After graduating with a degree in Marketing and taking some time out to travel Southeast Asia, my journey ended, and my career started, when I was recruited by Alcumus in early 2018.
My role is to support the auditors in the field with their training and development and maintaining their operational and competence records.
Since arriving here, I have been so impressed with the values of the business and the attitudes of employees across the whole company. I knew from the get-go this would be a great place to work.
Being completely new to the certification industry - it is relatively niche after all - it can at times seem a little bewildering. But I work with so many experienced, highly qualified and helpful colleagues that it is never a concern. I have found it is important to embrace all learning opportunities offered and to adopt a positive approach if feeling unsure when facing any challenges, and of course call on the help of colleagues who are only too willing not only to lend a hand, but also listen to new ideas. I find that I am constantly learning something new each day, being in such an ever-changing industry, and being open to adapting in my role is essential to contributing to the success of the team.
With my role being a new one in the business, my manager, Mark Burgess, has always told me to ‘make it my own’ – which is exactly what I’ve tried to do. Ongoing support from Mark has in turn helped me to provide the necessary support to the field team at ISOQAR.
My primary is on supporting trainee Auditors and I have really enjoyed the process of building relationships with the new starters and helping them through their journey here in any way I can. I have learned the importance of helping field team employees feel connected, and particularly for new starters, for them to feel like they have a point of contact within the office.
When Mark became Field Operations Director, one of his focuses for new starters was the induction process. The first few weeks when starting a new business can be make or break. Even though induction was always a positive experience here, the nature of this business is ‘continual improvement’ so I supported Mark in refining the process.
All new starters at ISOQAR now spend 2 days in the Cardiff office, the location of the Alcumus Group head office. Then they visit the ISOQAR head office in Manchester for 3 days, meeting all the office staff. Being out on the field, for much of the time there will be little face-to-face interaction with other Alcumus employees, so this has proved to be a significant improvement in the induction week – one which we have received excellent feedback for.
I have been provided with continual support from Mark Burgess, Olivia Pearce (sub-contractor Team Manager), and all the Audit Team Managers. It’s uplifting to hear all the Team Leaders talk about development and growth within their teams, and with the teams constantly expanding, it is an exciting time to be a part of Alcumus ISOQAR.
If anyone wants to know more about careers at Alcumus ISOQAR, please don’t hesitate to connect with me or our HR team.
