Servest Celebrates with Sunnyboy Lebea – 15 Years of Excellence.
As a company that is in the business of people, Servest could not be more proud of one of its longest serving colleagues, Sunnyboy Lebea, who has been with the company for 15 years and who joined Servest just four years after it was founded in South Africa in 1999.
Visitors to the Servest Headquarters in Midrand always note that the front office of the company has a certain je ne sais quoi, however, it is only upon your second visit that you realise what that is – it is Sunnyboy’s bright smile and acknowledgement of you, by name, despite it only being your second visit. This is the stuff 5-Star hotels and other service industries dream of. Sunnyboy lives his profession by fully immersing himself in his job, which he does with the most admirable pride.
Prior to working at the front desk of the Servest Headquarters, Sunnyboy was assigned to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the oldest existing and largest stock exchange in Africa. As at 2016, its market capital was estimated at R14.5BN with 388 listings. This gives one an idea of the importance of such an institution and the environment in which there can be no margin for error or tardiness. The decision to move Sunnyboy, therefore, was not an easy one, but as a provider of integrated facilities management, which includes front-line security, CEO Steve Wallbanks believed that Servest needed to lead by example and that example is defined by the first impression one gets from a business, be it big or small. In the case of Servest, for him there was no better person for the job, than Sunnyboy.
Having come full circle, Sunnyboy prefers the interactive and friendly environment of the front desk to that of his previous roles in supervising security, at one point that included being a senior controller of 562 colleagues across 32 sites in South Africa, which was no easy feat. Sunnyboy says this was a very challenging time in his career and personal life, as the 12-hour shifts in which he had to manage duty rosters and incident reports, among others, did not have any room for mistakes and had to run like a regimented army barracks. It was also a time when Sunnyboy took over the parenting of his sister’s four children, the oldest of whom is now 22 years old.
He says moving from the ‘back office’ to the ‘front office’ is something he appreciates in his employer. Sunnboy says “my managers are mindful of me as a human being and not just as a worker and I appreciate that they have accommodated my changing needs.” I enjoyed being a national controller, however the timing of my new role could not have come at a better time, now that I am a little older, he winks.”
Farhaana Mohidien, Servest’s Group Head of Marketing says, “Sunnyboy is an asset to our business, his dedication to the job makes him a natural and authentic ambassador, whether he is at work or just at home with his family. His love of his job and the pride that he takes in working for Servest, makes him undeniably valuable to me, his colleagues and the Brand as a whole”, she says.
When asked what his future aspirations are, he says “I want to own my own security company and I particularly want to focus on hospitals, but I want to be hands-off and focus on my part-time great love, which is artistry in the form of singing and dancing.” It is therefore no surprise that Sunnyboy is such a persona that happily shares his art with all who walks through the doors of the Servest Headquarters.