Stephanie Pugh - Retail Banking

What attracted you to Barclays?
I actually started doing an internship with Barclays, and it was about eight weeks over the summer, and while I was there everyone was just so energetic and friendly and they just loved their jobs which is something I never thought I’d actually find but something I always wanted to. I think it was just the whole environment and the atmosphere working for Barclays that made me want to stay here and apply for a graduate scheme.

What have you been doing since you joined?
I started off in a branch in Stratford-Upon-Avon, and that was really an introduction to the branch network, and how it works. I had a little try of different roles, did a bit of cashiering, did a bit of co-ordinating that kind of thing. I also did some projects, so some projects on customer service.

I worked with the area director to see a more general view of the branch network. I then moved into an assistant branch manager role in Stratford, so taking on things like one to ones and coaching the staff and holding the fort when the manager wasn’t there. Then an opportunity came up in March for a Branch Managers role, which I started at the end of March and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.

What does your current role involve?
Well basically the Branch Manager’s role is really diverse. A lot of it is people management, so a typical day for example, I go in and do a morning meeting, get everyone fired up for the day. I’ll do one to ones and coaching on a one to one basis, looking at the figures, making sure that we’re hitting value, hitting service scores, things like that.

I also get involved in quite a lot of things with the other Branch Managers as a team looking at service across the area. At the moment there is a big focus on customer service and we’re all trying to drive that. Also getting involved in succession, that kind of thing, encouraging our cashiers to move on to personal banking or to co-ordination or counter manager roles, things like that. Trying to identify what their strengths are and encouraging them to follow that route.

Its just, everyday is different; you never know what you're going to face you that day. Also, complaints handling as well, we always try and speak to as many customers as we can so they actually know that they are talking to the manager and that they can say things that might influence the way that the branch is run.

What do you enjoy the most about your job?
I think it would be the people, as in the staff that work for you. It’s such a rewarding role, I mean just encouraging people to develop the skills they’ve got and that they’ve never really had the chance to develop before, or even just encouraging them in the role that they are already in, if they’re happy where they are.

I think you just get to meet and work with such a variety of people. You know every day is interesting, I never go in and have a boring day, it’s just unheard of. And also the buzz from customers when you’ve done something good for them because you’re completely on a one to one basis with the customers, you can’t hide behind a phone or anything like that. They’re there and they want to see you and most of the time you can sort things out for them and it’s just incredibly rewarding.

What support and training have you had since joining?
As graduates we’ve received quite a lot of training centrally so we’ve been involved in a lot of coaching around leadership and personal excellence and things like that, emotional intelligence all these kind of things. But then more specifically to retail banking, I’ve been on loads and loads of management courses as part of my role, just how to deal with people, how to coach them, how to inspire them, that kind of thing. And then a lot more practical training, so you know, how to structure an interview with a customer. So really I’ve had training in absolutely every aspect of the role.

Have you been involved in any inspirational moments?
A really inspirational moment for me was probably when, as a group of retail graduates, we presented to the leaders of the retail bank. It was Christmas time and we started in September so it was really presenting it as we saw it with fresh eyes if you like, coming in, and how did we see things and how did we think they could change for the better. And we did a big presentation over different areas of the retail bank each focusing in on a certain aspect.

And we presented this to a group of people that were just, so inspiring when you go and talk to them and they were listening to us, and they were asking us questions and wanting our feedback and trying to find out what we thought of it. And it really was a moment when I thought, you know, we can really make a difference here and really show, with things that have been going for so long, we can come in and say well actually why is it happening like that, maybe it would be better to go like this. It is just such an area of the bank where you really can make such a difference, so I think that was quite an inspirational moment.

Why join Retail Banking?
Come and join an area that’s just highly diverse, demanding, rewarding, interesting and all those things. It’s an area of Barclays that really does have an impact, you can see your influence on colleagues and on customers in a way that you probably wouldn’t in lots of other area of the bank.

How flexible do you have to be about location?
I think really the location depends on what you want to do and where you want to end up. For myself, a position came up and I didn’t mind where it was because I desperately wanted to do the particular role. There is quite a bit of flexibility because it's branch based and obviously there are branches across the country.

Really, what they try and do is put you with a line manager that is going to be really inspiring and be able to open doors for you and show you things you want to see. So it really depends on the line managers and where they are so you do need to be flexible to a certain extent.