Every year at our annual conference, we celebrate a select few individuals who are innovating, collaborating, and ensuring operational excellence within their organizations. As we get ready for this year’s conference, we are excited to turn the spotlight on Nana K. Frimpong of Social Impact, who was recognized last year for excellence in cross-operations. We checked in with Nana, who serves as Social Impact’s director of business operations & security services, to ask him about his experience as an award winner.
Q: Tell us how you felt when you learned that you had been selected as an operational excellence award winner last year.
It was an unexpected, but very pleasant surprise. I had no idea that my colleagues had nominated me for the award. So, when I was invited to an “unscheduled” meeting and walked into a room full of my colleagues who burst into a round of applause, I went from feeling confused to feeling elated and then, very quickly, to feeling humbled. It felt truly special to have had all my hard work validated by my peers and then supported by Humentum (now Humentum), an organization for which I have such a tremendous amount of respect.
Who nominated you for this award? And how do you work with that person/that team?
Tina Badakhshan, our operations manager, and Lilly Liu, our operations associate, work with me on the same team. We interact on a daily basis, working together on field office startups, various process improvement initiatives, and thinking through how our current technology stack can best serve the business requirements of Social Impact. Jessica Toth, our senior HR associate, works closely with me on a number of internal initiatives including our employee engagement surveys and training initiatives that pertain to my area of expertise. We share a very close working relationship and friendship as we work to continuously improve the systems we have deployed at Social Impact.
Have things changed for you at work since you received this award?
After winning this award, I have had the opportunity to share some of my experience and knowledge through public speaking engagements. During these engagements, I have met and learned from so many of my peers within the NGO community. This experience has further broadened my resource and knowledge base providing me with several growth opportunities over the past year, which have enhanced my contributions to Social Impact.
Has this recognition in any way created or fostered an environment where excellence in operations is recognized within your organization?
Absolutely. This past year, we held our inaugural Operations Excellence Awards. We honored several of our peers within the organization who made incredible contributions toward improving the efficiency and effectiveness of specific processes. The award highlighted cross divisional collaboration, ingenuity, and a proactive approach to effective problem solving. I was honored to be selected as a member of the panel of judges for this inaugural award.
What are the biggest operational issues/challenges you’re currently dealing with in your role?
We are currently deploying an Enterprise Resource Planning system to integrate and, where possible, automate our control and accounting functions. I am a part of the implementation team responsible for system and process integration as well as messaging around changes being implemented. Though challenging at times, it has been a very exciting opportunity to learn and also witness the organizational changes and improvements as they unfold with the release of each module.
Are you ready to nominate your own colleague for an Operational Excellence Award, or this year’s first-ever Humentum Rising Star award? Learn more about the awards and nominate your peers here. Nominations will close May 17.