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My alarm goes off at…
…earlier than I would like! I’m not a morning person so I really enjoy a coffee and a little peace and quiet — if my crazy puppy allows — before checking my emails in preparation for the day ahead.
My typical day entails…
…it’s varied, and that’s why I love my role. I am never bored and, although still mainly working from home, I have a great deal of interaction with others.
I was drawn to the fantastic opportunity to be able to shape the ethos of the team
My main focus is my management team and ensuring they feel supported and enthused to motivate their teams, who are taking calls and working on tasks. We have regular check-ins and meetings to share updates and changes to policy and procedure, which they in turn cascade to the telephony agents to ensure they have the tools they need to perform at their best.
Zoom still seems to be the main channel of communication for meetings, so I always try to walk my dogs for half an hour for a break from my screen and to prevent Zoom fatigue!
I wanted to take on my current role because…
…I was excited to set up our broker support helpdesk, having previously coached and managed on the mortgage servicing line and on underwriting services for a number of years.
I miss the charity days we used to hold in the office, where we played bingo, wore fancy dress and ate cake
I was keen to be part of the next exciting chapter in mortgages and was particularly drawn to the appeal of being there at the beginning, and the fantastic opportunity to be able to shape the ethos of the team.
Something that surprised me about my job was…
…how quickly we were able to mobilise the BSO helpdesk to work from home when the pandemic hit. Within a week, all the call handlers were set up with remote access, suitable equipment and support to be able to maintain a service for our brokers with minimum disruption.
Who knew you could run a successful call centre from home, answering record volumes of calls without any major disruption to service?
I say this was a surprise, but actually I have a very dedicated and talented team who care passionately about supporting each other and the exceptional customer service they provide, so nothing really surprises me with what they can achieve when they pull together.
Challenges of working from home have been…
…the complete change in the way we work. Gone are the spontaneous across-the-desk chats and coffee-machine catch-ups.
We have regular check-ins and meetings to share updates and changes to policy and procedure
But we quickly adapted to using Teams and Zoom to ensure no one felt isolated and overwhelmed during the pandemic.
But on the plus side…
…who knew you could run a successful call centre from home, answering record volumes of calls without any major disruption to service?
My favourite work memory is…
…I have so many happy memories as I work with some of the best people in the industry.
I am never bored and, although still mainly working from home, I have a great deal of interaction with others
I miss the charity days we used to hold in the office, where we played bingo, wore fancy dress and ate cake until we were sick.
I really hope that, as the world moves on and people have confidence to return to the office, those days return. We always need to eat more cake!
To unwind after work, I…
…like to walk the dogs sometimes via the local beer garden — but not every night, I might add — and spend time with my family.
My main focus is my management team and ensuring they feel supported and enthused to motivate their teams
I love a good TV drama and you can’t beat a binge watch. My recent favourites range from Stranger Things to The Staircase and, although I really miss my daughter now she has her own home, I don’t have to watch Love Island anymore!
This article featured in the July edition of MS.
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