How did you get to where you are now?
I was a manager of a local retail store and felt that I’d taken things as far as I could in that role. I wanted to try something different. To try and find a job that would enable me to develop new skills (at that point I was 47) and give me the chance to build a career. That’s when I saw an advert for Halifax Retail Contact Centres. I knew someone who worked there who was very positive about the place, plus Halifax was a big name and I felt they would give me the chance to learn new things.
I knew nothing about banking so it was a bit of a leap of faith when I initially applied for the position of mortgage advisor. As it turned out that particular role was going to be based in Leeds, which wasn’t ideal. Luckily, I was then offered the chance to join as a customer service consultant and I jumped at it (even though I had no idea what I’d be doing!).
What’s your role?
I started out in the savings servicing team, where I helped customers with any queries they had with our range of savings products. Then I moved to the bank accounts sales team. Here, I talk customers through the application process for opening a bank account or savings account. Where appropriate, I also try to sell them the benefits of some of our other products such as personal loans or one of our credit cards.
Going through the application process over the phone is much quicker than doing it in the branch. It also frees up branch staff to deal with other customers while I’m helping to open a new account on the phone.
There’s a lot of variety in the work. I could be opening a web saver account one minute (I’m only one of 36 who can do it, out of 120) and the next call could be about an ISA or one of the new children’s savings accounts that we offer.
What training did you receive?
I’ve been here around three and a half years, so my training was a bit different to what new starters get today. Initially I spent three weeks being taught all about the systems we’d be using and the different products Halifax offer. It was quite intense, especially for someone who had no knowledge of computers. But the trainers were great and recognised that people had different levels of knowledge and adjusted their training accordingly.
After that I spent two weeks in what they call the development centre. It’s a separate area in the contact centre, set away from the other floors, where new recruits are eased into taking live calls. It was a bit scary but whenever I had a problem or wasn’t sure what to say to a customer there was always someone on hand to help.
The training doesn’t stop once you’ve started taking calls either. Every month you sit down with your team manager to go through what you’ve achieved. If you’re hitting targets you’ll discuss where you’re going right and how to keep doing it. If you’re not, you’ll look at ways to get back on track. This might involve listening to another (perhaps more experienced) member of the team to see how they approach calls.
Describe the culture
It’s the sort of place where people are willing to listen to what you have to say no matter what level you’re at. It’s also a good place if you want to learn new skills, I mean look at me, I’m 51 now but still picking up things and adding to my knowledge all the time. If you show enough ambition they’ll help you achieve your potential.
The teams are all very close knit. It’s more like working with friends really. If you do move teams you’re always welcomed by your new team mates and given a good send off by those you leave.
It’s a lot of fun too. I’m part of the planet Halifax committee who meet once a week with the purpose of making the contact centre a great place to work. We come up with lots of ideas to make the contact centre environment more engaging and then run these past teams on the sales floors.
Ideas range from a Valentines Day card competition and pumpkin carving to talent contests. One that sticks in the mind was a ‘stars in their eyes’ event. This ran for roughly a month with heats, semi finals and the final itself. It created quite a buzz around the contact centre and the winners got £500.
What type of person does well here?
I don’t think there’s just one type of person. I mean we have people from all ages and backgrounds at the contact centre. I think the most important thing is that you’re a people person. Someone who gets on well with others.
Personally, I recommend the place to all my friends and family. At the moment, my son, daughter and one of my nieces work here. If you’ve just come out of college or university or, like me, you’re looking for something a bit different this could be the perfect place. As long as you’re confident and willing to knuckle down you can get a good wage and plenty of training.
"It’s the sort of place where people are willing to listen to what you have to say no matter what level you’re at."
What sort of benefits do you get?
There’s plenty to choose from but if I had to pick any out I’d say we’ve always had a good share save scheme and now the company has decided to give out free shares every year too. The amount you get depends on your salary level. You can also pay a little bit out of your salary to get discounted healthcare, through BUPA, for you and your family.
Where can your ambition take you?
The natural progression is from customer service consultant to team manager and then onto sales and service manager. You can also go into other areas depending on the skills you have. For example, you could take on a training role for other customer service agents or perhaps you’ve got a background in IT and could take a role which would make the most of those skills. Whatever your ambition is there are always opportunities for development.
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