Euan Matthews

Why did you choose to join HR?
I chose to join HR because a lot of my friends were going off to do very financially orientated jobs, working in other investment banks or other financial services and I didn’t really want that straight away. What I saw as HR, I saw it as this pivotal and fundamental piece in an organisation - the support it gives to them, it’s an enabler and I said right, I want to get involved with that, I want to actually make that difference.

It’s not on the front line but in the back you are so pivotally important to the organisation. It’s almost to prove a point to people and say right, I know I’ve got the drive to make this HR department be the best in the world – and so I said lets go out and do it. And that’s why I joined HR.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Exposure, I enjoy the fact that I have been exposed to something that is very pivotal in the HR environment and actually it means something and something I can really get stuck into. I love that. And I think that that exposure is key to me, that recognition from senior people, who, lets face it, some people who have been working at the bank three or four years wouldn’t work with on a regular basis, and I do, and that means a lot to me.

The fact that I’ve been given so much responsibility as well, that’s something I really enjoy, the fact that my manager’s placed her trust in me to deliver something she deeply cares about, and I’ve been trusted to deliver that, which I have done, thankfully. That’s what I really enjoy - the fact that I have been given something real, I’ve been given a real job, real project, real deliverables and they just say go get it, and that’s what I really like.

Can you outline any interesting projects you’ve been involved with?
Being a project manager I’ve been involved in two very key projects. I’ve had two intranet-based applications to work with CIO, to build, to work with the business to gather requirements for it, so it meets both sets of needs, what CIO need, what we from an operational perspective need and what the business needs, so that we don’t mess with their operation.

One of them is involving the payments to members of staff. That’s quite an important project when it involves payment - well its key to the business. I’ve also been involved in part of the hiring process, so making that easier, making that more controlled, and that was another project which I took on. So I’ve had two very key projects to work on, they are fundamental for business and the feedback has been good so far.

What support and training have you had since joining?
In terms of training I was put on a Prince2 Foundation course straight away, project management, Projects in controlled environment, that’s what it stands for. They offer you that because they recognise that you are going to need some of those skills in your role.

I have been offered to go on to do my Prince2 Practitioner course, which is effectively getting the qualification in project management, but you need to have some experience which is what I’ve been doing over that last nine months. They offer multiple training courses in-house, you are encouraged to get that training, your manager actually puts you forward for that training, but equally you do get some say in that as well, which is excellent.

So you get a bit of what they want you to do and a bit of what you want to do so you free yourself in multiple ways. This is great because, to be honest, you never really know what you should be better at until somebody tells you.

What qualities do you need to succeed in HR?
HR is a very fast-paced function, it’s becoming very well respected and as such you need to be ‘switched on’ is the term I’d use. You need to show initiative, you need to be pro-active in terms of when change is happening. You’ll find that a lot of the departments actually don’t just do what they do; they look at what they do and then look at how they can do it better, whilst still doing what they do.

So that’s really key is you can always take a step back, and say, right I’m doing my job but am I doing it in the most efficient and cost-effective way? And that’s what you need to be able to do. You need to be able to work in a team, we’re a very close community, you just need to work very closely with people.

Have you been involved in any inspirational moments?
I was inspired by a moment that happened a few days ago where I was internally head hunted by a part of the HR department. And to me that was inspiring because that means that what I’ve done over the last ten months in the company (I’ve got two to go on the grad scheme), it means that I’ve done well. I find that inspiring, because that means I’ve given this my ‘all I’ve got’ and that inspires me to keep going because I know that I’m going to get recognised in the future. And that is key to me and what inspires me.

Why join HR?
There are no closed doors. You’re never short of things to do. You’re never short of opportunities, you never have the same day twice, which keeps you involved, it keeps you excited; it keeps your brain in gear. You get the power to use your brain and really get excited by things.