Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

As a Reward Manager, I work within a small central People team responsible for developing and delivering reward policies and processes that address the needs of OVO’s varied populations, while ensuring alignment to our company values.

It’s fair to say, there isn’t one! My work is really varied and I can be working across any element of the Total Reward package during any given day. This can range from managing salary and pay policies, performance-based bonuses, commission, employee benefits, pensions, share schemes and non-cash benefits, as well as supporting key Business Change projects or initiatives with appropriate reward & benefit interventions.

I genuinely get a real buzz from seeing tangible results from the HR initiatives I roll out. I can see it when I communicate with employees more as a result of them being happier at work. It’s great to see this both in employee take-up of reward initiatives and overall employee engagement increasing.

These vary time to time, but I’d say the biggest one is to strike a balance between the needs of the business and the employee. Often you may have to challenge ideas and be the conscience of the business.

Appropriate, tactical and sensitive use of communication is a huge part of effective HR and I was attracted to a role using these skills from my degree in a creative way. I was also attracted to HR by the fact that the goal of my job is to make my workplace a better place to work for all my colleagues. That explains my move into Reward too, as this is such an important part of the employer proposition and I’m able to have a direct influence on this.

Strong communication & interpersonal skills.
Strong numerical analytical skills.
IT skills.
Commercial shrewdness.
Strong organisational skills.
Managing ambiguity.
Independent direction and delivery as well as working as part of a team.

We get a lot of internal training – this is technical and leadership training and is competency based –it varies but it normally happens at least 4 days a year. I also go to events and seminars as a member of CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development).

July 2016 - Current: OVO Energy
2004 - 2016: Marks & Spencer: initially on their HR Graduate Programme and then in various HR roles including:
Reward Manager 2011-2016
Senior People Policy Specialist 2008-2011
HR Manager (various geographies) 2004-2008

I hope to attain a Head of Reward position, hopefully here at OVO as my role and its scope grows!

Focus on the transferable skills you have and think about how these join-up and can help you with the key priorities of HR. It’s always important to take time to learn the business you’re in from grassroots up, especially in your first job - being effective in HR relies on context and operational relevance!