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(Picture: British Gas Logo)

Sam Thomas is a Contact Centre Manager for the British Gas Cardiff office and has worked for the company for 11 years. Sam gives us an insight into how she has developed her career, and her growing role and responsibilities.

“I began working for British Gas in 1996, initially as a stop gap between my degree and deciding on a career. But more by luck than planning I realised I’d discovered a company where there were great opportunities to build the very type of career I was looking for.

One of the major things that struck me was the support and encouragement I received during the initial months in the job, to ease me into things. We continually improve our training for new starters, so it is now even better than when I started. British Gas customer service agents now all get extensive training and a graduation period where they get extra support.

My first role on joining the team in Cardiff was as a call taker on the general enquiries department. I quickly made lots of friends and became involved in a lively social scene. Our city centre location makes it really easy to get involved, to go out after work and have fun. We’ve even got a free gym, and a café on the 10th floor with amazing views over the bay! In addition my salary was great and it was such a brilliant place to work I knew I’d found the right company for me.

British Gas in Cardiff is a big operation – and I was able to work in lots of areas of the business, developing my experience. Two years into my employment I was ready to move into management, and in the summer of 1998 I was offered the chance to become a team manager, looking after my own team of 15. First steps into management are always a challenge, as rather than just being responsible for my own actions I was suddenly in charge of delivering results through others. I like to think I made a good team leader because I’d worked as a call handler previously so I really understood what needed to be done, and how to build a winning team. It was really satisfying to see individuals in my team flourish and take on new roles and challenges.

I must have been doing something right as in 2001 I was promoted to be Customer Sales Manager, leading 3 team managers and over 40 call takers. My role widened to look at resourcing issues and planning, making sure we had the right staff at the right time to meet customer needs.

I’m very competitive, results driven and task focused, and was able to help my team exceed their targets, but my ethos has always been that work must be fun too!

My next challenge quickly followed in 2002, when further promotion saw me managing 120 call takers, and getting to grips with strategic planning, as well as working on exciting projects with nationwide impacts for the business.

I couldn’t have done it without the continued support of my colleagues and the business itself. I’ve had amazing opportunities and have since been promoted again. I’m now responsible for almost 160 staff and part of the site leadership team. As Contact Centre Manager I can really see the benefits for future employees of joining a professional industry that has such growth potential.

I think many graduates would be envious of the career I’ve forged in a FTSE 100 company which I joined thinking it was a stop gap. Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32