Attracting youth with inclusivity

With this quote in mind, Natasha Mahabeer, Southern Africa Area Continuous Improvement Manager, recalls interviewing Cherise whilst in full school uniform and already holding an impressive portfolio of merits and achievements, I knew that we were taking into our care, a future leader.

Almost a year later and Cherise is just as enthusiastic, effervescent, and ambitious as the day she was interviewed. Despite the long and tiring commute daily to and from the office, Cherise gives 100% and is willing to put in extra hours to meet the demands of working whilst studying.

She exudes confidence and takes on tasks with vigour often highlighting improvement areas or challenging the norm, however the most notable is Cherise’s eagerness to continually upskill herself which she achieves through mentoring from our team, our E-learning platforms as well as by getting stuck into assigned tasks.

Cherise Lamb joined Maersk at the end of 2021 as a Continuous Improvement and Workflow Specialist Partner. Through this role she has been able to gain valuable insights into customer queries and do audits on cases raised to drive our customers’ digital adoption through supporting the Southern Africa E-commerce Focal and the Continuous Improvement team to resolve system and web related issues.

The Commercial Marketing Learnership has allowed Cherise to network and learn from many individuals within the organisation that have extensive experience in the industry. Prior to joining the workplace, Cherise had heard of employees that disliked going to work or were unhappy at the company that they work for however once she joined Maersk, she was pleasantly surprised to find that all the employees she engaged with enjoyed their work environment. When reflecting on this she recalls that whilst researching organisations.

Cherise has become well known to those that have worked with her as always being willing to learn and challenge herself. When questioned as to where this love of learning stemmed from, she shared that she grew up in a community that is known for gangsterism and drug abuse. From an early age she decided that she wanted to avoid this path and avoid becoming another statistic, so she busied herself with extra murals and schoolwork. This nurtured her love of learning and challenging herself. When she joined Maersk, she realised there was more to explore and knowledge to gain and has made full use of Maersk´s Digital learning Library whilst in her current role. This enabled her to overcome adapting to the work environment and understanding Maersk acronyms (of which there are many). Cherise was able to overcome these setbacks through her learning as well as by networking with employees to learn the Maersk processes.

When asked regarding the advice that she would give to those wanting to develop their careers Cherise shared, “One needs to accept constructive criticism and be adaptable. There may be some long days and nights in the process, which requires sacrificing some sleep but trust me, it is worth it in the end!”

About Lawhill

By providing students aged approximately 15 to 17 with specialised knowledge and skills in their last three years of secondary schooling (Grades 10 to 12), the Lawhill Maritime Centre at Simon’s Town School has, since 1995, made it possible for hundreds of young South Africans to embark on successful careers in the maritime and other industries.

Maersk (originally through Safmarine) has a long history with Lawhill spanning over 27 years and being part of the inception of the programme back in 1995. Various educationalists, members of industry and the Simon’s Town School have been involved in the development of Lawhill over the years.

The aim of the programme is to support job creation and employment in South Africa providing students with maritime-related knowledge and skills whilst at school thereby increasing their prospects for future employment or admission to maritime-related courses at tertiary institutions.

A further objective was to stimulate maritime awareness among young people, attract them to the shipping industry and provide the industry with high quality, skilled and knowledgeable employees.

To learn more, please visit: http://www.lawhill.org/