Going the Extra Mile Winner: Ryan Hughes

Our Going the Extra Mile programme highlights the great work our team is doing for our workers across the UK. The reward programme is open to everyone in our team, including our apprentices in Liverpool and Plymouth. All three work hard for us as they continue to learn and grow in their careers through the apprenticeship programme. Our winner for January happens to be one of those apprentices, Database Administrator Ryan Hughes!

Meet Ryan

Ryan started working at PSI Global in June 2021, joining the team as a Database Administrator. He decided to take on his current apprenticeship in order to put the knowledge he gained in a classroom setting to the test in a working environment.

“I have a lot of qualifications in computer science, so I thought coming to an office environment would expand that and help me grow,” he explained. Putting these qualifications to work, Ryan is continually motivated daily to expand his knowledge of computer-related tasks.

He works within the admin team under the management of his nominator, Operations Manager Sarah Ainsworth. Sarah shared that Ryan has been going the extra mile by not just excelling in his own role, and not just helping out his own team, but assisting other teams with their workload as well. “Recently he’s been a big help to the Civils team, ensuring everyone is registered in our database, ensuring everyone had the right documentation, and doing a mini audit to check everyone was on.”

Getting In (and out) of the Zone

Ryan’s work motto is to “work smarter not harder”, and his attitude towards his work is a positive one regardless of what’s thrown his way.

“Coming in as an apprentice to do a pretty boring job database cleansing, his attitude to getting it done has been really good,” confirmed Sarah. She’s able to send any project his way and he’ll just get on with it, from his regular database work to allowing him the freedom to create new systems, to getting out of his comfort zone by ringing his way through the system to find candidates for one of our teams.

Stepping out of his comfort zone is one of the positive outcomes of taking on the apprenticeship. “It helps you grow a lot faster, whether it’s the work I do within the workplace or the communication aspect in general, it has helped a lot,” he explained.

For Ryan, the work is always what you make of it, regardless of what it is. He pointed out that, “the work doesn’t have to be bleak and mundane, it can be fun and enjoyable.”

As far as his apprenticeship goes, he’s well ahead of schedule and exceeding beyond our expectations with new projects coming up for him to continue expanding upon his skillset. “His whole attitude towards learning new things and doing whatever he can to help people has just been great,” said Sarah.

Looking to the Future

Looking ahead, Ryan is hoping to do more to assist his team in their day-to-day tasks, so whenever they need time off, he’s able to cover. “Ryan has been spending more time with his colleagues, doing training to learn their jobs,” explained Sarah. “So, he’s been doing booking processes, creating and sending out timesheets, and inputting hours into the mini-plan, sending batches to Payroll.”

He’s also continuing to benefit from his apprenticeship, which has seen him take on and learn more than he initially imagined. “My apprenticeship is broadening what I know about how businesses run and also how to do a multitude of tasks that I wouldn’t otherwise ever know. This includes adapting to what is happening around you, which helps a lot with problem-solving.”

All of our winners are awarded both a prize of their choice as well as a donation to a charity of their choice. Ryan has made his donation to The Sloth Conservation Foundation, a charity that works to protect sloths in the wild “through research and conservation initiatives.”

Stay tuned as we announce a new winner next month and learn more about another valued member of the PSI Global Recruitment family. If you’re interested in working with us or registering your details for upcoming jobs and inductions, call us now on 0800 009 2997.