionnaires, Consultant feedback surveys, customer satisfaction surveys, and general research surveys.

During my time at the company, I became well-acquainted with WordPress and the numerous themes and plugins that we used for our main websites.

I thoroughly enjoyed developing and designing parts of the website myself, as well as expanding, tweaking ,and keeping old sections up to date.

I created numerous briefs for external agencies for the major redesign of our website, designed assets in-house, worked alongside the web developer to implement new features, and built a number of pages myself, including one we used for conferences. We also launched an online store, and I helped build our new locations pages for Africa.

I put effort into reviving or continuing a number of team building activities at our head office. These included a weekly digital memo I sent to staff, monthly team building exercises hosted on rotation by head office staff, and monthly CSR projects to give back to our community. You can read more about these activities in the article I wrote here.

As part of a move to a more digital, streamlined service offering, I helped launch and manage our Integrated Program. This was a lengthy roll-out of new online platforms that we used to increase the value we offered our clients, while also saving the business money - a challenging balance.

We initially began using a pre-made travel app that worked on mobile devices and was updated in a back-end through web browsers. Alongside managing the platform for the business, I edited numerous city guides for the app, as well as created new short-form ones for clients who paid for smaller relocation packages.

We then moved to a newer online portal system, and I created all the content for the platform, while working on new features with the development team in Seattle, WA. Furthermore, I onboarded and trained our Consultants and head office staff so that everyone knew how to use the portal in their respective roles, and then served as the go-to for adding new content and features, and providing technical support.

We received extremely positive feedback from clients for our Integrated Program, developed new avenues of doing business, saved money, provided additional digital value to our clients, and won a major global supplier award for our efforts.

You can listen to me talk through the Integrated Program in the webinar I hosted.

When I began volunteering at iSMA, the Association was in the process of moving from an old web provider and hosting system to new ones. I assisted with transferring content from the old site, building new pages, and launching the new website, which you can view here.

When the pandemic started, we realized that we had a responsibility as a social marketing association, to provide the public with accurate information about the pandemic, and to try and encourage positive behavior change that would lessen the impact of the pandemic in society.

I put together a new page dedicated to COVID-19, and helped source videos, articles, publications, public health websites, and various other resources for our visitors and members to use.

Alongside my responsibilities as Web Coordinator at iSMA, I am also a member of the blogging team. I was part of a drive to produce new content for the site, and I frequently edit, post, and tag new articles for our website.

After assisting with the 2021 iSMA Board elections, I now have the time to work on our next project, alongside my Communications team members: a book section.

We are be gathering recent social marketing publications from our connections, and I have begun creating a new area of the website where we can both host informative content, as well as promote the sale of social marketing resources via affiliate links. I look forward to seeing this endeavor evolve over time.