Dalton Misener
Dalton is a young man with a community- minded spirit. He knows that it takes time and commitment to build a better place to live. Dalton volunteers at events in order to do his part to help his community. “It gives me a better perspective. You can’t live your life by yourself,” says Dalton. “You need community.” Dalton’s sense of duty comes from his dad. “He is a big role model to be,” says Dalton. “He will help anybody, anytime. It doesn’t matter what kind of situation they are in, he’s always there to lend a helping hand.” Dalton is particularly proud of being a meat cutter given the origins of Sobeys and he takes great pride in working for such a community-minded company. “I’m ecstatic that this company is willing to give back to the community, even back when they first started with Mr. Sobey himself.”
Katarina Mladenovic
Katarina’s recipe for success in business is simple: find out what your customers want and give it to them every single time. Recently, Katarina offered to take over the coffee bar which was located inside the bakery department and sales were down. To better serve customers, Katarina converted the display case into a case offering fresh pastries and as a result, business increased 33 per cent. Although the bar became very busy, Katarina kept the line moving swiftly. “A lot of people already knew me,” says Katarina. “I knew what they drank and I’d have their coffee going when they got there.” Katarina has her sights set on moving up in the company. She’s taking courses to round out her knowledge and is hoping to soon become a manager. “Over the past year, learning so much in such a short period of time has been my proudest moment.”
Anna Murphy
Anna’s passion and commitment to her job and co-workers is unmatched. During a recent renovation of one of the stores, the team encountered multiple issues while installing new self-checkout registers. At one point, cancelling the installation was even considered because of the complications but Anna stayed calm and persevered. “Anna had been awake for almost 21 straight hours at that point and she was still patient,” states the nomination letter. “She could have left to get some sleep but she is so dedicated and considerate of her fellow employees that she stayed to help troubleshoot.” The hard work paid off and the project was completed with everything ready to serve customers in the morning. “Quitting is not an option,” says Anna. “I will work as many hours as it takes to get the job done.”
Diane Murphy
Diane comes to work every day with an upbeat attitude. “I love my job. It’s everything I ever wanted in a job.” Because of her sunny disposition, you’d never know what Diane faces every day. “I’m battling cancer. I need to take chemotherapy every day,” she says. “It’s a hard thing to get through. But I get to put on a whole different face when I walk through these doors.” Diane has many ideas for ways Sobeys can support the community including hosting a luncheon for veterans around Remembrance Day. Thanking those who served our country is personal. “My dad was a war veteran,” Diane says. “His plane went down in Germany and he was lucky to come back.” Always wanting to help in time of need, Diane takes flowers to the hospital every so often to give to patients who are in for tests. “They don’t know if they are getting good news or bad news so the flowers help to cheer them up.”
Ahmed Nassrat
Ahmed is not one to be idle. For the past 10 years, he has organized a Sobeys team to participate in the Nova Scotia MS Bike Tour, raising about $88,000 in total, including about $15,000 personally and, in 2016, leading the Sobeys Cycle-Delics to three team awards. But that was just his warm-up. Last fall, Ahmed cycled across Europe, covering 4,500 kilometres in 55 days, raising awareness and money along the way. He has done all of this without having a personal connection to a disease he didn’t know existed until 2006. While at a conference shortly after moving to Canada from Egypt, a speaker from the MS Society asked how many people in a group of about 200 knew someone with MS. “Every single person had their hand up except for me.” That was enough to spur Ahmed into volunteering his time and energy. “It’s about doing something more than just about yourself.”
Gerard Oakey
No one can ever accuse Gerard of shirking his duties and that goes even when he’s injured. Recently, Gerard had fallen in the freezer and his co-workers had called an ambulance. While Gerard was lying injured on the floor in a back room, he heard his name being paged. A customer had returned to pick up a special order and other employees who didn’t know what had happened to Gerard were looking for his help. “So I told a co-worker where to find the item so the customer wouldn’t have to wait around for it,” he laughs. “That’s when the other employee said, Will you stop worrying about everything!’ ” Gerard has devoted his entire career to putting customers first. “I try to do that little extra something, whether it’s checking the availability of a product or helping the customer read the dates, or even calling the manufacturer,” he says. “I try to do whatever it takes so they want to come back.”
John Ogden
John joined Sobeys just over a year ago but has already made a big impression. Working as a receiver, John realized he could reduce the store’s environmental impact and reduce costs by putting more emphasis on the recycling program. He tries to make it as easy as possible to recycle and encourages staff to participate. “Like any new program, it takes people a while to get used to it. I spend a lot of time taking stuff out of the garbage. It’s like raising my children all over again,” laughs John. Coming from another company, John has a fresh perspective on his co-workers. “I find Sobeys employees to be more caring about their jobs. There seems to be a lot of camaraderie.” Living with integrity is important to John. “Henry Ford said Do it right when nobody’s looking,’ ” says John. “That’s what I try to do.”
Kathi O’Leary
Kathi came in for an interview in 1987 and basically hasn’t left. “They asked me to come back in an hour to start my first shift,” she laughs. Now, as the head of the Safety Committee, Kathi actively recruits staff members and encourages engagement. During a recent Occupational Health and Safety course, two employees told Kathi they would be interested in joining but they didn’t have a way to get to the course. Kathi didn’t want them to have to take a taxi so she drove them to the course and back on her day off. “They were both new to this so on the drive there I could tell them what to expect and make sure they were comfortable,” she says. Kathi was just doing what comes naturally to her so she was surprised and honoured to have been nominated as a Value Champion. “This is my proudest moment as a Sobeys employee,” she says. “The recognition makes me feel appreciated for what I do.”
Saverio (Sam) Paonessa
“Helping the customer succeed helps the company succeed,” Sam says. Sam puts the customer first, day in and day out, as a representative of the Macdonalds Consolidated wholesale division. Sam demonstrated his commitment during the Fort McMurray wildfire by picking orders and being a go-to between the customers. He still serves the same customers today. Sam shows his dedication by organizing the barbecue promotions for new and existing wholesale customer events and reline projects, as well as working with the internal customer group for his team benefit. “I was proud of my team during the Fort McMurray crisis because they all pulled together to help the communities,” says Sam.
Douglas MacPhee
No job is a meaningless job in Doug’s eyes. Doug demonstrates willingness and dedication to his job when he is asked to do anything in the store, from cleaning the public/ staff washrooms to dusting the lights above the cash registers to changing the floor tiles. One day there was no parcel pick up person and Doug was asked if he would help. He said yes without hesitation. While he was out retrieving a cart there was a customer in the parking lot with a flat tire. Doug changed the tire even though it was 30 degrees Celcius outside. For Doug, that’s nothing special: that’s just the person he is.
