Airtel Seychelles’ Employee of the year award ‘I treat my clients the same way I treat my family members’ |03 August 2021

Mrs Mohammed with her family members and Airtel Seychelles managing director Amadou Dina on the day she received the employee of the year award

Sarah Mohammed was recently honoured with the Airtel Seychelles’ employee for the year 2020/2021 award.

Mrs Mohammed joined Airtel Seychelles on July 6, 1998 as a customer care trainee and was successfully confirmed in the post six months later.

In the following article Airtel Seychelles brings you the career journey of Mrs Mohammed and through a conversation with her you will know more about her determination and her desire to realise her dream.

Airtel Seychelles has always strived to provide a strong work environment for its employees. Everyone’s life is busy and with the Covid-19 pandemic, sometimes with work one can forget what’s around them, including family members. The year 2020 was a challenging one for Airtel Seychelles, none more so for our employees. They have been front and centre, ensuring that we, a service provider, maintain our commitment to our valued customers.

The evaluation committee through long and hard deliberations has this year found one employee who was the most exemplary. She was one of the frontline employees, who albeit the fear of Covid-19, took up the challenge and maintained the company’s engagement with customers. She was the face of Airtel Seychelles in the community. Her hard work has today bore fruit and serves as a reminder that if you apply yourself, especially in unprecedented times, you will be rewarded.

It is with great pride that Airtel Seychelles introduces you to Sarah Mohammed, employee for the year 2020/2021.

Mrs Mohammed joined Airtel Seychelles on July 6, 1998 as a customer care trainee and was successfully confirmed in the post six months later.

After only nine months in the position, Mrs Mohammed was transferred to sales and services and became a sales and services trainee. Following the completion of the training period, Mrs Mohammed was appointed as sales and services officer. With determination, Mrs Mohammed was thereafter promoted to sales executive in July 2001 and based at the Providence showroom. This was followed by her transfer to the Victoria showroom in October 2002.

Through perseverance, Mrs Mohammed was once again promoted to senior sales executive in January 2008. Mrs Mohammed shone in her role and it was no surprise when she was awarded employee of the month for March 2010, which was followed by a promotion as assistant manager for sales effective August 2010. Not long after, Mrs Mohammed was again awarded employee of the month for November 2012.

Airtel Seychelles went through a restructuring phase in 2016. Accordingly, Mrs Mohammed’s role within the organisation changed. She was reassigned to the credit control department at Eden Island Airtel Premier Showroom, effective June 2016. Due to her strong negotiation skills, in January 2017, saw Mrs Mohammed transferred to the enterprise team as enterprise sales executive. Within two years, Mrs Mohammed was reassigned from the enterprise department to the marketing department as team leader for broadband sales in January 2019 and promoted in June 2019 to assistant manager, team lead broadband sales.

Through her long and at times challenging journey, Mrs Mohammed was awarded employee of the quarter (Q1) 2020/2021 and employee of the year 2020/2021, as recognition for her devotion to the organisation and being on the frontline, interacting with our faithful customers despite the pandemic. Aside from her personal accomplishments, Mrs Mohammed’s team ‒ home broadband sales ‒ also won the silver award for best team for the year 2020/2021.

Asked how she felt about the recognition awarded to her, Mrs Mohammed stated that working for Airtel Seychelles was her first job. Prior to joining the company, she was undertaking part-time work as a tourist guide. When she joined the company, Airtel Seychelles had just opened its doors in the country. It was a challenging period, especially with stiff competition from the other operator.

Mrs Mohammed stated that she always wanted to do sales. She asked for the opportunity from the start to undertake sales work and was successful at it and has been doing it since. This year will be her 23rd year with the organisation.

“It hasn’t been a smooth journey,” according to Mrs Mohammed.

“Airtel Seychelles has had several chief executives over the years and each with his own style of governance and new perspectives. As employee I needed to adapt to the changes and deliver the best results possible.

“I used to be a shy person. Interacting with people was not my strongest point. Airtel Seychelles pushed me out of my comfort zone. By placing me in the forefront of customer service, I challenged myself. Today, I am proud of my accomplishments,” said Mrs Mohammed when describing her growth with the organisation.

“Work ethics is essential. I show respect to my team and in return I receive their respect. This is the way for most effective team work, which is key to the success of any organisation,” according to Mrs Mohammed.

“As a wife and a mother it has not have been easy balancing work and personal life,” added Mrs Mohammed.

However, she informed us that nonetheless, she gets 100% support from her husband who encourages her and where possible assists her to meet her deliverables.

Looking to the future, Mrs Mohammed does see herself venturing on her own and possibly having her own business. But these are long term projects. For now, she is still prepared to take on new challenges within Airtel Seychelles and work towards developing and marketing new products.

In conclusion, Mrs Mohammed added that she has been successful in her various roles at Airtel Seychelles due to the way she views her customers. For her, she treats them as family members. This ensures that they receive premier services and guarantees their loyalty to the organisation.

Mrs Mohammed has some words of wisdom for her colleagues: “Adapt to and adopt changes. Be positive. Acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them so as to improve and do better.”

Contributed by Airtel Seychelles