Team Leader Review

Manage a team of 13 people who take calls from customers of our clients as we provide access and service of our online products. Tasks involve performance management, personal development support, training, coaching and performance feedback. I manage the relationship between my team and the client managers too so this involves communicating updates and performance results to them as well as feeding back updates to my team. Part of my role is around process improvement, so I also work alongside others in Experian to improve how we do things for customers too.

I've learnt lots since doing the CMDA. I have more confidence when dealing with senior leaders within my organsation because my knowledge of business strategy, operations management and SHRM have increased and this has led me to a greater understanding of how I fit in with my organisation. I also really enjoy learning about a theory and then seeing it in action at work, or recognising the way we work is based upon a particular model (such as Ulrich's HRM model).

I love it. I think because I am driven to learn more I get on extremely well with the subject matter because it is relevant in so many ways to the work that I am doing day to day. It is stretching too, none of the work I am required to carry out or complete is easy, so I do have to dedicate quite a lot of time to my studies but it's worth it to see how far I've come in my understanding over the last couple of years.

I feel it is quite well organised. Like in any organisation there could be improvements, such as communication could be better, but overall I have no real concerns. I would like as much notice on future modules as possible so I can plan annual leave etc around submission dates, but this feedback has been provided to QA and they are better at this now.

I feel I am supported by my employer in some ways, but more in the way they leave me to get on with it. I am permitted a study day once per week, and since I've received this things have been a lot easier to stay on top of. I haven't really heard from anyone in HR since the start of the apprenticeship, so from that perspective things could be better.

There is quite a lot of support availble to me if I seek it out. Such as the ACE team who can provide people with a 1-2-1 session or a live training session on academic skills etc., but also my skills coach mkakes himself available when I need to see him.

100% better. Just by knowing more about a certain subject means that a new world of understanding opens up to you. A few years ago I had no real idea what my senior leaders were talking about when they spoke about Business Strategy or ROI, bottom line or balance sheet. Now I know more about this it massively helps in meetings and when things change at work. I can see things from my SLT point of view now whereas before I just didn't understand why we did things the way we do.

We have in the past had department wide parties and since lock down there have been a few engagement activities to get involved in. This is more difficult now, and I know Experian are trying to promote volunteering in the community right now but I'm not sure how this is going to work.

Yes

Its a good place to work. People are friendly, most want you to succeed and they offer things like apprenticeships that stretch your skill set. There is an annual share save scheme too and the pay isn't all that bad either. If you like data its probaly a good place to work.

Have the right sort of qualifications. Be persistent, the onboarding isn't the greatest but once you're in you're in. Most interviews are competency based so come prepared with lots of recent work examples to talk about, and unless you work in Service it can be quite corporate and serious so come prepared with that in mind.