Read Lianne's interview to see what she thinks about working with us.
I initially joined the Pensions Team in July 2017 as a Pensions Administrator and when I saw the job advertised, the first thing I did was to have a look on the website and read up about the company. I was thoroughly impressed. A lot of the key guiding principles were values that I believe in and aspire to. Also, the fact that the company has Customer Service Excellence accreditation and has an outstanding performance record across the network made me feel excited to think this was a company I could potentially work for. All this was before I had even read about the employee benefits, which really are great. When everything was stacked up it felt like it was an opportunity too good to miss.
Where do I begin? No two days are the same and everyday throws down a new challenge. As a Senior member of the team, it is my responsibility to help and mentor the other administrators with any problems or queries they have and if I don’t know the answer to give them I’ll go out of my way to find it! Me and my colleague, Kelly, also deal with all the emails that come into the Pensions team inbox, which can get very, very busy. Every request for information, letter we send out, calculation we run through the system is done and double-checked before it leaves the office; so, I spend a lot of time checking the administrators’ work to see if anything has been missed. We also travel to Tewksbury every month to give a presentation at the Pre-Retirement Course and conduct one-to-ones with the delegates and answer any of their questions about their own retirement.
For me there is so much I love about working here, I couldn’t pick just one thing. I love the fact I work in such a busy department, because it means there is never a moment I am sat twiddling my thumbs. My colleagues are fantastic; I couldn’t ask for a better bunch of people to work to work with. My managers are fantastically supportive and I don’t ever have to worry about raising a query with them. And cake. It’s always someone’s birthday in the department, so there is always cake around!
The company provides a really positive environment to work in. Even when I was a new employee I feel respected within my team and this for me is particularly important as I was appointed to a senior role after only being with the company for eight months.
Things are always changing; for us possibly more so that other departments, as a lot of our work is governed by legislative rulings and guidelines. Our managers are great at ensuring we are well-informed and kept up-to-date on key issues and the communication between the team and management is great. We aim to provide the absolute best possible service for all our members, both active and deferred, and are responsible for the administration of over 30,000 pensions. Of course, when dealing with such vast numbers, small mistakes can happen; we are all human after all and not completely infallible. Since I started here, someone has said to me ‘We are not measured by our mistakes, but how we deal with them when we find them’ and I 100% believe this to be the case here. Taking responsibility and being accountable for your own actions goes a long way to earning the respect and trust of both your team and managers; and I have no qualms in broaching any subject with them on both a personal and work-related level.
It might sound clichéd but hard-work and dedication. If you have ambition; are driven and are capable, it will be noticed by your supervisors/managers and they will support your professional development.
I feel quite lucky to have joined the Pensions team when I did, as there has been quite of lot of movement within the team with someone retiring and a couple of the team going off on maternity leave. That reflects the dedication the team and supervisors had to my learning and development as without them I wouldn’t have been in the position to have been considered for the role. It is my responsibility to ensure the newest members of the team receive the same training that I was lucky enough to have received.
As previously mentioned, but without doubt, becoming a Senior Pensions Administrator. For me it’s more a personal achievement; that my managers identified my potential and felt that even after a short length of time, I would be suitable for the job.
For me the biggest challenge was starting a new career. Under some guise, every job I’ve had I’ve worked with numbers, but that is about as much as my previous jobs have had in common with this one! I’m a very determined person and was not going to be defeated. The thought of a new challenge was exciting and I was very much ready to take it on.
Just do it! Obviously, I can’t speak for everyone, but I definitely feel that working here is a privilege and it has been the best decision I could have possibly made. I have never been treated as well, or felt more valued as an employee, as I do here. Fill out that application form and give it your all.