Totemic Community August 2020

August 2020

Totemic Community News

Vitality Issue 9

totemic community The month of Vitality 7 staff members All about achieve 10 years’ AcroYoga service!

What is Health Assured?

Staff Benefits

Nikki & Geoff Retire

Welcome to the Vitality Community Magazine...

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What’s in this issue?

3

All About Acroyoga

6

A Colleagues Experience of EAP

8-9 Nikki & Geoff Retire!

10-11 Working from Home: Lisbon 12-13 20 Years Service Awards

Welcome to the ‘Vitality’ Issue of our Community Magazine

July’s 300,000 Step Champions!

Throughout July we relaunched our 300,000-step challenge with the simple goal of getting us all moving again. With over 40 people initially entering across UK & Lisbon we ended with 30 people seeing it through until the end.

All those who achieved their pre-agreed targets were entered into a draw to win a brand-new smartwatch. On the day of the draw, Lianne and Luke were feeling extra generous and decided to pick 2 winners Congratulations to Debbie Coleman and Silvia Costa!

14-18 Staff Benefits 19-21 Getting to Know Each Other 22-25 10 Years Service Awards 26

Debbie did a total of 541,322 step which Is the equivalent of about 290 miles! So effectively Debbie walked from Grantham to Edinburgh in July!

Silvia did a total of 436,549 steps which is equivalent of about 229 miles! Silvia did the equivalent of a walk from Lisbon all the way to Braga (just past Porta).

The Logo Quiz Our overall top stepper Paulo did about 878,280 steps which is the equivalent of walking the vertical length of Portugal almost twice over!

In total, this rounds participants took over 10 MILLION steps!

Our Top 10 Steppers...

Paulo Capdeville- 878,280 Max Sims- 786,520 Debbie Coleman- 541,322 Keith Bowers- 524,029 Laura Manning- 494,860 Jo Charles- 452,591 Silvia Costa- 436,549 Lucy Heathershaw- 397,876 Elisa Nunes- 359,000 Victoria Reid- 350,748

The average daily steps taken was over 11,500, with 93% of participants improving on their daily step average.

The average improvement for all involved was 50% and 4 people made improvements exceeding 100% of their daily step average.

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Getting ACTIVE Acroyoga and why I love it so much,

by Pedro Olivença All my life I was always very keen to be involved in physical activities. About two and a half years ago I had my first introduction to AcroYoga - for those who don’t know what AcroYoga is, it can be described as a mix between Yoga, Acrobatics and Thai Massage.

I must warn you that AcroYoga is a very addictive activity but in a good way. It is great not only because it is challenging, but also because of the Acro community itself. I must also say that in AcroYoga a huge aspect of being part of the community is being altruistic. The community is also eco-conscious, unattached to material things and always really friendly.

AcroYoga is split into lunar (passive) and solar (active) practices. There are three main roles of Acro participants, which are the base, the flyer and the spotter. Acro participation is not only an inner journey, but also a practice that requires building soft skills that our society nowadays lack so much. In Acro we develop skills such as trusting, sharing, communication, bonding, coordination, sense of responsibility, and much more. From a more physical health aspect you will gain strength, flexibility, brain activity and body coordination just to mention a few.

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If you are curious about AcroYoga just join our community on facebook (AcroYoga Greater Lisbon), there you can find videos, jams, workshops and other resources about AcroYoga and related topics.

Do it properly… do it safe!

It is important to gain all the knowledge you need to practice Acro safely and with a clear conscious knowing the dangers associated with the activity. Acro is like kite surfing in that way; you could try to do it alone, but would that be a responsible way to do it? So I strongly recommend joining workshops, classes or immersions before you jump into it all alone.

As I like to say, in AcroYoga even time flies.

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EXCLUSIVE TOTEMIC MEMBER OFFER. A unique discount for Totemic.

Join in September for an exclusive £30.00 Totemic membership See below for details

Become a member and receive a one to one consultation, a complimentary fitness assessment, personalised programme based on your goals and unlimited classes.

Join today visit: www.equilibrium.fit/join

Exclusive Totemic Membership

Join in September for an exclusive discounted Totemic membership* with an initial 3-month period and then 1 months’ notice

£45.00 £30.00

Club Membership

Initial 12-month period and then 1 months’ notice

£39.00 £33.00

Flexible Membership

Costs a little more each month and offers more flexibility with an initial 3-month period and then 1 months’ notice

£45.00 £36.00

Membership prices are per person, per month. *Exclusive membership available from 1 September – 30 September 2020

Group fitness class schedule now live featuring new Yoga and Core classes.

Book online at: www.equilibrium.fit/class-schedule

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A COLLE AGU E S EXP ER I E N C E O F T H E E M PL OY EE ASSI S TA N C E P R O GRA MM E How did you find out about Health Assured?

I knew we had Health Assured as a work benefit but never really looked into what they did. When I discussed with my manager that I was struggling she suggested contacting them to see what they could offer in relation to counselling.

Was it challenging to contact them?

It can be quite difficult in the first instance to make the phone call but so worth it. The first phone call was to set an appointment for a consultation, even the person on this call was able to discuss some of the issues and offer some suggestions to help. The next one was a consultation which you go through a few questionnaires and discuss how you are feeling which gives them a better idea of what you are struggling with. You are then referred to a counsellor.

How have they helped you, since you reached out?

The counsellor was great, nothing I said was stupid to her even if it sounded silly to me. They also emailed me documents to support things we had discussed which I could then read and implement in my own time. They were easy to talk to, you can also ask for a different person if you don’t feel like you get on with the person you are speaking with, you have to feel comfortable to share with that person.

For others in the business who are thinking about using the service but afraid to take that step, what would you say?

Do it, you might be scared but it will be worth it. Those first phone calls can be challenging, and it’s not a magic cure. Gradually day by day it will get easier. There will still be things that happen that put you into a spin but you will have the support to manage it. A lot of people don’t like asking for help, and are usually the ones to help others, but how can you help others if you yourself are not ok? It’s like when you go on a plane, they say put your life jacket on first then help others – this is pretty much what you are doing.

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Employee Assistance Programme A 24 hour helpline from Health Assured to support you through any of life’s issues or problems.

Free 24 Hour Confidential Helpline:

0800 030 5182

Stress & anxiety

Counselling

Family issues

Work advice

Financial wellbeing

Childcare support

Relationship advice

Legal information

Medical information

Gambling issues

Alcohol & drug issues

Consumer issues

Download the Health e-Hub now

To find out more visit:

healthassuredeap.com Username:

Totemic

Password:

Totemic

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Happy Retirement Nikki O'Neil How Long did you work for Totemic?

For 20 whole years!

What roles have you fulfilled during that time?

I’ve worked in a variety of roles during my time with Totemic, this often involved looking after various senior managers, cleaning, driving, sorting the files at the warehouse and supporting the Caff doing catering alongside Jayne. I have also supported and helped on many events we have put on over the years! (Happy Days) What are some of your fondest memories of working for Totemic?

The main one is watching everyone grow up and having babies of their own! I have had the pleasure of attending weddings and christenings -sadly a few funerals. There are so many fond memories and too many to count in all honesty.

Would you like to give any special shoutouts to anyone in the business?

I must give a massive thank you to Lianne Firth for giving me this chance all those years ago, to Mel Smith for our longs chats often late into the night and to Philip and Lesley for all their kindness over the years.

To Lucille Green and Emma Massen thank you so much for everything. One final thanks to my bestie Jayne Baxter in the Caff, I hope she will still make me a brew and have a catch up on a regular basis. Finally, to everyone I have crossed paths with over the years and taken the time to get to know me- I bid you farewell.

What advice would you give for younger people just starting out on their career with Totemic?

The most important is respect your managers and each other. Respect can take you a long way and you never know you could be doing 20 years plus with Totemic (LOL).

What does the future after Totemic look like for you? I have a fresh start and a new journey, I still don’t know what my future will look like after Totemic, but I promise you it will be fantastic. LOVE YOU ALL.

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Nikki & Geoff!

Geoff Smith How long did you work for Totemic?

17 years What roles have you fulfilled during that time?

So many during my 17 years, most notably- agony uncle, career adviser, trainer, bean counter and finally a mortgage and protection advisor.

What are your fondest memories of working for Totemic?

From my first day working on a desk in the foyer of Kempton house to my last day working from home due to Covid it’s never been a dull moment in Clever. Working with some great colleagues and seeing them develop along with the Razzamatazz of the old Xmas parties we had in the early years and the Sailing trip come to mind.

Would you like to give any special shoutouts to anyone in the business?

Yes, to all in the Clever sales team, I have great admiration for the dedication this team gives month on month!

What advice would you give for younger people just starting out their career with Totemic?

Take advantage of the great opportunities in the company to grow, develop and get qualified along the way in whichever route you want to take.

What does the future after Totemic look like for you?

Well I won’t be clicking my mouse 30000 times a year so hopefully ‘a long holiday’ with plenty of relaxation, the odd game of tennis, travel and more time to spend with family and friends.

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WORKING FROM HOME YOUR OPINIONS: LISBON I think there are more pros than cons. I am definitely more organised; our team has no backlogs; we are more productive; we are not as stressed. The only con is that I am not being able to see everyone.

Working at home can be a bit lonely, but it is good to be able to connect with my colleagues on video.

One challenge is having various people send queries via Fuze at the same time... I feel they might think I’m ignoring them when I am dealing with other queries and do not reply straight away.

The big pro for me is that I am able to sleep more as I have no need to use public transports. I also feel more relaxed as I stopped hearing the office background noise.

The fact that I do not have to commute, which represents 3.5 to 4 hours of my day, meaning I get to spend more time with the family or do other hobbies that didn’t have time before. This creates a much better balance between work and personal life, which has a direct impact on my overall wellbeing (less stressed, less tired, and more motivated). The only cons is that I have no air-conditioning at home.

At the beginning there were a few adjustments we had to make at home, with the two of us working and the kid studying, but now we are all settled in our separate “offices”.

I cannot think of any cons and feel that I can focus and organise my work better since I am at home.

So far, I have faced no challenges, as the system works the same and I have no issue with calls.

I’m really hoping that working from home becomes a long-term solution for the people that are interested in continuing.

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When the lock down started and we were sent to work from home, back in March, we started with a sea of doubts. When will it end? Will we all be alright? Will we be able to pull through working from home? How long will this last? Now, several months have passed and we have settled into a new, normal routine. If you ask around my team (and I have done so) the biggest perk is obviously the incredible amount of time we save commuting. Most of us wake up fresher, an hour later, just for the amount of time we save in the public transports and in prepping up with the office attire.

Some of us get to work with the cat in our laps, others can walk their dogs on their breaks, and others rejoice on the possibility of eating a fresh home cooked meal for lunch, instead of something heated in the microwave. Myself, I enjoy standing at my door every morning, waving goodbye to my baby while my husband takes him to nursery, being able to pick him up much earlier and enjoy small wonders like his first steps.

Of course we do miss the companionship, the ability to tell a joke and laugh with your colleagues, going out for coffee or lunch and talk about life. The hugs and the pats in the back, and all that human contact that make us feel closer to each other and part of a larger family. We do have our team chat, that serves to transmit important information, ask for help, or share the occasional song to set the mood and help us still feel connected.

All in all, I think it is amazing the way we all made it work, and are still making it work every day. The effort and commitment we put every day in our work to ensure the clients get their much needed support, but also that we are there for each other, same as if we were in the office. In the end, I believe we will all be alright.

Sónia Almeida

I am the Team leader for the Settlement team and the two DSS advisors. We have been working from home since the 17th March, so for almost 5 months.

Most of my team members including myself are loving working from home, feel more relaxed, more productive and motivated. Many of us do not live in Lisbon, so working from home is saving a lot of time in commuting (we are talking around 2 hours per day) and giving us a better quality of life, more sleep and less stress in enduring public transport and traffic.

On the other hand, we do miss each other and the fun in the office, however we try to keep spirits high by keeping in touch through calls and Fuze. We try to keep the same connection we had in the office from far away: sharing information, keeping updated on what is going on in the different areas of the business and helping each other when needed.

March, June and July have been the best months ever in terms of new leads received and money distributed. Our best month for distribution was March with £1,347,183.34 distributed to creditors to settle debts. And July was the busiest month for new leads, we had 423 new cases coming in. We've never had so many in years.

We hope to keep working safely from home with the knowledge that there is a possibility to go to the office if we are really not coping at home anymore. So far so good we are loving it and enjoying the hot summer!

Mariagrazia Sammartino

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MARTIN SCOFFIELD Since joining the company twenty years ago, Martin has used his intelligence and wide-ranging programming skills to build software solutions galore for the Totemic group. Martin was part of the team who built the original Vulcan application, and today, years later, he continues to work hard developing the ever-increasing functionality provided by Vulcan for the Payplan business.

Over the years, Martin became a cornerstone of the Totemic IT department, often being the "go-to" person for new recruits to quiz regarding the inner workings of the Vulcan application. I know that all of our team appreciate Martin's in-depth business and technical knowledge, along with his willingness to share it with us. He has mentored many junior programmers over the years at Totemic, always giving his time generously to the team, despite the tight timescales and high demands put upon his time.

During the current Covid pandemic Martin has once again been instrumental in rapidly developing solutions for challenges faced by our business, at the same time managing to keep on top of the fairly constant incoming ticket request that we receive. Congratulations on achieving this anniversary with us! We know how hard you have worked for this accomplishment and we all truly appreciate your dedication and commitment to delivering quality software. We look forward to seeing all of the great things we know Martin will accomplish in the next 20 years! Sue Rann & Navdeep Sethi

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TOTEMIC UK STAFF BENEFITS

We provide benefits and discounts to help our employees and their families.

The following benefits are available for permanent staff:

Discounted Gym Memberships Equilibrium, Grantham Grantham Tennis Club Oceans Fitness, Grantham Belton Woods Hotel, Gym & Leisure Virgin Active, Nottingham

Salary Savings Accounts & Loans Save money directly from your salary each month, via payroll deduction, or access affordable loans from ÂŁ1,000 - ÂŁ10,000.

Health Assured Advice & Counselling Our Employee Assistance Programme confidentially helps employees deal with personal problems that might adversely impact their work performance, health, and wellbeing.

Length of Service Extra Holidays Over 5 years of service: + 1 day of holiday Over 6 years of service: + 2 days of holiday Over 7 years of service: +3 days of holiday Over 8 years of service: +4 days of holiday Over 9 years of service: +5 days of holiday

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Wedding Gift Employees with service of up to two years can receive a wedding gift of £125.From two years service this increases to £250, and after three years or more, you will receive £500.

Childcare Vouchers BusyBee Childcare Vouchers can be used to pay for Free Parking

any registered childcare for children up to the age of Plenty of free parking at all of our offices.

16, including: nurseries, childminders, play schools, pre-schools, nannies, au pairs, crèches, and more.

Free Eye Test Totemic will refund an employee for the cost of a basic eye test once in every two year period. If you need glasses for VDU use only then Totemic will contribute up to £50 towards the cost of glasses provided you have a letter from your optician.

Refreshments Fresh fruit, milk, tea, coffee and sugar are available for the employees at the kitchens around the office, every day and free of charge.

Local Discounts McDonalds, Siam Garden, Costa Coffee, weonlymot.co.uk and more...

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Discounted Insurance Discounted Insurance Available for travel, pet and gadget insurance via our Reach Free mortgage and group comany Available for travel, petFinancial. and gadget insurance, protection reviews and no broker fees through Clever Mortgages.

Ride Ride 22 Work Work Scheme Scheme Save Savemoney moneyand andspread spreadthe thecost coston onaanew bike new bikeand and accessories accessoriesat atan anindependent bike store, independent bike store,Halfords Halfords or or Tredz.

Tredz.

Wellbeing Wellbeing Treatments Treatments A A range rangeof ofmassage, massage,reflexology, reflexology,yoga, yoga,chiropractor chiropractor and and skin skintreatments treatmentsare areavailable availableatatTotemic TotemicHouse.

House.

Merlin Merlin Attractions AttractionsDiscounts Discounts Access Accesscorporate corporatediscounts discountsto toThorpe ThorpePark, Park,Alton Alton Towers, Towers,Lego LegoLand Landand andChessington, Chessington,Warwick Warwick Castle, Castle,London LondonEye, Eye, Madam MadamTussauds Tussaudsand andso somany many more! more!

National National Retailer RetailerDiscounts Discounts access accessto toyear-round year-rounddiscounts discountsatatover over120 120national national retailers, retailers,through throughour ourpartnership partnershipwith withthe theReward Reward Me Me Now NowApp. App.

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TOTEMIC STAFF BENEFITS

At Totemic Lisbon, we provide benefits and discounts to help our employees and their families. The following benefits are available for permanent staff:

My Flex

Flexible benefits worth 330€ for you to choose from: a. Income Protection Insurance b. Health Care Plan with Médis c Ticket Care, for drugstores, physiotherapy etc d. Ticket Educação, toward school or university 7-25 e. Ticket Infância, for crèche and pre-school 0-7

0% Interest Loan

0%

In case of unexpected or urgent situations, such as moving house, car break down, house repairs, urgent dental or medical treatments, funeral expenses, school expenses or marital or parental fees.

Counselling Service carried out by clinical psychologist – Dr. Ana Martins, in Almada and by Clinic Dra. Rosa Basto, in Lisbon. Totemic subsides 100% of the cost, up to 5 sessions per year, followed by a corporate discount.

Email Dr Martins gab.psi@anadesousamartins.com or Dr Basto info@drarosabasto.com

Length of Service Extra Holidays Over 5 years of service: + 1 day of holiday Over 6 years of service: + 2 days of holiday Over 7 years of service: +3 days of holiday Over 8 years of service: +4 days of holiday Over 9 years of service: +5 days of holiday

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Birthday Present This is our present for you: a day off so that you can enjoy your birthday outside the office!

Holiday Activities for Children Over Easter, Christmas and Summer, Totemic subsidise 50% of the cost of ATL activities and the employee supports the other 50%, for employees children aged 5-12.

Glasses Subsidy Totemic contribute up to 75€ (every other year) towards eyeglasses or contact lenses. To request this benefit, please send scanned invoice and glasses/contact lenses prescription to ana.dacosta@totemic.co.uk

Refreshments Fresh fruit, milk, tea, coffee and sugar are available for the employees at the kitchens around the office, every day and free of charge.

Local Discounts Ginásio Clube Português; Fitness Hut; Massage treatments w/ Cátia; Bota Minuto Amoreiras; Óticas OCR (Campo de Ourique); Place Santé Amoreiras.

Getting to know each other...

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Jayne Topham How long have you been with Totemic?

Just over 2 years.

What’s your role and how would explain it to people?

I am Group HO Learning & Development, responsible for supporting all employees with their development needs from induction, refresher training, on the job training and qualifications.

What previous experience have you had before this? Any interesting or funny jobs?

My work background has always been within the financial services sector, with the last 23 years focusing on Learning & Development.

Before Totemic, my last job was Director of L&D (UK) for Santander. When I started my life in financial services I was a cashier for the West Bromwich Building Society, I loved this job as no 2 days were the same. I got hit one day by a lady with a walking stick because I wouldn’t let her take money from her husband’s account without his permission.

What makes Totemic different to anywhere else you have worked?

The loyalty. The loyalty of the staff to the Senior Managers and vice versa, is second to none.

Tell us a few things people might not know about you.

I have a motorbike licence, I have qualifications in sign language (and not just the 2 fingers), and I am married with 4 children (1 mine and 3 step children).

Do you have any hobbies or special interests?

I love cycling and going for long walks with my 2 dogs. However I love to travel. I love my holidays and I don’t know how I would cope without them, I always have something booked on the horizon. The weirdest thing about that is I hate flying!

What’s your favourite thing about Totemic?

The way Philip just says – it’s hot, have the rest of the day off! On a more serious note, I love the diversity of the different companies under the Totemic umbrella, every day I learn something new. Totemic has some of the nicest, kindest and most clever people I have ever had the pleasure to work with.

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Dineia Pereira How long have you been with Totemic?

I’ve been with Totemic since April 2007, so just over 13 years.

What’s your role and how would explain it to people?

I’m a Technical Support Officer or TSO, in the Lisbon Office. My role is to support the department with technical queries on DMP procedures. I deliver initial training to the new starters in the company and I also create and deliver further training.

Sometimes I’m also requested to test new features of our system. Part of my daily tasks is also to liaise with programming, reporting concerns on the system routines.

Overall if you have doubts about the system or any of the DMP procedures just get in touch.

What previous experience have you had before this? Any interesting or funny jobs?

I used to work at Holmes Place as a Reception Manager before working at Totemic. One of the funniest stories was when a client asked me to go with her to the gym classroom after a class had finished, as she wanted to show me something. I went with her and when we arrived, she told me: “Can you smell it?” and I couldn’t understand what she meant… then she told me: “Smells of sweat, how are you going to sort this?” It was a good question. I confess I thought she was joking, after all we were at the gym.

After some brainstorming with my colleagues we decided that we would spray the classroom with a fragrant spray after each class finished. The same client came back to the reception to thank me for the solution.

What makes Totemic different to anywhere else you have worked?

The work environment is the best I have ever had in my working life, I had several jobs before and here I found a great place to work like Totemic. The company culture and the people who work here are amazing and what makes me wake up every morning motivated to work.

Could you tell us a few things people might not know about you?

I love to cook but I don’t like to follow recipes, I have plenty of cookbooks and I like to read them to take inspiration from them, but not to follow it. I’ve already visited 24 countries in the world which is only 10%, I really wanted to reach at least 50%! This year I had amazing plans to visit the Philippines and Tanzania, but they are on hold for now. I never learned how to ride a bike… my best friends also don’t know so I don’t feel that bad. Am I still in time to learn? Maybe... who knows.

Do you have any hobbies or special interests?

I love to travel and to read, if I can combine both I’m in heaven. After a day of visiting places to be able to lay down on the beach and read a book is my favourite thing in the world.

I’m reading my 24th book of 2020, as we can’t travel, I will keep reading.

What’s your favourite thing about Totemic?

The people that work in the company that have helped me to grow and develop as a person.

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Filipa Gama How long have you been with Totemic?

Since July 2007.

What’s your role and how would explain it to people?

I have worked in the training department since 2010. My current role is Training Manager, which means I am responsible for all things related to personal development: training and coaching delivery, admin, design and leading our Lisbon Learning & Development team. On top of that, I am also the Vulnerability Champion in Lisbon which allows me to still maintain some level of contact with our clients and assist my operational colleagues, which is something I truly value.

What previous experience have you had before this? Any interesting or funny jobs?

Nothing at all, this was my first job!

What makes Totemic different to anywhere else you have worked?

As mentioned above, I've never worked anywhere else, so I don’t really have any term of comparison. However, when discussing work experiences with friends, one thing that really seems to stand out is our casual and friendly environment.

Could you tell us a few things people might not know about you?

After 13 years I don’t think there would be anything surprising left to say but let me try: I have been a vegetarian for 20 years, I can’t drive and shockingly enough I am not a natural read head! Can you believe it?

Do you have any hobbies or special interests?

I am passionate about all things make-up related! I also have an interest in psychology, namely behavioural profiling and personality types.

What’s your favourite thing about Totemic?

The people.

An Update from Filipa's Department: The Learning & Development team had to face the ultimate challenge when transitioning to working from home. In a normal classroom setting, training already requires a heightened sense of dynamics, interaction and energy to capture as much audience attention as possible. So how could we quickly adapt to this new warped reality where all these factors would be compromised?

Feelings of isolation are one of the most common grievances about remote work, with some employees missing the informal social interactions of a workspace background. Participation in group training can relieve these feelings and a well-run session will incorporate active engagement, collaboration, and time for questions, therefore, we ensured that our remote training sessions would encourage interaction and inclusivity, a time for people to feel they could talk, be heard, share experiences and even have a bit of a laugh while learning. With this mindset, we set out to start delivering our first training and coaching sessions from home.

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Congratulations on 10 Years Service...

Nathan O'Reilly Nathan the most fragile man in the office, under no circumstances should he be left unattended! For those of you who don’t partake in online gaming, Nathan is a celebrity, having his own YouTube and Twitch subscribing services so that his loyal followers can watch his streams. From a work perspective Nathan often has an opinion on programming ideas and logic and as such is a valued member of the department as his contributions often lead us to developing better quality products. However his views often spill over into politics at which point a big discussion ensues which all adds to the office banter.Nathan takes immense pleasure in correcting pronunciation, which can make it difficult to talk to him but he does it as a labour of love. He also claims to have authored the Oxford English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Jack Wilson

Scarlett Meenaghan Scarlett joined the company back in 2010, where she took on a client facing role within Payplan and enjoyed her time supporting a caseload of clients in debt management plans. She then decided to take a leap of faith and joined the now Payment Services team within Paylink, where she has learnt a vast amount of new skills. Over the years, Scarlett has developed her knowledge in payment processing, specifically Direct Debit and is know the ‘go to person’ in the business for all things Direct Debit related. She assisted in the set-up of many of the Direct Debit and card payment facilities that are still used now across the Totemic Group.

Scarlett keeps everybody within the team entertained daily with her bubbly & friendly personality and her occasional ‘blonde moments’ and we hope that she finally passes that driving test before we celebrate her 20 year work anniversary! Well done Scarlett for reaching 10 years, from everybody within the Payment Services team! Jill Sparks & Michael Evans

Chris Houlden

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Chris joined the company as a case officer in DMP Support 10 years ago based over in Long Bennington. He worked in partnership with several different PFM’s during this time and was a fantastic team player supporting with admin etc.Chris’ caseload was always up to date and as well as supporting other team members he also had time and the desire to learn more about the system which gave him the opportunity to move to a Systems support role. Chris then moved into a Business Analyst role, which was working initially with the PayPlan business and then moving on to other group companies, such as Premium Plan Ltd, Clever Mortgages and Clever Lending to name a few.Chris now works with the Paylink Services development team which cover a huge amount of platforms across the group and also externally, so no matter what system you work on there is a good chance Chris will have been involved in it at some stage. Chris is very thorough in his approach and will always question the validity and worth of things before proceeding.Chris is also a keen gym-goer, and this recently saw him awarded with the honourable title of Totemic “Fittie of the Year 2019”. Joe Clark

Ben Hale In August 2010 a fresh face Ben Hale joined the company as a DMP Support Case Officer, in just over a year he had left DMP in order to help set up Stake Your Claim where he worked his way up to Manager. Not only did he pick up a new management role at SYC but he also picked up a new girlfriend (Carly) whom later became his wife! 4 Years later when PPI started to slow down Ben retrained and entered the world of Business Process Engineering becoming a Business Performance & Resource Manager in early 2016. In 2017 Ben became the Acquisition Process Manager as well as managing helpline day to day whenever required. It’s fair to say that Ben has a wide range of experience across the Totemic group, this array of knowledge and his ability to rapidly pick up new skills made him a perfect candidate to become an Analyst in what was then Management Information (now Data Insight). Ben has been with DI since Christmas 2018 and will hopefully be with us for many more years to come. I’m sure there are people around the business that have many funny stories about Ben but unfortunately none are springing to my mind so I will just say that Ben is a pleasure to have around the office, his knowledge of TV, Film & Music always gives us something to talk about. He is also quite an accomplished musician and is lead singer in a gigging band called ‘Self Appointed Heroes’. Dave Milligan

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Luke Pick

Congratulations for 10 years of devoted service to us Luke. I know your journey has been varied, having started as a case officer, becoming a team leader and spending significant time in projects and process mapping & management. With your extrovert, innovative and ambitious nature, you are super suited to entertaining our external introducers and especially to leading our engagement and internal communication initiatives across our group of businesses. Thank you for the energy and sunshine you bring to our Company. Here’s to your next chapter with us.

Lianne Firth Luke is probably the most enthusiastic and bubbly person I have met with an infectious energy about him. Egg selling, charity balls, fundraising, lockdown quizzes, recognition prizes, he is constantly coming up with new ideas for the business. Al Talbot So, Luke has worked in many different roles, but we (Lisbon office) have always had a close contact with him. He is definitely a character! Always at a million miles per hour, his mouth cannot keep up with his mind, and we both love him for it, as much as it drives us absolutely mad! He does take it like it is, never taking himself too seriously, but dead-focus on doing what must be done to ensure the task at hand gets done. He also stole my phone. Happy 10th anniversary, Luke, I want my phone back!

Elisa Nunes Congratulations Luke on your 10 year Service, everyone in Clever Lending and Clever Mortgages thank you for all your support and we look forward to working with you for another 10 years. Michelle Neville I’ve worked with Luke in a number of different roles over the past 10 years. He always brings so much energy, professionalism and positivity to any task he works on and is always a pleasure to work with. Well done Luke and thanks for all you help over the last 10 years. Jill Sparks Ever since Luke started he has been incredibly positive, great fun and full of new ideas. A great person to represent the Totemic culture.Rachel DuffeyI remember:Luke using his acting skills to give a really great speech in the Northern Ireland parliament building and charming even the technophobes in the audience with the power of digital in debt advice Luke being the best dressed man at the Money Advice Scotland conference gala dinner with a fabulous jacket Luke taking time to check in and to ask about how I was when I needed someone to do that.

Alistair Chisholm

Stacey Richards

Totemic Community News - Vitality | 25

Stacey joined the company in DMP Support as a case officer 10 years ago.

I worked alongside her at the time and it was clear from day one how hard working and dedicated she was. She would pride herself on her case load and traffic lights pushing whichever PFM she worked with at the time to meet any targets setIt was clear Stacey had a keen eye for how Vulcan and the systems worked, which saw her given the opportunity to move into a System support role, initially with DMP and quickly moving into other areas of the system. This role evolved and Stacey moved to a formal Business Analyst role, which involved working with various group companies to elicit the requirements for projects of all sizes. Her work ethic has been evident in all the projects she has worked on and I am sure anyone who has had the pleasure of working with Stacey over the years will agree with this.In recent times, Stacey’s work on the PlanFinder tool saw her transition to the Embark platform, which is a similar tool used by external customers such as Santander/NatWest/RBS to name a few. Stacey has been pivotal in this product and knows it inside out.It has been a pleasure to work with somebody so kind, honest and hardworking as Stacey over the last 10 years and I hope this continues for years to come! Joe Clarke

Nicola Roberts A huge congratulations to Nicola Roberts on her 10 year anniversary!

Over the years Nicola has worked in various roles across our DMP and Acquisitions teams and is currently doing an excellent job helping hundreds of clients every week with their live chat enquiries. Nicola is diligent, client focussed and a great communicator.Described by her colleagues as someone who is always willing to help, always calm and very caring she really is an asset to the digi team and we all look forward to continuing to work with you. Annabel Swales

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