Learning at Work Week 2020 Continues – Your Colleague Stories

Ryan started work for Midcounties as a Customer Service Assistant (CSA) in Food Retail at the age of 16. Fast forward 10 years and 2 apprenticeships later he is now a District Manager (DM).  Here he tells us more about his career and learning journey…

Talk me through your career at Midcounties

​I started as a CSA at the age of 16 in Bloxham Food. I always wanted more responsibility in my role and asked for more challenges up until the age of 18 when I could become a Team Leader. I went on various courses to improve and enhance my knowledge while also studying A-Levels & Personal Training at Sixth Form and College alongside working pretty much full time. I was promoted through to Store Manager with my first official appointment as Store Manager in Humber Road in 2014. Throughout my time as a Store Manager, I completed the Retail Management Level 3 and Level 4 course to continue to broaden my knowledge of all aspects of Retail, not just Food. I also began to develop my knowledge with help from my DM, Dave Richards who gave me extra tasks and I covered the District in his absence for annual leave etc.

Following this, I was offered the opportunity to run District 3 as a secondment while the recruitment process was ongoing for the role. I obviously jumped at the chance as this was a role I had always aspired to achieve in my career. Covid-19 has had a massive impact on the recruitment for the role and meant that I was seconded for nearly 7 months as I guided the District through what was the most difficult trading period many of us had ever experienced. All of the knowledge gained while doing this role made me confident in applying for the full-time role of District Manager and was delighted to be appointed into District 6! 

How have Apprenticeships supported you in your career path?

The apprenticeships really opened my eyes to what is going on in the world of Retail. Not just analysing Food Retail but broadening that knowledge to other areas which I had never experienced. I was able to learn and use leadership and coaching styles into my every day working routine which in turn raised the performance of the team around me. The biggest part for myself from the apprenticeship was the ability to put myself into uncomfortable positions that I had not done previously. It was only on very rare occasions that I had presented to large groups or groups of individuals that I did not know, the course gave me the perfect opportunity to put together a project and deliver to colleagues and others from outside of the business to develop my own presentation style and feel comfortable in that setting.

What would you advise others looking to take the next step? 

I would always recommend taking the opportunity of an apprenticeship to another colleague that has the opportunity. The knowledge and skill set I gained as a result of completing the course made me able to be innovative with my management styles and leadership of the team to reach the desired common goal. It also helped me to develop other individuals in my team to reach their career goals or at least set them on the right development path to understanding their future. It highlights training requirements in yourself that you may not have realised you even needed and also put you into situations that your current role does not put you into regularly or at all. I feel it played a large part in my career path to date and hopefully will continue to into the future.

Hear Sophie's journey below, developing herself and her career with a professional qualification and a buddy to support her learning and development.

Jack, a previous Support Services ‘Rising Star’ winner, has moved across functions within Midcounties, demonstrating how important developing transferable skills can be in progressing your career.

1) Tell us a bit about yourself…

My name’s Jack Abbey and I help manage IFS, our online software package. I joined the Society in March 2018 because I was looking for a step forward in my career, ideally in an organisation whose values I could share.

 

2) Tell us about your Midcounties career journey so far? 

I joined the Society as a Management Accountant working in Finance with the Funeral business which leaned on my prior accountancy training but exposed me to a great deal more, especially the systems we were using and how to make them work for us (and playing with an awful lot of spreadsheets). In particular, I began working with our IFS package, not always successfully.

Subsequently, the Society gave me the opportunity to manage a small team, this time working with Healthcare, Flexible Benefits, The Phone Co-op and our various head office functions. The sheer variety the Society offers is one of the things I have really enjoyed. This was my first time managing people and, while it was sometimes challenging, I can say without hesitation that working with them and seeing their achievements meant the world to me. My exposure to our various systems also widened significantly and I was able to do a lot more with IFS in particular than I had thought.

Although these roles were formally Finance, they allowed me to get a look at a fascinating variety of business activities. In 2020, I was given the chance to move to CIT and work with IFS full time across all of its functions. It’s a far cry from the regular cycle of management accounts and in practice, this has meant a crash course in IT, HR, Payroll, Project Management and the parts of Finance that I didn’t know so well. The skills and exposure from my earlier time at the Society have been critical in finding my feet.

 

3) What’s next for you? 

There’s still so much to learn and do in my current role that any long term goals seem very distant! What I have done so far in the society is a tiny slice of the roles available but has shown me that there are enough new areas to keep anyone busy for a very long time.

Matt is a member of our Board with a real passion for Co-operatives and the way in which they do business. Starting his career at our very own, The Phone Co-op and becoming a Board member at the age of 25. He went on to set up his own business which was the first UK online subscription company for Craft Ale.

Have a read of his story and some of the tips and tricks here has gained along the way.

Click here to read his story