Blog

I joined O2 in April 2006 and came from a massive corporate bank, I had left as I was fed up with the lack of development for my role and was feeling frustrated. I had been in the job for nearly 3 years and knew my role inside out; a new role was a seriously scary prospect! 

True to O2’s People Promise I received a warm welcome to the company and had a fabulous training group and we all moved into the Corporate Customer Service Department together. Soon I was taking calls and getting stuck in to customer queries. I really enjoyed my time in Corporate and had two great managers, both who where really supportive of my desire to learn new skills. I was encouraged to take on extra responsibilities and was always given the support I needed.  

I moved away from Corporate in January 2008 as I was ready to develop and fancied the new challenge of the Recruitment Team, I loved the new role as it let me keep the aspect of customer service I loved, namely dealing with people or in this case candidates along with all sorts of new things to learn. I have even been able to pursue studies outside of work with full support from O2 and really feel like I am gaining skills for life.  

At O2 I have always felt like an individual and have always felt valued, it’s such a different experience from any other employer I’ve had, plus I get the bonus of a brilliant staff tariff and discounts for all my family – needless to say we are all fans!

Helen - Recruitment Assistant

I’ve been with O2 since January 2006 and one of my observations regarding the company is that it is always willing to invest in developing its people and give them opportunities to grow, no matter what their level in the business.

 I had a great opportunity last summer when I was invited to attend a management development programme in Barcelona.  As O2 is part of the Telefónica Group, this was part of a programme being run internationally for individuals from across the globe.

 The fact that the course was in Barcelona was a bonus - we did manage to visit a couple of bars during the week although there was more work than play!

It gave me an opportunity to meet with colleagues from other parts of Telefónica and learn much more about their country and their part of the business.  The standard of everyone else’s English skills also put the four Brits, including myself, to shame as our Spanish beyond saying thank you and ordering a drink.

 We all learnt alot about ourselves and each other and, although the week was exhausting, it helped me to think about how to develop my career further.

 I guess my advice would be, always grab these opportunities with both hands - sometimes going on a training course can be nerve wracking and pushes you out of your comfort zone.  However, you always learn something about yourself and usually have some fun along the way.

Fiona

This time last year I was given the opportunity to work on a project with recruitment and training whilst in my role as Senior Branch Manager. I was the Recruitment champion for my Area at the time and had a lot of experience with recruitment within my role. I was looking to develop my Management style as well as taking on a different role within the business to enhance my knowledge. 

I was the only person from the Retail stores that was asked to work on this project which made me realise other people in the business recognised my talent, it was a great feeling!  I received very good feedback from the Regional Training Manager. This prompted me to apply for a secondment position within the Training team later on in the year. And I was successful! I’ve now been working as a Trainer for over six months and it’s great, I love it!

I believe that O2 has made very good use of my abilities and my talent. They have developed me into a better overall Manager. It has also made me far more aware of just how important it is to develop our people and look for their potential!

It has given me the confidence to deliver training sessions which was one of my areas of improvement as a Senior Branch Manager. Due to this secondment I believe that my career with O2 has taken a different course and I am looking to see what opportunities may lie ahead for me in the Training Team.  

I am not getting any younger and having been given the chance at this stage of my career has given great insight into what I am capable of and what direction I would like to go.

Well done O2!

Steve

Senior Branch Manager seconded into the Training Team