18 November 2020
Lily Nash Shares Her Story as Director of Transformation
Lily Nash, our Director of Transformation, joined FirstPort from a non-property background. Whilst the country was in full lockdown, she was among our first virtually recruited colleagues and came in at a critical point with the pandemic challenging the ‘norm’ and changing the way we all work. Today, Lily takes the time to reflect on her journey and what the first six months have meant for her.
When I got the opportunity to join FirstPort I didn’t think twice. During the interview process I read a lot about the business, the company strategy and direction, as well as the wider industry opportunities. It felt like a great business to join at a particularly exciting point and there was real opportunity to be part of something where I could work with great people and make a difference. I’m pleased to say that after six months, it has absolutely lived up to what I saw during the interview process.
Joining in lockdown
I joined at the end of March when the country was in full lockdown, which provided a very different induction experience. I was impressed at how seamlessly the learning and development team adapted my induction, given the lockdown meant a completely new process had to be implemented imminently. Everyone was very welcoming, and senior leaders and colleagues across the business generously carved out time for me over zoom, bringing me up to speed on technical and strategic areas. As everyone was in lockdown, I was able to really use this time to accelerate building my network ‘virtually’ with people across the business, capitalising on the lack of travelling to spend more time getting to know my colleagues. Lockdown taught the world so many lessons in the workplace but I am pleased to say, when I reflect on my first few months at FirstPort, it is truly amazing how we adapted not only to looking after our customers but also working collaboratively and overcoming some of the challenges of Covid-19.
Joining as the Head of Operational Transformation, at a time where it is more critical than ever to reshape customer experience, gave me a brilliant platform to work from. I do feel that the world slowed down during lockdown, and we rebalanced personal and professional relationships that glue both work and home together. It was definitely a time to listen and learn. Building the operational transformation strategy gave me the opportunity to spend over 50 hours with colleagues and customers across all areas of the business, to hear from them on how we could make changes to make a real difference for colleagues and customers.
Having a background in retail, hospitality and energy
Joining with a background in retail, hospitality and energy, I have benefitted from the wealth of industry-specific experience colleagues from across FirstPort have. However, I have also drawn on the experience of colleagues across the business who, like me, have joined from other industries. I feel this mix and balance of experience across FirstPort gives us a real advantage and drives diversity of thought and discussion across the projects and teams we work in. We have made huge progress as a business this year, in a particularly challenging landscape and I honestly feel the diversity across our teams is a key reason why FirstPort is a brilliant place to work. Progression opportunities are abundant for those willing to get stuck in, work hard and learn.
Looking back on 2020
Reflecting on the last six months, the opportunity I have had to get involved and lead a range of projects has been huge, I don’t believe you get this in every company. Having the opportunity to step into a Director role more recently is a testament to this. This has been another learning curve, but one that with the support of colleagues across the business and my line manager, I feel I have been given a great platform to succeed.
2020 has been a year like no other. Whilst like many, I have had some tough and challenging moments, I feel grateful for the many positives I can draw from this year and there are countless highlights for me. Working with colleagues across the business on several operational change projects and being part of our digital transformation work has been brilliant. Equally, it has been a real privilege to lead the Customer Services team, I am really proud of the amazing colleagues we have and their approach to raising the bar on performance and consistency in unprecedented times, particularly when many of them are learning to work in new ways. Not only have we optimised our pre Covid-19 service delivery channels, we have also launched webchat, giving our customers more choice. The way in which the team has risen to the challenge has been inspirational.
As we move forward in our journey, I have no doubt that we will continue the momentum and progress. I feel really lucky to be in such a great business that is well positioned to navigate any ambiguity that comes our way, with brilliant colleagues that will work together to succeed for their teams and customers.
