Virtual Shout-outs are back: See who received a “Shout-out” in August

August 10, 2021 - Defence Stories

Way to go! Nice work! Keep it up!
 

Do you know of a co-worker who deserves a special shout-out?

Want to give a colleague a high-five or are looking for a way to recognize them in this current online environment?

If you answered YES to these questions, then a Virtual Shout-out is the way to go!

Due to its popularity last year, the Virtual Shout-out program is back for 2021. It’s a quick and easy way for you to publicly recognize a colleague, or team of colleagues, for a job well done.

What is a Virtual Shout-out?

The Virtual Shout-outs are coordinated by the Defence Team’s Corporate Awards and Recognition Secretariat (CARS). It is open to all members of the Defence Team, Military and public servants alike.

Just send them a few sentences recognizing a colleague for a job well done, and voila, your shout-out will be posted to the Defence Team “Virtual Shout-out” Bulletin Board on The Maple Leaf, HR Go RH app and the Defence Team intranet.

Messages should be brief and include:

Here’s how to submit a Virtual Shout-out:

Don’t delay! Virtually shout-out your hard-working colleagues today!


August Defence Team “Virtual Shout-out” Bulletin Board

I would like to send a BIG Shout-out to Theresa Slavik, Health Records Leader, at CFB Wainwright. She does an amazing job of keeping the department running like clockwork, despite having little staff. I reach out to her a lot for records advice and, with her positive upbeat attitude, she never fails to come to the rescue. Just wanted to let her know how much I appreciate her. Thank you for all that you do! – Shelley Locke


As the day-to-day roles of administrative professionals are becoming more demanding and complex, I want to take a moment to thank my team for supporting the Execs in the ADM(IM) office. Thank you, Maj Akolkar, Ghislain Nambajimana, Cynthia Azzi, Sarom Van, Allison Meyers, Bethany Shaw and Stacey Francis for keeping the virtual office operational, organized and effective. Your dedication, patience and persistence is extraordinary! I’m happy to be part of this diverse team! – Patty Bennett


I’d like a shout-out to the managers in the ADM(IE) DESM (Environment & Sustainable Management): Kate Amyot, Scott Hamilton and Steve Sauveur along with their respective teams. Defence has by far the largest environmental footprint in government and your dedication to reducing our environmental footprint, work in producing the GoC flagship Defence Energy and Environment Strategy, and support in compliance to environmental legislation and regulations is commended. You work under tight deadlines with little resources and have managed to build a strong network with base environmental officers and stakeholders to get things done. You do this with grace, humility, and persevere through the rough patches we encounter. Yes I know we could do more, but I want you to focus on how much we have done. The glass is half full today. - Elise Godin


A big thank you goes out to the National Public Service Week (NPSW) team who helped make this year a great success! We accomplished so much in such a short amount of time which is truly the definition of team work. Thank you Quinn Abugov, Pierre Chevrier, Marianne Prigly, Dino Laplante, Monica Kolstein, Kimberly Sorfleet, Stefanie Lanoix, Louise Marin, Ghislain Nambajimana and Sarom Van for all of your hard work! - Christiana Cavazzoni, NPSW Champion


Shout-out to Matthew Lacroix, our rock. He always ensures that the very visible and sensitive files we receive regularly are handled professionally by answering questions from the media quickly, and working evenings and weekends to make it happen. Matt still somehow makes the time to grow the skills of a small team, while supporting all of his colleagues without hesitation. He is an incredibly caring supervisor and colleague. - ADM(IM)’s IM Group Communications Team


A gigantic thank you to Pierre Chevrier! Thank you for supporting me and the entire team during these difficult times. Your support is unwavering and truly appreciated. Your hard work, diligence and dedication have not gone unnoticed. Thank you! - Louise Marin


A big shout out to Stefanie Lanoix! She juggled so many projects at once that we thought she had a clone. Stefanie managed a great increase in activities that became more complex and demanding than ever. From our NOVA Awards ceremony, to International Day of Persons with Disabilities, town halls, National Public Service Week, and planning for Cyber Security Awareness Month and the Cyber Security Training Forum, Stefanie was a steady hand and led from a calm at the center of a storm. - ADM(IM)’s IM Group Communications Team


A big shout out to Cynthia Holmes! Corporate Communications is at the heart of the team, since it’s how we keep our people informed. With humour, insight and great collaboration, Cynthia provided the leadership to ensure people had the information they needed to work and participate in the life of the department. - ADM(IM)’s IM Group Communications Team

Sanya Chen is responsible for all things digital and in little time built an impressive skill set. She is a master at managing a large intranet presence, but also supporting the massive D365 project from its launch, supporting Defence Team personnel to continue working during the pandemic. Sanya is a well-loved and capable team player and a calm leader who is always available to help colleagues. - ADM(IM)’s IM Group Communications Team


I would like to give a virtual shout-out to Rachelle Fortin who is a graphic designer with ADM (PA). I asked for unusual designs for all of the VCDS L2s as part of an upgrade to the intranet pages. Rachelle went above board and created amazing graphics that will ensure each L2 has a banner that is modern and will uniquely identify each L2 while also managing to have a common look under the VCDS. – Denise Lemay


This shout-out goes to Louise Marin for taking such great care of our small but mighty team! Over more than a decade she’s empowered, enabled and supported this great group as unique individuals and as a tight team. We see your work, your caring and your sacrifice to keep us all happy, healthy and connected. Thanks Louise! - The MS Teams Live Events and IM Gp Communications Team.


This shout out is to all the staff of QL3 MMT CFLTC Borden. They have been working non-stop throughout the pandemic with students in house. Unable to work from home like the rest of the Cadre, they have dedicated numerous hours of overtime and personal time to ensuring the health and safety of the students and staff. Their positive attitudes and team camaraderie ensured the continuation of training for students waiting to start their careers as MMT’s. Morale was extremely important for not only the staff but the students who were often confined to Base with little to no social activities available. The QL3 staff took it upon themselves to find ways of keeping the students motivated and engaged from socially distanced movie nights to fun and challenging PT sessions. A special shout out to Sgt St-Jean the course director of this awesome team, for giving more of her time than is ever required or asked for. Her long hours made the QL3 successful in all aspects. Bravo Zulu to you all! - Sgt Therese Stark


Sending out a huge shout out to RPOU(W) HQ Engineering and Development Team, Jean-Olivier Berger, Andrew Gillese, Bill Marsh, WO Robinson, and Nicole Warren. Despite being a newer team, you all work out of your way and provide tremendous support to the region. Your efforts, each in your respective specialty area, are getting noticed and we thank you for that! - Dominique Robitaille


Shout-Out and happy National Public Service Week to the Regional Cadet Support Unit (Atlantic)’s Aircraft Maintenance Engineers. The team has been working hard throughout the pandemic to prepare the fleet of Air Cadet Flying Program gliders and tow planes for flying operations, and has been advancing projects that will improve the safety and efficiency of the shop, such as tool control and HAZMAT. Jeff, Bruce, Brian, Val, and Dan, you’re a pleasure to work with and we really appreciate the important work you do in support of Canada’s Cadet Program! - Maj Mike Hargreaves, Maj Nathan Daley, Capt Aaron Stephenson, and Sgt Christine Bell


A Big Virtual-Shout Out to Learning and Career Centre (LCC) Learning Assistants. They are the first point of contact for many clients and are the face of the LCCs, but few know the full scope of their duties. Although they also provide operational support to the Learning Advisors, many of their other duties are performed quite independently. They manage LCC positional mailboxes and respond to inquiries from across the country or triage them for response by other Learning personnel. They oversee systems and procedures with respect to the administration of: (1) the on-line LCC Course Calendar; (2) HRMS Enterprise Learning; (3) the LCC learning resources loan service; and (4) the design and distribution of regional and local promotional materials. They also provide training administration support to other HR practitioners, personnel from other DND training establishments, and external learning partners. Learning Assistants function as the LCC training coordinators, networking and harmonizing with other departmental training coordinators and sustaining relationships with outside learning providers in order to provide Service Excellence. Significantly, Learning Assistants are also tasked with creating, tracking and otherwise administering HRMS Enterprise Learning sessions on behalf of HR-Civ. Many Learning Assistant that are located on bases and wings are also responsible for communicating IT and infrastructure work requests and following up as required. We can all agree that our Learning Assistants do a lot for their clients, their colleagues and for the organization. To that list, we can now add the role of “producer”. Much like a television producer or a radio producer, our Learning Assistants work alongside our Learning Advisors, often in the shadows, providing real-time session support to facilitators in the delivery of virtual instructor led learning events. Over the past 15 months, our Learning Assistants have stepped up in a big way during the COVID pandemic to support new ways of delivering services to the Defence Team and for this they have my thanks and the thanks of their colleagues and clients that they help behind the scenes. Well done! - Brian Paziuk


A huge BRAVO! To the entire team at the Language Department, Royal Military College Saint-Jean! You quickly adapted your teaching to the many constraints involved in distance education; you innovated, shared, remained optimistic and connected with one another and your students. It wasn’t easy! You could have simply done the bare minimum, but it wasn’t in your nature to do so. This experience has transformed you into teachers who are even better equipped to offer interesting and motivating courses to our officer cadets. Édithe, you are an outstanding assistant: you continued to work just as effectively despite the distance and IT constraints. To one and all, Bravo Zulu! Continue to work as a team to ensure the success of our cadets! - Sara Trottier


I would like to thank Yann Boudreau, Michel St-Cyr, Martine Sanfaçon, François Marcil, France Poliquin and Francine Brazeau for the excellent support received with respect to 2 CDSG’s student project. In order to facilitate the arrival of students, they ensured that laptops were prepared in advance, that network and O-365 accounts were created and that PKI cards were activated.

I would particularly like to thank France Poliquin, who, on her own initiative, created a document detailing each step of the process, based on the garrison, and which will be used in the coming years.

Thanks to this excellent coordination, all cohorts were welcomed successfully. It goes without saying that when it comes to workforce renewal, which is identified as a priority for the CA, 2 Cdn Div and the SG, these individuals’ professionalism, collaboration and dedication greatly contributed to the success of the 2021 student project and streamlined the services of 2 CDSG in terms of IT for the students. - Brigitte Laviollette


Thank you Ernesto Demelo for your collaboration and team spirit. It is always a pleasure to work with you and your team. – Rutha Astravas


I would like to thank the 2nd Canadian Division Support Group. Your professionalism, speed and initiative enabled the Valcartier real property operations detachment to respond swiftly to an urgent IT requirement. Your actions made it possible for employees to continue their infrastructure management activities and thereby ensure sustainability. - Maj Stéphane Babin


A “Virtual Shout-Out” to the Internal Audit Practice Management Group within ADM(RS). The teams have lead behind the scenes (and sometimes in front!) to keep the DG Audit group functioning. This group has been instrumental in ensuring that:

All this work directly enables the Internal Audit group as a whole to support our L1 partners, the DM and the CDS in providing value-added, independent advice and assurance to the highest professional standards. Thank you to all Practice Management team members for your continued dedication to DGA and DND/CAF. - JEN M Director, Internal Audit Practice Management

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