People of Vox: Spotlight on Greg Gyngell
If there’s something strange
In your neighbourhood
Who you gonna call?
Greg Gyngell!
If there’s something weird
And it don’t look good
Who you gonna call?
Greg Gyngell!
Right, well with apologies to the Ghost Busters franchise (do you have an ear-worm now?), it’s time for another peek into the life and times of another of our green-blooded Voxies. In this episode, we shine the spotlight on a man who is normally the MC within the training environment, and so he’s actually used to turning the spotlight on everyone else…but he agreed to be interviewed without too much of a fuss.
And a good thing too, because he’s got some really interesting stories to tell!
“I’m Greg and I look after the Training Department,” says Vox’s well-known and well-loved Soft Skills Trainer. “I’ve been at Vox for about 13 years now and together with my team, I do anything and everything that is related to training, including some video production work.
“I’m always available to do anything else that might be asked of me, and wherever I can assist, I’m happy to step in. No day is ever the same, and that’s exactly how I like it!”
Greg leads a team of four Trainers across the country and reports directly to Head of Human Resources, Pam McLeod. Let’s take a look at how he champions the cause of training throughout the company – another great example of how life and a career at Vox never has to be linear.
Starting Out in Film and Entertainment
“When I left school I had only two real passions,” explains Greg. “I wanted to be a pilot – I was one of those kids who built little aeroplanes and hung them off the ceiling – and in my teenage years I got very involved in movies.
“Flight school was unfortunately just too expensive, so when I realised that flying wasn’t a career option, I went into the local film industry. I was involved in making some incredible movies in South Africa and was able to meet some amazing people.
Greg learned his craft from the ground up and thoroughly enjoyed being in the movie world, but it wasn’t to be forever.
He clarifies: “The industry in South Africa went through a phase in which international big budget films were being shot here, but the production houses were bringing over their own crews. I went freelance for a while but realised quite quickly that it was unfortunately time to leave the movie industry in the quest simply to earn a living.
“I also dabbled in radio, and DJ-ing at clubs, both of which were obviously great fun. Eventually I landed up at a large cellular company and became entrenched in the mobile phone arena. After some time with this enterprise, my intuitive knowledge and understanding of gadgets and technology, together with my ability to explain things and talk to people, collided in a fortuitous manner and I ended up in my first training position with them, where I stayed for quite some time – over a decade, in fact.”
The end result was a man who understood the value of entertainment, technology and training, as well as being flexible in his outlook on life – not to mention the importance of having fun! The stage was set for Greg to come to Vox.
‘You’d better call…’
We can thank a retrenchment exercise that took place at his previous employer for Greg’s eventual arrival at Vox. He explains: “In the wake of being unfortunately retrenched, one of my former work colleagues phoned me and told me that that @lantic – one of the businesses that was later to be merged into the group of companies under the Vox umbrella – was planning to set up a training department, and they were interested in talking to me. And so I had an interview and was offered a six-month contract.”
At that stage, Greg and his wife Claire were actually planning to emigrate to New Zealand, but in the light of this new development, they decided to stay for a while longer.
Greg continues: “At the end of the six months, I was then offered a permanent position, because my previous background in the film industry, and how I could use it within the training division to create videos when required, was seen to be advantageous. My technical outlook, combined with my training soft skills plus the film experience, all merged neatly into a new position within Vox. And so the rest, as they say, is history!
“I like to tell people that my love for Vox as a company meant that, even though we’d been accepted into New Zealand, we stayed in South Africa and have never looked back since. Everything came together at the right time and I’ve now been at Vox for about 13 years. My passion is training, but at Vox, as I mentioned, I’m able to look after a number of other things as well.”
A Strong Team of Trainers
As far as the Vox Training is concerned, Greg coordinates with his four Trainers every day. “We all work remotely,” he explains. ”Alex McDonald is the Systems Trainer and looks after all systems-related training, including for our partners, while Victor Kemp is in charge of our Technical Training, including our Mikrotik router training; our e-learning system and ‘Friday Bytes Live’. Our other two team members are Ryan Varga, our Sales Trainer, who also takes care of our leadership and mentoring system; and Craig Jewell, who looks after Soft Skills, presenting courses that include themes around customer service, time management and adaptability.”
“One of the Training Department’s innovative initiatives is the ‘Friday Bytes Live’, when Voxies come together every Friday morning to hear and learn about different areas of the company using a fun, interactive quiz approach. Victor runs with this every week, and we have prizes up for grabs to incentivise everyone further.”
Greg clarifies that the Training department is in charge of the general training needs of around two and a half thousand people, as well as the monthly Induction training for all new Vox employees.
“I’m the main person at the helm of the induction training,” he says, “and here I run training over a few days at the beginning of every month, when every department in the company sends a representative to introduce the different aspects of Vox to all our new employees. Induction training takes place in person at our Johannesburg head office, and we also facilitate online participation.
“One of the primary elements of Induction is simply chatting! I’m like the MC, if you like, and I try to make new people feel comfortable while I also liaise with the presenters. I’ve always been a big fan of comedy, and so we inject humour into these training days as much as possible. Another large element of Induction training – besides putting the programme together in advance and running with the required logistics – is to keep the sessions on track from a time perspective.”
It’s certainly a mixed bag, bringing a significant variety to Greg’s working days and weeks, which he appreciates. Over and above that, he says: “Another thing that I really enjoy about my job is that, while training is my first love, I am also able to get involved in so many other different things.
“For example, I’ve been able to assist with elements of our recruitment system as well as working on study skills. And funny enough, I love doing the mandatory stuff – the admin challenges that most other people dislike. For example, I really enjoy organising and setting up the meetings required to kickstart a training session.”
‘If there’s something weird…’
To balance out his day-to-day organisational requirements, Greg’s creative side once again comes to the fore with his off-duty interests. A speed freak, he doesn’t own a car but instead rides a motor bike, and is also a huge Formula 1 fan, as seen in his office space, where the roof is painted with black and white checkered squares to look like an F1 flag – something that any Voxie who’s ever been on a Teams call with him will recognise instantly!
Staying in Greg’s home office, there are shelves filled with Lego versions of Formula 1 cars and drivers, as well as Funko Pop and Skylander collectable figurines, reflecting his taste in music, movies (think James Bond and The Matrix!) and video games. Other interests and hobbies include sports shooting, cooking and coffee – Greg intends to roast significant quantities of his own coffee beans in the future. As a self-confessed coffee snob, he limits himself to just two coffee cups per day, which is just enough to help him keep up with his busy pet Border Collies (just one more daily cup of coffee wouldn’t be fair on the dog…).
Add in his wife of 20 years, Claire, and his two teenage children, and it’s a busy and enjoyable life, he says gratefully.
“For me, there is always something different to do at work. I’ve been exposed to working on new projects because of my line manager, Pam, as well as our CEO, Jacques du Toit – something that I appreciate enormously, and which speaks to the organisation’s culture of being innovative and flexible.
“This, I think, is what sets Vox apart from the other ISPs, together with the passion and heart for the business that our senior executives always display. There is a significant number of people within the company ‘who live and breathe green’, and I am passionately one of them,” he concludes.
And anyone who has a training need of any kind within Vox knows exactly who to call – Greg Gyngell!
