Everyone wants to succeed through a qualification or apprenticeship. Most are happy to pass, and some settle for nothing less than the best.
The Sue Thompson Memorial Award was established in 2018 following the loss of a long, and dedicated colleague, Sue, who unfortunately lost her battle with cancer back in 2017.
As well as being a long-standing Chartered Fellow, Sue was a huge advocate for the CIPD and was Branch Secretary of the Black Country CIPD branch for over 20 years. Among her former CIPD students there are 3 that currently work for Crosby: Emma Horne Chartered Companion, Wendy Allen Chartered Member, Hazel Langley Chartered Member along with several that did their Assessor Awards with Sue. In addition, our CEO did his Internal IQA with Sue.
Before apprenticeships grew to the level they are now, Crosby used to deliver mainly standalone CIPD & management courses to students across the country and internationally, and Sue forged a particular niche in Cyprus, where we have a steady trickle of students and potential to grow this part of Crosby. However, Sue & Paul took-up the invitation from the CIPD (back in the late 2000’s) to help write the very first apprenticeship in HR – the old HR Level 5 Framework that our Head of Central Operations, Tom Bartlett, completed when he joined Crosby as an apprentice leading to his Associate Membership. So, Sue was involved in creating the first and single HR apprenticeship; now there are 5 standards from level 3 to level 7.
Sue’s unwavering passion and pride at seeing people succeed in their qualifications was such a strong motivation for her that she continued to do her best for her students right up to the final few days of her life, with the blessing of her family (her 3 daughters)!
Sue would have been so proud to see all the students Crosby has taught and helped grow in their careers and knowledge and this year’s three winners that have been judged to have gone that extra mile in their studies rendering them worthy recipients of these awards.
This year’s much awaited awards hold significant value since our last winner, Emma Hanmore, received the award back in 2019 – pre-COVID! Unfortunately, the awards were postponed until March 2022, where we celebrated three, very deserving, winners as opposed to one.
So, we’re happy to announce on Sue’s behalf:
Our Learning & Development winner – Kate Weir
Kate enrolled in November 2020 and has maintained excellent progress towards both her qualifications since the start.
Specifically, in relation to her CIPD Diploma, Kate has shown diligence and consistently produced assignments of an outstanding level.
Despite some alarming family news last year and a difficult and worrying time in light of that, Kate has continued to demonstrate commitment, has remained on track to achieve in a timely way and all whilst still producing a high level of work.
Kate certainly leads by example and truly champions the qualities of an award in Sue’s name.
Our Level 3 HR winner – Daniel Sadek
Daniel has delivered on his assignments earlier than the due date – focussing on getting them completed to a high standard and then always keen to get feedback for development.
He has begun championing D&I initiatives within Buckinghamshire Council – taking a lead within the LGBTQ+ focus group. He has confirmed support to CMT with some input to our programmes too.
Daniel has demonstrated his resilience in many ways, facing some particular challenges. Daniel has championed the CIPD Code of Professional Conduct at work, challenging more senior decisions where they were unethical, unfair and potentially damaging, and winning through.
Suffice to say that Daniel successfully balances “doing the right thing” with remaining approachable, respected and helpful to all – a true HR Professional.
Our Level 5 HR Winner – Emily Sparks
The units for her L5 Diploma were completed and the qualification claimed in early December 2021. This timely completion was due to Emily’s focus on her studies in the time she agreed could be made available to her, and as a result of her progress she was appointed to a secondment position as “Acting HR Advisor” – covering a maternity leave.
Emily has been a Trailblazer for her organisation, Pinnacle Group, and CMT and championed HR Apprenticeships. We are currently enrolling two of Emily’s colleagues as level 5 apprentices in our February 2022 cohort, and no doubt she will continue to support and advise them as needed.
All this has been achieved while building and demonstrating resilience in the face of external issues! Despite this, Emily has not allowed anything to derail her, she is exceptional.
All three, Kate, Dan and Emily, should be tremendously proud of their hard-work and dedication that have led to this award.
We were lucky enough to be joined by Dan and Emily to celebrate their awards at our full team meeting, on Friday 25th March, where they were presented with a trophy, certificate, and cheque for £100 for their fantastic achievements.
As all three head toward their apprenticeship End Point Assessment (EPA) we wish them all the best and have no doubt with their passion behind them they will go on to achieve such fantastic things inside and outside of their careers.
Paul Cadman (CEO), Emily Sparks & Michael Eccleston (HR Consultant Trainer)
Daniel Sadek & Paul Cadman (CEO)