Your colleagues
What's it like to work here? Meet a few of your new colleagues
Ray Neal - Debt Advisor, Plan Referrals
I work in the Plan Referrals team. We’re specialist debt advisors who help clients get their chosen debt solutions activated.
9.00
I wake up, get dressed and have breakfast. I often get my brain working with computer games or cryptic crosswords. I work mostly from home, but some days I’ll shave, change out of my pyjamas and head in to our office on Albion Street in Leeds.
10.55
I log on ready for the day to start at 11 AM. As well as opening the documents I’ll need to record the work I’ve done, I check our system, which lets me know when I’ll be taking calls, working on emails and completing more specialist tasks. I also check any emails that may have come in while I was away.
13.00
Depending on which workstream I’m assigned to each workday, I’ll be calling clients or receiving calls to solve whatever queries are preventing them getting their debt solutions up and running. There are a huge number of reasons this can happen, from small comments required on expenditure through to full reviews of household budgets.
14.00
As part of our day-to-day work we check communications from the Activations team. They’re also helping clients get plans activated, so we work very closely with them and share some of their programmes and systems.
15.00
It’s around this time that we have team briefs, 1-2-1 meetings, and chances to catch up with training on our MyLO system. Meetings are easier at this time due to the crossover of colleagues being on early and late shifts.
16.00
Lunch! I work late so I like to eat later and shifts are arranged with these kinds of considerations in mind. If I’m in the office, I walk home for lunch as I appreciate the chance to exercise and I live near the centre of Leeds.
17.00
During the later part of my shift I volunteer to deal with any calls that have particularly sensitive issues or clients in distress. I’ve had previous experience with vulnerable clients, and most colleagues welcome opportunities to take on extra responsibilities like this.
19.00
It’s important that we track what we do, so towards the end of my shift I’ll make sure any trackers are up to date, so that it doesn’t take much work to complete these at the end of the day.
20.00
End of shift! There’s always a short panic while I find my keys and phone. Even when I'm working from home - I guess some habits take a while to break. When I get home, or I've turned off the laptop, I’ll unwind by playing classic board games with my kids or swatting up for my next TV quiz show appearance.
