I really enjoy that, while I have a series of tasks I must complete each month, I have so much variety in what I do because I am supporting different teams. Risk, Compliance and Data Protection are very different in terms of requirements as well as how they work and collaborate and I think my people management skills and co-ordination are effective here. I also feel like I am supporting the business, even if it’s only in a small way through the training of Protecht or the reporting of actions. A part of my role is to ensure rigour is applied and I can achieve that in those tasks.

Whatever you’re good at, whether it be organisation or leadership or analytics, try your best to draw on those skills within your current role to really showcase what you do well. And not just in your role, look at other roles such as championing or volunteering to provide additional opportunities to really highlight what you are good at. This may then give you the chance to consider where you have improvements to make and think about how that can be achieved through shadowing, mentoring or further education / courses. There are so many opportunities at First Central to shine a light on our talents or improve our weaknesses. Take them!

I came up with the idea of needing a champion role in the business that would be a contact point in each pillar for the risk and compliance teams, driving improved risk culture and communication across pillars. This developed into the idea of having a ‘Rigorously Running Your Pillar Champion role’ which was presented to and approved by our Execs. Champions and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from the risk and compliance teams will meet each month to discuss any initiatives they’re rolling out and track the progress of Strategic Driver KPIs discussing changes in performance and reasons for this. We’ve had two meetings so far which have been beneficial, already providing further knowledge about in-pillar activity and driving better awareness of risk and compliance.