Meet Sevana Ganes, RCL FOODS’ National SHERQ Manager who believes that has found true purpose in her career

Sevana Ganes is RCL FOODS’ National Safety, Health, Environment, Risk, and Quality (SHERQ) manager. Her role at RCL FOODS is vital and she has a clear goal and ambition to do that little MORE to make a meaningful impact, but although her passion is clear, she hadn’t always been so sure of her purpose.

“I have always been passionate about working with people, and to have a career that is innovative, adds value and makes a difference. Needless to say, my initial path was not doing that for me, and I quickly did a shot left and was introduced to the SHERQ industry very early on. During the first few years I knew that working within the SHERQ industry was what I wanted to do and I made a conscious decision to grow myself with a clear goal in mind,” explains Sevana. Her drive to improve and grow her skills has resulted in three qualifications in Sevana’s repertoire and a fourth on the way.

Having realised what she wanted to do, Sevana began her SHERQ career as an intern and moved up through entry level and middle management in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Through her growing experience, Sevana learnt that she wanted to focus on strategic SHERQ initiatives and her current position at RCL FOODS enables her to do just that.

She finds her job fulfilling because each day is different. “Definitely no monotony – every day is unique and that’s why I love it. There is no routine, each day brings its own challenges and excitements which drives me to apply my knowledge and experience in the best way I know how. A typical day would involve driving customer centric initiatives, systems and supplier management, stakeholder and team engagements, compliance and risk reviews for each SHERQ discipline and site visits to name just a few,” she explains. Among the daily challenges, the past few have been due to COVID-19 and ensuring RCL FOODS employees are safe both physically and mentally, and having shortages of essential PPE and more didn’t help: “having a worldwide shortage of PPE, medical equipment and an overwhelmed health and Covid testing system, created additional challenges for our emergency preparedness, contingency plans and our ability to operate effectively.”

Still, despite the challenges of her job, Sevana finds it incredibly fulfilling. For Sevana, RCL FOODS’ collaborative environment, the opportunity to add value, and the ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance all make it worthwhile. One of the most memorable moments of her career at RCL FOODS was the 2019 World Food Day sandwich-making world record. “Apart from us breaking the record, it was especially rewarding being part of an initiative that focused on giving back to the community. A cause I hold dear to my heart.” Her drive for kindness and innovation is what sets Sevana apart.

She is the embodiment of RCL’s ‘do that little more’ outlook. For Sevana, doing that little more looks like being authentic, inspiring greatness, listening actively and being kind every day, and we couldn’t agree more.