I have had a great career at WHSmith so far, I started as a sales assistant at Stansted Airport when I was 17. I transitioned into the London office as part of a placement year at University where I took a role within the buying team. I went onto do various different buying roles over 11 years from Assistant Buyer up to Senior Buyer. This year I then took the leap to move across the pond to the US to work for WHSmith North America. There are two things that stand out for me about my career, first is the ability to be my own entrepreneur within a big company given the autonomy to make decisions and feeling empowered. The second is the focus on people and career development, I wouldn’t be in the position I am today if I didn’t have great mentors and supporters who have helped to guide me along the way.
I advise senior leadership on complex business issues, performance, reward and pay, talent and succession goal planning, and more. My role also involves challenging certain senior stakeholders in their decisions. I act as their critical friend for decisions impacting people from both engagement and well-being perspectives, I also work closely with our talent acquisition partners to ensure we have sufficient diversity representation across all levels."
My experience on the WHSmith graduate scheme has been an exciting and transformative journey so far.