Insignia News
Winson Group Graduate Conference 2019 Recap
Last weekend the Winson Group graduates made their way down to SeaWorld Resort for the first graduate conference of 2019. As part of the two-year Winson Group graduate program, graduates from both Signet and insignia attend two conferences per year. Each conference is centred around a different topic or area of the business. This conference was a new topic for the program focusing on Operations and Finance.
Throughout the morning the graduates listened intently to three presentations from senior stakeholders across the Winson Group. Josh Annells, Winson’s General Manager of Operations spoke on how his experiences led him to a career in operations, what operations entails and how it is incorporated into every part of a business.
A favourite from previous conferences, Andrew Little returned to speak on the role finance plays in a business and how important it is to understand finance within different departments. Lastly, Chris Egerton-Vernon, Procurement and Inventory Manager for insignia shared his journey from sales and account management into procurement, and how being open to pursuing internal opportunities can both push you out of your comfort zone and help build your career.
At the conclusion of the presentations, the graduates put their learnings to practice in a supply chain simulation. Channelling their inner Lego Master, they were tasked with constructing a Lego plane, however not every team member had all the information required for the completion of the task. One person could view the instructions (procurement), one person could communicate the instructions (warehousing), one person could construct the plane (manufacturing), and one team member supervised the team’s progress and advised only when something was wrong, not what was wrong (finance). The team with the Lego plane most closely resembling the full task brief took home the win.
The day wasn’t over yet - forming four teams the graduates embarked on a scavenger hunt around SeaWorld. During the hunt each team had to locate different attractions around the theme park and take photographic evidence as well as answer a number of questions along the way. In end the victorious team was Team Shark.
As the sun went down over the resort, the graduates gathered over dinner to celebrate the successes of the day. This conference saw a record nine graduates complete the program, including insignia graduate Molly Faulkner. We would like to congratulate you on graduating from the program and look forward to watching your career progress within insignia and into the future.
