HR Consultant Review

I am an existing member of staff and I undertake a Level 5 Apprenticeship alongside my day to day role and so I take 20% of my working week off to complete my course. I am a consultant supporting the business and employees in relation to business change and restructuring - managing the impacts and processes related to this.

Managing an apprenticeship alongside my role has meant I have needed to plan and manage my time. It has also developed my drive and resilience. The course itself so far has provided awareness of how HR and the organisation operates both within Santander and outside of it, and has increased my understanding of the factors impacting HR and my role. Due to the focus on skills and behaviours, it allows me to personally reflect on my interactions and link this to my long term development plan. In terms of technical skills, I don't feel I have taken anything away in this area yet but likely to in other modules such as Employment Law.

The content is interesting and I am able to make links to my role and the organisation. There are a group of other HR colleagues undertaking the programme which is good. I find the programme is challenging in terms of the assignments set but still interesting. I find that at times it is difficult to manage the programme alongside my day job at times but understand the support available to me.

I think the webinars are an appropriate length and the content provides enough detail. There was a Santander Apprenticeship induction and BPP ran several sessions to understand the course and systems. Dates and deadlines are clearly communicated up front. I think there should be more focus on how to write assignments before attempting a draft as there is a lack of guidance in this area. In terms of technology there have been a few instances where modules and their content haven't appeared on the site on time to prepare which could be improved.

I am required to take 20% of my week off for study, my employer has supported me to take a day a week to do this and lets me work flexibly from home. Although, sometimes this is difficult with volumes within the team but this is an open conversation between myself and my managers. My team are supportive and provide me with guidance where I need it.

I have regular calls with a coach to talk about my progress and reflect on this and my manager is invited to calls with my coach to understand my progress and areas to work on. I feel these calls could be more detailed to draw out learnings further. My course lecturers are available to speak with by email and provide feedback on draft assignments although the detail of these depends on the lecturer and could be more consistent.

I feel it has given me drive to complete to the best standard as I have been required to create a development plan through the course which I have worked on with my manager and is linked to my long term development and career plan. It has also supported me to reflect on my progress and my skills/behaviours to enhance my current role.

There are a number of employee networks (women in business/LGBT+ etc) who run events regularly which can be development, awareness or social events. There is a sports and social group however I am not involved in this so am not sure on what is provided - this varies dependent on the location. Also, there is a gym on site.

Yes

There is a lot of opportunities to get involved at Santander and has a positive inclusive culture - I find colleagues are very supportive both within your own function and others, wanting to collaborate to better the organisation and support employees and customers. Santander invests in its people with various development opportunities such as these apprenticeships for internal staff as I have always wanted to do this qualification but wasn't sure if this would be possible.

Understand Santander's values and behaviours as these are key to the culture and how we operate. Think about how you can continually add value to the bigger picture and seek out opportunities to do this and support others. Always make sure you have your customers in mind whoever this may be and think about commercial impacts.