The GiGstars Annual Awards — Recognising true value in an age of over-information

29 Dec -The GiGstars Annual Awards, were held during our end of year festival the GiGmas Extravaganza, and has, not unlike GiG itself, explicated itself from routine and adapted to changing times. This year, unlike the previous lavish outings, ensured our plans were moulded into a socially responsible online digital Christmas event, the only viable solution given the circumstances. Together, under one virtual roof, we celebrated some of the best talent in the industry, with eight categories, over 240 candidates and 470 heartfelt reasons and nominations to recognise and reward.

Can there be any greater justice than the acknowledgement of effort to those that deserve it the most. Life, as 2020 has most powerfully displayed, can be unfair at times, but we are not helpless. As individuals we can effect small acts to redress the balance but as a group this can be as powerful as nature itself. And, although we are certainly not suggesting it is a matter of life and death, it certainly can be metaphorically so for any business, large or small. When we talk about true acknowledgement and peer to peer recognition we are talking about the kind that anchors our trust in others and means the most, the kind that stirs the soul and warms the heart. How often do you truly get to recognise the achievements of those that stand out amongst an already outstandingly talented field. This is what the GiGstar annual awards are all about.

Having established effort and reward as an anchor of a progressive and supportive culture, work or play, it’s prudent at the outset to set the playing field and let you know the rules.

Eight categories, each of which were drawn from direct feedback from our values, were selected to choose from. What is unique, to serve as background for you, is that almost unilaterally exclusively, our new values were drawn directly from feedback harvested during public forum. They are the work of the people, for the people, much as these awards are. The amalgamation of the two, the chosen words and the themes, are therefore lustfully magnetised together like lovestruck teenagers. Making easy work of an internal process so often thriftily dismissed as contrived, disingenuous and at worst, hypocritical. It is a totally new process for a business such as ours and a source of huge pride for GiG.

To add to the ever present and ever gathering sentiment of togetherness, everyone in the company was then invited to nominate based on the establishing criteria. It’s a testament to the workforce that over half of all the people at GiG received glowing appraisal from their peers. The science here though, and a common problem for internal awards in any organisation, is to avoid the trappings of a popularity contest. Some roles are inevitably more visible than others, some require active participation in larger groups and some require obvious results, making them obviously far easier to recognise. What you must do is ensure fairness and equality permeate everything you do, a commitment we have already nailed our colours to the mast in total devotion too, and find a system that allows for a level playing field. Therefore, awards are not dished out based on numbers or the eloquence of the nomination, but openly discussed amongst a group of peers in a workshop style format. Each nomination for each category is poured over on merit, leading to true and accurate representation of value.

Before we deep dive into each category and cross examine the credentials of each category winner, it’s prudent that we diminish any suggestion of conjecture and establish fact.

We are always looking to increase and improve upon our diversity, however we are and always will be an equal opportunities company. We will only hire the right people for the right role — we are blind to gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion etc. With just under 30% of our people being women, it truly speaks volumes when 62.5% of our internal award winners, GiGstars, are women. Eight out of 21 finalists were women, and five of our ladies won. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is clear testimony to the fact we are definitely hiring the right people for the right roles — every single person we hire is highly skilled.

If you didn’t know that about us, now you do.

Out of the 470 nominations, our heroes were shortlisted to a list of three finalists a week before the event. Something we’ve omitted to this point, to focus on the true motivation for the awards not being a financial one, was a little something extra for the winners. Consider that the ‘little’ financial package allows room for some ever appreciated extra anticipation, a little gold at the end of the rainbow. We’ll leave interpretation of the term ‘little’ to the imagination.

So, first up on the night was Training and Development GiGstar of the year, an award directly linked to one of our new values, ‘Together we adapt and learn’. Our criteria for the three finalists, Micahel Cuffaro, Paulo Amaral and Matthew Croker was that they have dedicated significant time and effort into improving their capabilities in a particular area, or have learned something new and have visibly matured and grown in their capabilities. This person self reflects and is focused on improving themselves and their team and shares their knowledge in a meaningful way either within the team or the rest of the organisation. Our winner Matthew Croker, is a scrum master and agile coach by trade, but a master of improvement by nature. This can be perfectly encapsulated in some of the nominations received for him: “Matthew’s role is designed to help others become better at what they do, and he leads by example” and “he invested a lot of his time in studying throughout this year, taking various courses, and passing a number of certification exams which are far from straightforward. He constantly shared his learnings rising GiG’s bar overall.’’

We then moved onto Think big innovator of the year, an award for a person or team that lives and breathes ideation and innovation, and knows how to implement or actuate their ideas. They save the company’s time, money and other resources. They go above and beyond to share their expertise and skill sets, they are inspired by the company vision and mission to experiment and create — never compromising on quality. Our winner, Chargeback Analyst Lucia Soro, was nominated because ‘’Lucia has worked with GIG for a long time and she has really shown commitment not only in her personal work, but also with the innovating ideas she has brought forward in the Risk team with success.’’
Our other finalists, Daniel Micallef and William Agius were also mighty strong candidates for the award, and should be rightly proud of the nominations received.

Next on the agenda, Social contributor of the year. This person brings other GiGsters together, they are a connector allowing smooth collaboration across people and teams. They create opportunities to share a sense of community, uniting teams and bringing people under their wings. They motivate others by seeing the big picture and sharing their knowledge. This person supports GiG Gives or other CSR initiatives and selflessly donates their time and their resources to make our world a better place.

Again a hugely strong final list, with Christina Ellul and Cristina Llorente narrowly missing out on the top step to Andreea Onofriesei, a Digital Marketing Specialist from our Copenhagen office. ‘’Andreea always comes into the office with a high lifting spirit, giving smiles out to everyone and lifting the mood around her. She is super inclusive to all new starters, and the best buddy you can wish for. Andreea will always try to make your day better, if you look like you need it. She’s truly a breaker of silos.’’

Problem Solver of the Year was fourth up, with finalist Elizabeth Darmanin, Kai Cauchi and Pedro Altomar, judged on their influence as an inspiration. They know how to identify challenges, and how to overcome them by implementing solutions. They influence their peers and GiG partners to look ahead for solutions and to be positive in resolution, making the impossible seem possible. Bringing people together, and forming partnerships or teams of problem solvers. They are the embodiment of enthusiasm, and are tireless in their pursuit of making an impact with their decisions and or proposals.

Again, as with all of the other categories we basked in the challenge of a strong field of nominees, with Kai Cauchi emerging on top of the pile. ‘’Kai has grown so much in his role, and is taking on more and more responsibility every day. He never turns away from a challenge, he’s great at bringing people together to solve a problem and is usually the first one in, last one out. I think he encompasses our values, and always goes the extra mile to help to deliver for the business.’’

A brand new award category for 2020, and a powerfully amusing wordplay, is for those new to the company this year, our GiGlet of the year. We set out; This GiGster is a newbie and has been part of our family for under 12 months. They have made a massive impact in the team or on the project they are working on. Our GiGlet injects new enthusiasm into their team and makes us think “how did we live without them”.

Gabriel Zammit, Lorna Marmary Toshney and Keith Goodlip, all amazing additions to the GiG family were our three finalists, with Lorna running out our champ. Amongst some lovely comments ‘’She is always there with a smile to help you, support you and find together the best solution. A very hard-working person and a strong team player with an open mind, always happy to listen to others.’’

‘’Lorna is always ready to support you with whatever you need! She’s super organised, efficient and reliable. From the bottom of my heart, I thank her for all the professional support she has been given me throughout the past months we have been working together.’’

Leader of the year, a category that surmises that it needs no great introduction although we expect that a leader is more than their title, in fact they don’t need to have a title. They demonstrate leadership qualities and skills on a daily basis, regardless of the environment they are in. They are coaches and mentors, the person to go to in order to get things right and will help you constantly improve. They lead by example with transparency and trust as key principles/values This person serves others, leading from the back, supports their peers to achieve their OKRs, making them feel inspired and like everything is possible. Finalist Martin Pullen and Piotr Hankiewciz both encapsulate perfectly what it is to lead, but you’ll have noticed a pattern here we hope, that there can be only one winner! That accolade went to Director of Information Security, Diane Abela. ‘’Diane has again and again proven herself as a strong leader in the organisation, not only from how her team operates and respects her, but the amazing results they achieve. Not only that, but the the leadership she displays outside of her department within the organisation.’’

Our penultimate award is the highest personal accolade that can be bestowed on an individual, our GiGster of the Year Award, and boy oh boy is the bar set high here. Our GiGster of the year embraces and lives our company culture and values daily, breaks down silos, shares information and expertise with their colleagues and goes above and beyond to achieve their objectives. This person thinks about the impact of what they’re doing on the whole organisation and is a change champion — at the end of the day their work is always making an impact and driving the company’s results.

Our first finalist was Scrum Master Antony Nizamoglou, as “Antony has invested heavily in his learning and growth, constantly, throughout the year. He shares with us his knowledge, helps us get certified in the same way, and then teams up with us to build together workshops and frameworks that will help GiGsters reap the benefit off our learnings.’’

Our second, SEM Manager Lasse Nesset, was nominated because ‘’Lasse has been a key person for the company this year. He has had a huge impact on the results we have achieved this year. He is also a great colleague, who always are ready to help out, and makes the workdays fun and entertaining.’’

We told you there could be only one right?

‘’Unrelenting in pursuit of quality and impact, two characteristics she exudes with elegance. Not only is she one of our best examples of organisation, innovation, stakeholder management, leadership and development, her affable and approachable personality allow her to motivate and encourage those around her to do better.’’ Huge praise indeed and congratulations to Training and Development Specialist Leah Bateman, for scooping the richly deserved top gong.

You may have wondered why the penultimate award is for GiGster of the year, at a GiGsters Annual Awards? Understandably so we can agree, but in doing so you forget the message we have placed front and centre of our new values. We are only capable of achieving personal accolades with the assistance and guidance of those around us. We are a team, We are together. As such a crowded shortlist in what seemed like every corner of the business was nominated and whittled down to five finalists for Team of the Year. It is no secret that 2020 has been a challenge, it’s been mentioned once or twice on every media outlet, every social channel and every blog this side of March, and with that GiG itself has faced many changes. Adapting to those is a strength of ours, and our People Operations team, led by Claudia Ginex, pipped the post.

In summary, after such an exhaustive list of nominations and awards it’s important what have we learned? We know we have incredible people doing incredible things. We know we have articulate, imaginative, curious minds in every nook and cranny of our business, now spread all over the globe. We don’t do it for the personal awards, but we do it for the glory of achievement. We know we have a great team ethic, we know we are together and most importantly we know what direction we are heading in, and we can see those around us forging the same path. After much change we know who we are and what we want.

Congratulations to our winners, congratulations to our finalists and every single GiGster that was nominated.

We can’t wait for 2021.