Victorian Excellence Awards Winners announced
Four outstanding Victorian managers have tonight been named as the best in the state in the Australian Institute of Management’s annual Excellence Awards, held at Maia, Harbor Esplanade.
For the past 22 years, the AIM Excellence Awards have been uncovering some of the unseen heroes in Australian business, government and community groups.
The awards recognise outstanding leadership in a range of industries through categories such as Not for Profit Manager of the Year, Young Manager of the Year as well as a Manager of the Year category.
Odell Minon was named Young Manager of the Year for his work as a Managing Consultant with Litmus Group, a management consulting firm.
Mr Minon has proven to be an incredibly valuable member of Litmus by operating with a high level of authenticity and a keen sense of humour he’s honed through his other budding career as a stand-up comedian.
“I’ve found that while comedy has definitely helped me with my public speaking, it’s been invaluable for building rapport and trust with colleagues and customers,” Mr Minon said.
Guide Dogs Victoria General Manager, Sandro Cirianni was the winner of the Not for Profit Manager of the Year after steering the traditional style charity into a professional service organisation whilst maintaining its core values.
“This award is great recognition for the way the team and I have worked together to see how we can do things a bit differently and be more innovative,” Mr Cirianni said.
“I really enjoy working collaboratively with people to see how they like to operate so that we can get the best out of them for the benefit of the whole organisation.”
Bakers Delight franchisee, Tim Livingston has been named the Owner Manager of the Year after a stellar year for his bakery in The Pines shopping centre.
Mr Livingston has managed to grow sales by 25% focusing on product quality and great service with a smile, often having customer’s order ready before they enter his store.
“I put my success down to good old fashioned hard work and that I’m not afraid to try new things,” Mr Livingston said.
The 2015 Victorian Manager of the Year category was won by Carlos Schafer, Executive General Manager Industry and Training, Open Universities Australia.
In his role, Mr Schafer oversees the operations of the Open Training Institute, E3Learning and Corporate Sales for the entire OUA Group.
Mr Schafer has said that while he still doesn’t know who nominated him, he was very honoured to have been recognised with the award.
“This award for me is a great opportunity to inspire other people in management roles,” Mr Schafer said.
“I put my own success down to having relationships with people and caring for them as this is how you inspire them and bring them on the journey with you.”
The winners of the Victorian Excellence Awards will now have an opportunity to vie for the ultimate prize at the National Excellence Awards in Melbourne on October 16.