Alexis A.

Pensions administrator to Lead Business Analyst

I started my career with Standard Life (now Phoenix) at the age of 18. I moved around the business gaining insight into different roles before finding my current role approx 16 years ago. In my current role no two days are ever the same.

I manage a number of Business analysts to deliver change.

I currently manage a number of Business Analysts to help to deliver large scale projects within the company ensuring we have the right people to deliver a quality service to the business units we support. Managing and planning the expectations of senior stakeholders, third parties and internal end users feeding into the Project Manager/s to ensure we deliver to time and budget. The project i can be involved in vary in size, complexity and value to the business we are delivering for. Stakeholder management is a key attribute together with great Teamwork and softer skill to deal with individuals i manage.

The variety of projects and stakeholder engagement.

No two days are ever the same working on Projects. Moving from one project to another allows me to widen my stakeholder engagement skills and learn about new things every day. All stakeholders have different expectations, so I find it a challenge to work out with new ones their preferred method of engagement. You never know which projects you will be allocated to, and the variety keeps me interested in my job. Every new project feels like a new start in a new job and helps to ensure you are never disengaged as you need to try to form new working relationships to deliver the end goal.

The opportunities are there should you wish to seek them.

I started as a Pensions Administrator when I first joined the company. Since then, I have worked in Finance, Mortgages, Testing and then onto Analysis where I became a Lead managing others to develop in their role. The company is large, and opportunities are presented regularly to allow you to try out jobs you may have an interest in until you find the right job for you. The company also supports staff in life changing events allowing me to go part time and then when the kids are older to increase my hours to ensure I have the right work life balance.

Introduce of an Interactive Voice Recognition system to the company

I was part of a team to introduce an Interactive Voice Recognition system into Standard Life Bank which reduced the headcount to deal with mundane/repetitive customer requests allowing the Customer Service Representatives to handle more complex calls with customers and the solicitors we engaged with. The implementation went so well we were recognised and awarded a Customer Service Innovation Award up against other leading Pension, Assurance and Banking providers. The Interactive Voice Recognition system was then introduced to the wider Pension and Assurance side of the business resulting in huge Customer Service Representative efficiencies and a better customer service provision.