Starting a new job in the middle of a global pandemic wasn't something Simon Finnie, DCCs Talent Acquisition Specialist had on his bucket list. But with the right support and mental mindset, he's flourished (virtually of course) at DCC.
Like many of you this time last year I was used to the early alarm clock rises (x4 snoozes) 5 times a week with a mad dash to the train station to hop on board my train which runs every hour. Fast forward 12 months my daily working routine couldn’t be any different although I do miss my lunchtime meal deal.
During this time I was in the process of working my notice to join DCC in April. The fear of Covid 19 was top of the agenda as we entered the first lockdown. Many fears entered my mind at this point:
- Would my job offer still on the table?
- How would I cope balancing home schooling and learning the ropes in a new role?
- How do I connect with colleagues I’ve never met?
My first fear was put at ease right away by my line manager who reached out to me directly a couple of days after lockdown was announced. With all the updates around Furlough and redundancies my head was spinning and she reassured me about my position and the plans in place for onboarding.
In the days leading up to me starting I was able to meet most of the team who I would be working closely with and a lot of the conversations were non work related which was refreshing and allowed me to feel comfortable and get to know my new work colleagues who I now consider friends. IT equipment was covered off and delivered to me a couple of days before starting with clear instructions and a few meetings already in the calendar over the first few days allowed me to settle in.
During week one, as I introduced myself round the business over MS Teams calls, my 4 year old daughter decided to introduce herself too! Embarrassment kicked in as I’d seen the famous interruptions on YouTube of kids gate-crashing conference calls and BBC news interviews. But I quickly learnt the Exco heads and Directors didn’t care one bit as they were experiencing the same issues as I was. We were in this together, balancing an extremely fast paced working environment while teaching history at the same time (my history lessons focused on the great invincible Arsenal team from 2004, ancient history some people might say). Thankfully DCC understood how important finding the right balance between work and family life is during these incredibly unusual times.
Over the past year in my role as Talent Acquisition Manager I’ve overseen many new starters joining us throughout the pandemic and without being biased, I’m so proud of DCC and our People Team have rolled our sleeves up and adopted the new way of recruiting and digitally onboarding an exciting array of employees into our business. As someone who has gone through the process myself, I have been able to honestly and openly share my experiences of my first year at DCC and the wonderful welcome I’ve had. With the balancing act many employees have at the moment these honest opinions are important to share as they maybe the difference between accepting a position or turning it down.
Life has changed for many over the last 12 months. DCC, together with our customers have adapted magnificently during this period with functions and employees continuing to be as productive as ever, hitting major milestones for the nationwide smart metering roll out and connecting Britain, so we can lead smarter, greener lives.
3 min read
05.03.2021
