It’s incredible to join a company with over 230 years of legacy and to see them operate as agile and sprightly as WHSmith does. The Careers and Development team at WHSmith has left no stone unturned in designing the Graduate programme. They’ve helped us interact with top-level executives and board members to gain a glimpse of where our business is heading in terms of expansion and growth.
From having us work in stores to learn the day-to-day operations of running a store and to build on our customer insights. To having us work with in different departments to broaden our perspective of the different levels and functions involved in running a retail business. Though it’s been just over 2 months of joining the business, the very hands-on induction program, coupled with the warm and welcoming atmosphere of everyone here, has made me feel right at home.
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.