Company Announcement - Integr8 believes in putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to empowering its employees. In today’s economic turmoil, people are becoming more and more negative about the unemployment rate; therefore it is awesome to read positive articles about how people change their lives through hard work and dedication. One such a person is Gerard Swarts, who started his career at Integr8 as a driver eight years ago. As he became familiar with the working environment and services offered by Integr8, he craved developing and empowering himself; so when the technical engineers team started with a huge client project, he was invited to assist.

“I studied the manual thoroughly and learned step by step what was required to be done on the project. My notepad and pen became my best friends over a period of time where I took notes of everything that I learned on site,” says Swarts. “He showed tremendous ambition and through hard work – sometimes even until 2am – he was invited to comprehensive training internal and external training and development programs that included an A+ course in 2007. At that stage he was working at Integr8 full time, doing deliveries during the day and working at Ster Kinekor over the weekends. We knew he was committed, hard working and diligent, with tremendous acumen and someone that would thrive in an environment that encourages learning and development,” says Robert Sussman, joint CEO at Integr8.

Five years ago Swarts was promoted to the workshop. This would give him some hands-on experience working on a technical level from the ground up. “I made some mistakes, but didn’t give up. I knew through making mistakes and being corrected by my peers, I could learn how to improve,” continues Swarts. From the workshop he was further promoted to an engineer that looks after multiple client sites and thereafter dedicated to a key client site. Today, he manages a key client and ensures that Service Level Agreements at this client is met.

“The most important thing to remember is through had work and commitment, your employer will trust you. Fortunately I had an amazing team to work with. Management saw my dedication and even now, I have to improve myself because I set a goal to learn something new every day,” he concludes.

Sussman concludes, “We identified the potential in Gerard and his desire to grow and learn. We believe that in order for a company to grow, one needs to create an environment where people can learn and grow.”