News

Celebrating those who go above and beyond

19 February 2021

We have thousands of employees all over the world, and we know how much they have supported each other - and our customers - over the past year, even in the most difficult and unusual circumstances. That's why we recently launched a new initiative for employees to encourage them to 'pass the praise' and recognize those who have gone above and beyond.

Here, we share just a few of the many submissions we received.

*****

'I would like to publicly call attention to the work of the staff of the OUP USA mailroom in NY. Technically they are not OUP employees and are employed by Swiss Post, but they are the essential workers of OUP. They are extraordinarily dedicated and cheerful and have been the most valuable players of the NY office throughout the pandemic. They run photocopies, they ship packages, they keep track of our incoming mail and forward it on request, they make supplies available, they go to the floors and look for items that staff have left behind—and no doubt hundreds of other things I don’t know about. They have been working on-site through the worst of the pandemic and they continue to commute and show up day after day.

'They are the men who are making it possible for the rest of us to work at home. When thanked, they simply say they are glad to be of service. They deserve much more public praise for the incredible dedication they have shown and for enabling our business to keep running so smoothly when almost no one else is at 198 Madison Avenue. On the 8th floor of the New York office, there are photos of them winning Swiss Post awards in past years, so their performance standards are nothing new, but they have gone above and beyond in 2020-2021 and I cannot thank them enough.'

Praise for Michael Franks, Client Service Manager, Ron Arzu, Copy Center Operator, and Everett Jones, Client Service Supervisor, from the New York mailroom. Nominated by Susan Ferber, Executive Editor, New York, USA.

*****

'Team Zambia, thank you for going (literally) 'above and beyond' for Oxford! No challenge too big.These brave Sales colleagues will always find a plan to succeed in our mission to deliver books to schools – even where roads end in mighty rivers!
 
'Where there is a will … there is a way.'

We are humble in our hearts and beyond words to express our appreciation. Thank you so much – we salute you!'

Praise for Bradley Kapini and Kaumba Chilila, from Rudi Venter, Marketing Director (Cape Town, South Africa)

*****

'I want to send my praise and gratitude to Hannah Johnson in Group Communications. Hannah and I started getting to know each other back in late 2019 when we began working on the Refresh programme together. We collaborated closely to design and deliver joined-up communications and technical guidance in a completely new way for OUP. It was fast-paced and exciting, and I thrived professionally and personally through having access to Hannah’s knowledge and experience, as well as her extraordinary kindness. Hannah is warm, courageous, imaginative, and wise, and I’m so grateful to have been able to keep working alongside her since lockdown. She’s been an irreplaceable mentor, and I’m also lucky to be able to call her a dear friend.'

Praise for Hannah Johnson, Group Change Communications Manager, from Natalie Catchpole, Training Manager (Oxford, UK)

*****

'A great source of entertainment over the last year has been learning about my colleagues’ new hobbies they’ve picked up during lockdown. For example, I’ve been brewing my own beer and exploring the Oxfordshire countryside on my bike. I ran into some difficulty when I recently moved house and had nowhere to store my bike. When Edward Gryspeerdt joined the International Editorial team last year, I was fascinated to learn he had taken up woodwork – a few bird tables later, and Ed was looking for a more ambitious project to try out. Over the course of a few weeks last year he built me a remarkable bike shelter using only recycled wooden pallets, which now has pride of place outside the front of my house. In return, I gave him some of my home brew, which he described as "actually quite nice"!'

Praise for Edward Gryspeerdt, Editorial Project Manager, from Ben Rout, Development Editor (Oxford, UK)

*****

'I want to send my #PassThePraise to José Dominguez for his spirit of collaboration and always taking a step forward to solve all the problems that others find impossible to solve. Thank you for your partnership and for the hours you put into solving the 'JamChat' issue - this is just one example of many. It is very comforting to have you on the team.'

Praise for José Dominguez, Design Systems and Media Manager, from Veronica Rodriguez, Head of Design (Madrid, Spain)

*****

'Jaki, Stacey, working with you taught me so much, your experience, amazing sense of humour and constant flow of excellent ideas for better ways of working are truly inspirational. You always make sure that everything runs smoothly behind the scenes and our consultants are ready to support teachers in any teaching situation. So glad and proud to be a part of Sales Enablement team with you!'

Praise for Jacqueline de Candia, Senior Marketing Manager, and Stacey Hughes, Assistant Marketing Manager, from Viktorija Hartwell, Assistant Marketing Manager (Oxford, UK)

*****

''Thank you, Heather for being such a wonderful mentor to me. It is an absolute pleasure for me to know you from OUP's 'Mentor-Matching' initiative and learn from you. You come across as such a balanced person, always reachable and willing to offer very pragmatic advice. I am thankful to you for all your support.'

Praise for Heather Atkinson, Marketing and Customer Experience Director, from Amit Gupta, Associate Director of Public Affairs & Communications (Noida, India).

Read more testimonials from our people by following us on social media.