Maiyah Hill: Investing in Growth at Covia

Empowering others to be the best versions of themselves has always been important to me. My first year at Covia has given me the opportunity to put that principle into action – relaunching training programs, further developing resources for Team Members, and collaborating with a wide range of talented professionals.

A Passion for Development

I’ve always been passionate about learning and development – not just in my professional career, but in my personal life as well. As a first-generation college student, I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus on industrial organization. Additionally, my goal of being a lifelong learner encouraged me to pursue an MBA which I am currently in the process of earning. During my undergraduate years, I was first introduced to the manufacturing industry. I worked as a press operator, maintaining and working the machines that pressed t-shirts. Once I earned my bachelor’s degree, I worked with the management of my previous company to develop a new role that better suited my qualifications. Through my new role, I laid the foundation for several processes such as training, recruitment, and onboarding. It was my first experience working in talent acquisition and development, and I realized that this type of role is exactly what I was looking for. It gave me the opportunity to use the skills I developed during my undergrad and the ability to help those around me grow. Over time I transitioned to another talent acquisition role at a different company. This role was more limiting in scope – only focusing on one element of the employment funnel. I felt that I couldn’t fully utilize my skillset, so I went searching for a company that was more aligned with my abilities. That’s when I found Covia. I started at Covia a little under a year ago as a talent development and learning systems generalist. This position was recently revamped – giving me the opportunity to make it my own. In this role, I am responsible for relaunching and administrating our digital learning management system (LMS). This includes discovering valuable courses and training content that can be used by Team Members to learn and grow. These courses can range from accountability and effective delegating to lessons involving digital tools and more. I partner with others across the organization, including legal and operations, to make sure Team Members have a diverse range of learning materials that can help them grow. Part of my role includes providing technical support and assistance to Team Members who are uncertain or need more help accessing the available resources. I like to think that the main goal of my position is to help people find the right resources they need to thrive.

Project Highlight: Polaris Learning Management System (LMS)

There are a few major accomplishments that stand out from my first year at Covia. The project that I am most proud to have worked on was the relaunching of the Polaris LMS. We finished phase one of the rollout last year, launching the LMS and providing a variety of resources for Team Members. We are currently in phase two of this project as we work to unlock new parts of the system like gamification, certificates, and social collaboration. Our goal is to develop continued benefits and ways to improve accessibility of the LMS to entice Team Members to make learning an active part of their professional development. Additionally, we plan to launch new learning paths that go beyond individual courses in order to provide a more holistic training program for the Covia team. My experience with this project has highlighted the complexities of launching an LMS for a company of Covia’s size. This has been an exciting challenge to find different avenues to reach Team Members at every level – showing the importance of accessibility and eliminating barriers to training resources.

A Collaborative Future

Working at Covia has been one of the most unique and exciting experiences of my professional career. Over the past year, I have seen a lot of growth as the organization continues to evolve and spark new and exciting learning opportunities. I am thrilled to see what comes next as Covia builds and expands on a wide range of projects. What I am most looking forward to is how engagement and collaboration continue to develop. I am excited at the opportunity to launch large collaborative projects that engage Team Members at every level to ensure their voices and ideas are brought to fruition. I can’t wait to get to a place where Team Members can help develop training modules as they grow their skills and abilities. As someone who is still starting out in their career and plotting the path I plan to take in life, I am excited to see more Team Members like me join the organization. There is a lot of potential for growth at Covia and I am happy to be a part of it.