Blog

Where did the time go? I’ve just turned 30 and already I’ve been here for over 13 years.
I started working at Telefónica O2 back in 1998 when the company was B.T Mobile, spending five years working in Finance mainly working in the accounts payable team, then moving into the HR Resourcing team in November 2003 where I’ve been involved in so many opportunities to develop my skills and knowledge over the last 7.5 years.
From assessing at recruitment events, supporting the implementation of a new recruitment system or  working on the temp to perm process converting a large volume of temporary staff in retail onto permanent contracts, I’ve been involved with everything at some point!
I love the variety of my role and the opportunities that I’ve been given to work on so many different projects. The interaction that I get from the people I work with day to day whether I’m dealing with hiring managers, candidates or the wider HR team, it’s the people who really make working at Telefónica such a great experience and the reason why I’ve been here for so long.
Katy

Many recruitment metrics are based on tactical achievements such as time to hire and cost of hire.  These are of course important but should not be the only consideration in building an effective resourcing team let alone an effective business.
We all passionately believe that the human assets that a business have will grow in value over time whilst other assets will depreciate but how do we track this?
A good hire over time will increase their productivity, efficiency, and accountability so adding more and more business benefit
So we first have to define what we mean by a quality hire in our business and then look at ways to measure this over a period of time.
We are just starting this journey as a resourcing function and are keen to link in and learn from others with the same mindset.

Being one of the 1880 winners is fantastic. It awards people across the business for outstanding service for O2 showing that we go the extra mile for our customers and turn them into fans.I won the award for helping a visually impaired customer who wanted to return his handset as it didn’t suite his needs. The customer was housebound and unable to return his phone by the usual means. I helped him by speaking to a courier and arranging for the handsets to be collected and returned to the correct department. I gave the customer a call after this was done to make sure he is happy with the service and if I could help him with anything else. He expressed that he would love to get a new handset but fears by doing this it would cause problems. He requires touch&talk software due to his disability which is not usually a feature on the majority of handsets. I went through all the options with him and after choosing a handset for him I then got the software he needed added to the handset. The Customer received the handset but struggled to get to grips with the menus and features of his new device. I then went to his house, showed him how to use the phone along with great tips. I also explained to him that I noticed he was paying for numbers which would be free by taking out or O2 home phone. He switched his home phone account to O2 and can now call numbers regularly free of charge.
After this I was nominated for the 1880 award by my line manager. A week later I was chosen as an 1880 winner. I got a cake and £1880 of holiday vouchers! I was also recognised across the business and received congratulations across the business from people I have never met before who just wanted to say well done. Even Ronan left me a message “Gareth showed great dedication and real understanding of his customer’s needs here.  By sticking with the situation and rising to every challenge along the way, Gareth helped this customer to achieve something which many of us take for granted – a phone that simply works for him. Brilliant work, thank you.” What more can you ask for!
So what am I doing with the vouchers I hear you ask? Well my girlfriend and I are going to go to Las Vegas! I can’t wait.
Vegas Baby!

Gareth