Meet The Clouders – From Internships to Inspiring Career Paths

Welcome to our ‘Meet The Clouders’ series. Today, we’ll be talking to Sonia Sanford-Sykut, who is 10Clouds’ HR Administrator. Sonia joined 10Clouds as an intern in spring 2022 and has since handled many key HR Operations processes in the company, including payroll and administration – as we know, these are fundamental areas from the employee's perspective that should be managed at a high level and without errors.

Welcome, Sonia.

You’ve been at 10Clouds for almost two years now. Could you tell us how your journey began?

I joined 10Clouds with the aim of getting my first HR experience. I’d previously worked with young children as an English teacher, and had no experience of the software development sector. It’s an area that has always fascinated me, because it’s constantly evolving. I’m a keen user of new technology, and I wanted to see how it’s created behind the scenes.

I’m also deeply passionate about psychology and what motivates people in all areas of life – it’s what I chose to study at university. The internship offered me the chance to combine the knowledge gained in this area with experience in a business setting.

I came in as an intern, but after just one month, I was fully onboarded and took over the coordination of many processes. It was a steep learning curve particularly in covering all areas of the employee lifecycle, including payroll, onboarding and onboarding. A lot of trust was placed in me, and I hope I have lived up to it.

I was proud of being able to complete my first payroll after just one month of being in the company. So it’s fair to say that internships at 10Clouds are not about making coffee and photocopying.

How did your internship help you to gain the skills that you needed for developing a career in HR?

My internship provided me with a comprehensive set of skills crucial for a career in HR, both hard and soft. Initially, company-wide communication was entirely new to me. But I quickly adapted, learning to communicate effectively with individuals across the business.

Flexibility and agility were also essential. Instead of striving for perfection, I focused on addressing immediate needs and adapting to new tasks. Throughout the internship, I managed payroll, handled contracts, health and safety documents, and employee benefits, and processed invoices. Additionally, I took on complete end-to-end ownership of the HR area in Salesforce.

These experiences collectively prepared me for the dynamic nature of HR roles.

Could you tell us a bit more about your current role?

My role has grown and evolved over time. I took over office administration, overseeing equipment and maintenance to ensure smooth onboarding and offboarding.

This includes preparing welcome packs for new hires.

My role is gradually transitioning towards becoming a People Partner, which at 10C means a comprehensive role with responsibility for various areas, such as leadership support, salary planning, HR Strategy implementation and taking care of key people-related metrics. As part of my preparation for the role, I’m working on new areas such as training, knowledge sharing and process improvement.

Moreover, in my current role, I support the development of benefits related to mental health – this also ties in with my studies, allowing me to apply my knowledge to business practices and people’s needs.

What are you most proud of having accomplished at 10Clouds?

I’ve worked on a vast range of projects during my time here. I’m particularly proud of implementing the anti-mobbing procedure at our company, which didn’t exist before. Introducing an anti-mobbing procedure is 1) a legal requirement (but we’ve gone above and beyond the legal minimum for sure!), and 2) crucial for a safe and healthy work environment.

As part of the anti-mobbing procedure, not only did I conduct a wide communication campaign on signs of mobbing and how to prevent it, but also a series of workshops for Leaders as well, providing them with tools on how to keep the workspace mobbing-free.

I’ve also worked with Wellbee, our mental health support provider, to organize and promote well-being campaigns about Emotional First Aid, as well as workshops for leaders and frequent webinars on mental health.

I’m increasingly involved in our internal communication and knowledge sharing. I’m proud of the part I play in co-organising our company catch ups and owning our 10C Lunches, the knowledge-sharing initiative at 10Clouds, where we share knowledge and best practices around interesting and current topics.

What advice would you give to someone considering starting their career at our company from a junior level?

I would always say that you need to keep an open mind when you start the role and to be flexible in your approach to work. At 10Clouds you have a unique opportunity to try your hand at a variety of tasks and projects.

Soak up the knowledge! There are so many senior, professional employees and wonderful leaders at 10Clouds, who are really willing and open to sharing their experience. It’s worth taking advantage of that!

Thank you Sonia.

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