We’re delighted to announce the next winner of our Tuffa UK Employee of the Month Award.
This is a new initiative for 2019, where the Tuffa Management Team is challenging our entire staff to demonstrate certain attributes. The individuals or team members who perform best against these targets are rewarded with a special bonus each month.
October – quality workmanship
Now a familiar face on the Employees of the Month Dan Simpson has yet again been singled out for the quality of his workmanship. For his consistent commitment to quality it as a unanimous decision that Dan should win the award and with it an extra days paid holiday.
The next employee of the month will be decided by another team competition. Hopefully Dan Simpson is in my team!
September – secret task: tallest paper tower
This month the Tuffa staff were split into teams of three for a secret task. With each team sworn to secrecy – and entering the boardroom at different times of the day – the only indication as to what the task involved was the shrieks and sound of reels of sellotape being unwound, the fact it took about 10 minutes, and the sheepish faces as our colleagues eventually left the room.
Upon our turn we were met by the Tuffa managers staring at us from across the meeting table in a scene which was less reminicent of The Apprentice and more like Taskmaster. To our relief (or perhaps dissapointment) we discovered that the strange noises came from the contruction the of a paper tower. Each team had 10 sheets of paper and 10 minutes to construct the tallest tower.
The winners of the task showed possitivity, ingenuity and an uncanny ability to find the end of the sellotape. With a height of 1998mm – and including the paper the task was written on – Lee Hopkinson (left), Dan Simpson (middle) and Amy Bowd (right) are proud and worthy winners of employee of the month and the price of a food hamper each.
Dan, Lee and Amy have now left Tuffa to start a construction company and have had their first customer – a little piggy who wants a paper house.
For the month of October Tuffa are looking for the employee who shows the greatest ‘quality’ in their work with the winner receiving a full days paid holiday.
August – new product design idea or improvement using current factory processes
August was a time of creativity and deep contemplation as the Tuffa staff vied to become employee of the month by thinking of a new design idea or improvement. This months winner Andrew Dobson rigged the competition by sheer number of ideas submitted. If you throw enough mud at a wall, some of it will stick!
The winning product idea is actually designed to keep you out of the mud – using the roto-moulding machines to manufacture plastic boats. Andy said the idea occured to him after a recent trip to a local Lake in Rudyard, Staffordshire. As a reward for Andy’s perisistant ideas – including self-seal tanks, anti-theft tanks & more – he’s been given a £30 voucher for a range of popular restaurants. Well done!
Andy rowing at Rudyard lakeMaybe you’ll be seeing Tuffa kayaks in lakes and rivers near you sometime soon!
July 2019 – Most Dedicated Employee
This month the management did not announce the criteria for employee of the month. Whether this was an intentional move to keep us on our toes, or whether they simply forgot, is open widely speculated. Either way, it left the Tuffa staff in turmoil with no idea how to win; some were picking up litter hoping that was the answer, others were trying to be extra helpful.
Little did they know that to become Employee of the Month July 2019 takes much more than 4 weeks of commitment. In fact, it takes exactly 1 year and three months of commitment- that’s the amount of time that Matthew Barker has been turning up for work without fail 100% of the time. Since Matt began working at Tuffa he’s made no short notice absence requests and had no 8am phone calls beginning with over-elaborate coughing and sneezing.
To reward Matt for his glowing dedicated and 100% attendance he has been granted an extra day’s paid holiday – good job Matt!
Matt Barker Winner of Employee of the Month July 2019June 2019 – Employees employee of the month
This month we challenged all Tuffa employees to vote for their top 3 employees of the month (not including management and supervisors).
We are absolutely delighted to announce Wieslawa Sikora as a clear winner. Known for being a good laugh and working hard it was no surprise that Wieslawa is a clear favourite with almost half of the workforce voting for her. Congratulations and well done from all of us!
In second place is Ian Mace. Like the Bigfoot, Ian is impossible to take a picture of – despite having worked at Tuffa for almost 23 years. Unlike Bigfoot, Ian is known to everyone and is another obvious winner. Also, he isn’t 9 foot tall and covered in fur…
In third place is Harry Pearce. As one of Tuffa’s most friendly and approachable employees Harry more than deserves to be in the top 3.
Thanks to all the staff that voted!
Wieslawa (left) won a bouquet of flowers, a box of chocolates and a £50 bonus. Ian (middle) and Harry (right) won a bottle of wine.May 2019 – Most safety conscious
If you play with fire you’ll get burned – that is unless you’re Andy Oxley, our winner of the most safety conscious employee.
Working with heavy machinery and welders capable of reaching 20,000 degrees C is hazardous work. That’s why we’ve challenged our production team to be as health and safety conscious as possible this month – and in the future!
Andy was an easy choice for this month’s prize as he’s always very attentive to health and safety. Congratulations Andy and we hope you enjoy your £30 Miller and Carter steak house voucher.
Also in the running for the prize was Mike Bailey from the Sales team who purchased his very own pair of discrete safety boots. However, in the end it was decided that the manufacturing team faced greater danger in their working environment. Better luck next month Mike!
Andy Oxley receiving his £30 Miller and Carter voucher from Workshop Manager Jason Shenton
April 2019 – Most creative and implementable idea
This month was an interesting challenge for the Tuffa staff of thinking up either the best cost cutting / innovative concept / efficiency improvement. The most creative and implementable idea was submitted by Charlie, Chelsea and Emma. All three independently said they would like to see Tuffa team building activities implemented and to kick off the team building activities, the three were sent off to BEAR coffee shop this afternoon for lunch & drinks for some ‘Tuffa bonding!”
Tuffa’s Charlie & Chelsea pictured were winners alongside Emma this month
March 2019 – Best Kept Work Area
Dee Barcroft from our Sales Team is the Employee of the Month for March. Dee really committed to this month’s challenge and kept her work area super tidy. Dee has had a busy month as we are just ahead of last year’s record-breaking sales figure. In addition, Dee has recently undertaken some additional IT training and is busy learning and updating our new CRM system.
Dee married her long term partner just before Christmas, so her reward of a Dining Out for Two voucher will be enjoyed with her new husband, Ian. Dee is looking forward to good steak and we hope you both enjoy a lovely meal together.
Congratulations Dee, very well deserved. Just one thing – you don’t have to clear the table and tidy up as part of your prize – you can leave that to somebody else this time!
February 2019 – Most Helpful Team Player
February’s Employee of the Month winner was Tuffa Steel Workshop Manager, Martin Maras. Martin was awarded the “Most Helpful Team Player” for supporting our production staff at different work centres throughout the factory. Fluent in several languages, Martin also supports our sales team with export clients and has recently passed the IOSH Managing Safely course. All this, despite a very busy production schedule in the steel workshop.
Martin with his tickets to watch Stoke CityMartin was presented with two tickets for Stoke City’s home match against Sheffield Wednesday at the end of March and is planning to take his son to watch The Mighty Potters!
We’ll be with you! Well done and Congratulations, Martin!
January 2019 – Willingness, Initiative, Flexibility
January is the first month that this new programme has been in place. We were looking for the members of our team that really showed “Willingness, Initiative and Flexibility”.
Tuffa Employees of the Month for January, Dylan and Paul.This award was deservedly won by Dylan Sherriff and Paul Dix on our Large Plastic Tanks production team. Both Dylan and Paul have received thanks and recognition from other members of our team on our online HR website. In addition, to make sure that key customers were getting their orders delivered on time, the guys themselves volunteered to come back in the evening, working from 5 – 9pm to finish a large tank order as the moulds came off the oven.
Congratulations to both Dylan and Paul for keeping our large tanks rolling out this month. This award is thoroughly deserved and recognition of your hard work and dedication.
The Employee of the Month Award for April will go to The Best Employee Suggestion, and you’ll discover the winner here at the beginning of May.
