As part of our International Women’s Day celebrations, we sat down with our new learning and development manager, Kelly to discuss women in business, how S&G celebrate their staff, and how we support the women in our organisation to reach their career goals.
Could you tell us a little about how you became the L&D manager at S&G?
At school I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be a teacher or accountant, but either way I wanted a career in either banking or learning and development. I sort of stumbled into banking at 19 as a mortgage arrears collector which gave me the drive to start a career in an industry where I would spend the next 20 years.
I’ve always had a passion for helping others thrive and develop, so took the step into learning & development, initially as a leadership development coach and then more generalist L&D which brought me to S&G!
Could you tell us a little about what attracted you to S&G?
When I was approached about the role at S&G, I had no idea who the company were or what they did, but I was immediately drawn to the company’s drive, desire and commitment to developing its people.
After doing a little research, I could see the company’s values were aligned with my own and the more time I spent with the team through interviews and visits prior to my official start date, I could see that the personality of the business and the culture fit with my own, and I felt part of the team even before I joined.
What steps do you take to nurture talent and encourage young women within the company to be ambitious with their career goals?
I’m fortunate to have worked with some great leaders who have seen the benefits of developing talent and have therefore supported me on my journey.
At S&G, we see career progression as a ladder. Whenever I talk to anyone about next steps, I explain that not every move you make at S&G should be a step up the rungs of the ladder. Going sideways into different avenues can help you gain even more knowledge and experience to help you on your way up.
My advice to women at any point in their career is don’t worry if you don’t know what your long-term career goal is at this moment in time. Think about future possibilities and explore anything you find interesting or exciting.
Do you have any initiatives within the organisation to support women in particular with further education?
I’ve only been at S&G for a little over 2 months, but it’s been clear from day one that there is a real drive for learning and development across all areas of the business. One of the key things that I’ll be focussing on over the next few months is understanding more around what the learning needs are across the company so that I can then start to look at solutions for these. This will also include planning for the future and our next generation of team leaders, team managers, and technical specialists.
A goal of mine is to ensure any women within the company who want to undertake additional learning and progress their careers knows that there are resources and a huge amount of support available for them to do so. I am keen to help guide anyone who is just starting out in the world of work, and support those who might be making a shift in careers and who’s goals may have changed.
Could you tell us about any mentorship or leadership programmes you offer for women within the company?
Having been on the receiving end of poor managers and seeing the impact that this has on an individual and a team, I am excited to work with team leaders over the next few months to support their development to allow them to be the best version of themselves for their role.
Work will also start towards the end of the year on identifying talent within the company and developing our people so that when roles become available in the future, we have in-house employees with knowledge, skills, and experience to apply for these.
Finally, I believe mentoring is key and is something we’ll look at in the longer-term learning and development strategy so that those looking for support on their career journey have an impartial person they can sit down with to understand next steps and actions.
How do you recognise future talent within the organisation?
The people best placed to spot future talent are line managers. They’re working with their teams day in and day out, and sitting down with them each month to discuss career goals and ambitions. With that in mind, we’ll be dedicating time to develop team leader skills to ensure the career conversations form a regular part of theirs 1-2-1 discussions and that personal development plans are in place that reflect these conversations.
How do you ensure all voices are heard within your company?
One of the joys of working in a small company is that there is always a feel for what is happening in the business. You’re a person and not a number, and we make it our mission to speak to everyone regularly so can tell when things are working well and when things aren’t quite right.
As a business we promote a culture that welcomes feedback, both positive and negative, and encourage all staff to submit suggestions for changes to the way in which we work to benefit both the business, the customer, and the client.
Outside of this, there are lots of ways in which we seek feedback. Whether that’s formal surveys that we complete on a regular basis, or feeding back after a training event, we make sure that what we’re doing is working for everyone. We have created an environment where each of our team members feels safe and confident letting us know their thoughts and feelings surrounding the work we’re doing, and the company as a whole.
