Assistant Relationship Manager Review

My primary duty is to assist the three Relationship Managers within our office. I am expected to provide outstanding customer service/experience, continuing the bank's market leading scores within NPS and CSS for Commercial Banking. The role extends to far beyond simply answering telephone and email queries from customers - although such opportunities do provide you with the chance to enhance your soft skills, especially communication and managing customer expectations. Certain queries are investigative in nature and thus require you to probe further, often liaising with other departments within the bank. I have weekly meetings with each Relationship Manager, where we review progress for the previous week's tasks and are also provided tasks to complete for the week ahead. Such tasks can include: - creating prospecting bundles for potential customers of the bank (this would include but is not limited to: reviewing financial accounts, directorships and shareholdings and any recent news articles). - undertaking meeting preparation for meetings with existing customers from our region's portfolio. - the chance to attend Business Review meetings and constructing a Shared Relationship Plan on the back of this. - Undertaking Service and Security reviews with customers. I am also given long term tasks by my line manager. These tasks provide a great development opportunity and include: - Creating a KBI (Key Business Introducer) Pitchbook for our region which was then used as a template by other Commercial teams across the country to help create their own version. - Monitoring the "Rethinking Business" campaign for this year along with the greatly significant "Rose Review", and presenting my findings during our team meetings. Overall, the role provides a healthy variety of different tasks and opportunities for me to develop. To a large extent it does live up to the saying "no two days are the same".

Absolutely! I am continuously provided with guidance and freedom by my line manager, to develop and be on the best footing when applying for roles at the end of my programme. At the start of the programme, I was tasked with creating a Personal Development Plan alongside a 90 day plan. These plans would include any goals I have. I would then work with my line manager, to create key steps to help me achieve these goals. At the end, these goals are then shared with the wider team so they can help facilitate these targets. Critical skills such as communication, time management and teamwork are further enhanced within the Commercial setting. This is in addition to the technical skills which I am continuously developing. I’ve recently taken part in the Entrepreneurial Development Academy and I am currently working towards completing the "Certificate in Lending Skills" qualification. I am also encouraged to go out on customer meetings. Employees of the bank are also required to undertake mandatory training modules and are encouraged to complete elective modules to further enhance personal development. Furthermore, I have also shadowed numerous other departments within the bank namely, the Credit Delivery, Corporate Banking and Fulfilment teams. My line manager has always been supportive of this and is open for me to undertake further shadowing within the bank.

To say I greatly enjoy the programme would be a gross understatement. Alongside having a remarkable Line Manager, I also have a great support network around me. This is through the Relationship Managers that I work for together with the incredibly supportive and experiences, Assistant Relationship Managers that I am work alongside with. The amount of effort you place into the programme will equal the amount of reward that you will gain out of it. It's important to always remain keen and maintain a positive attitude. I am fortunate enough to be in the company of great individuals who support my development and make me feel valued. It's incredibly satisfying and reassuring knowing that I have a great support network around me. Ultimately, this was the opportunity I have long been waiting for!

The programme is structured in two parts. The learning element is run in its entirety by BPP. Under the BPP programme, you are provided with a learning plan at the start, containing a list of modules to cover and also the expected deadlines. You are also given contact information of my BPP Skills Coach for any queries or concerns I may wish to raise. The BPP modules are relatively straightforward to an extent, however some tasks are time consuming in nature and can have a limited benefit to your day to day role. A reduction in the size of each workbook would be more beneficial. We also have an internal programme within the bank delivered by former trainees providing career insight and developmental workshops. This latter programme is especially useful as it provides a good insight into your business area and helps you develop knowledge and skills that you can directly apply to your day-to-day role. Within the role itself, I have weekly catch-up meetings with my line manager, to review my progress and review and deal with any concerns and thoughts I may have. As mentioned earlier, I also have weekly meetings with each Relationship Manager where I am delegated tasks.

I have endless praise and admiration for my line manager. From a personal standpoint, I feel that he genuinely has my best interests and is always available for support when needed. In the majority of cases he is my first point of contact. Our weekly meetings can often go beyond 30 mins and can last upto an hour. At the end I feel more motivated and determined to make the most of each opportunity I am given. Each of the Relationship Managers and Assistant Relationship Managers are equally as supportive. They're not afraid to dedicate time away from their busy schedules to support me in my development and answer any questions I may have. Although I don't have a formal mentor in place, I feel that at this present stage it is not something entirely critical. This is largely owing to the great support network I have around me, where any queries and concerns are dealt with immediately and effectively.

I have a monthly review meeting each month with my BPP Skills Coach. During each meeting we review my current progress alongside the learning plan I was provided at the start. I am given independence as to how I can arrange time to complete my workbooks. Outside of these review meetings, I am also able to raise any questions or queries that I may have.

By being required to provide real-life examples for certain questions, the workbooks do help remind you how far you've come and can sometimes encourage to explore further to gain relevant experiences. It does also provide a healthy variety of content. However, I do feel they are lengthy in nature and as a result time-consuming in nature. As a result I would recommend that they are shortened to help maintain a better balance of completing my workbooks versus performing effectively with my day-to-day role.

There are a great number of networking opportunities. Our region is encouraged to host events where we meet fellow professionals and customers. Recently, our office attended a charity dinner. We also hosted a Directors Club for customer's around a month ago and I am personally tasked with arranging the next Directors Club in a few weeks time (no pressure there then!). There are also a number of CSR events and each individual is required to complete four hours in support of our social responsibility.

Yes

Starting from the organisation itself, it's exciting to see where the bank is heading in it's pursuit of remaining the best bank for customers and maintaining its position as the leading bank within Commercial Banking. There a great number of new and exciting digital products to help further advance our position. There are also some great product partners such as Lombard and Invoice Finance that our team works closely with to help further meet customer needs. Pay is sufficient and there some good employee benefits available via RBS Select. There are some great individuals that work within this organisation and diversity and inclusivity is always encouraged - for example there is a healthy number of employee led networks present. Hard work and dedication does not go unnoticed. You are given additional responsibility and support, further becoming a valued member of the team. Again as mentioned, the support from my Line manager and fellow team members is invaluable, providing me with the confidence and desire to give it my all within this role.

Truly research the organisation and focus greatly on where the organisation is heading for the future. Look at the new exciting products (especially digital) that are being released by the bank. Research is key and does go noticed. From a Commercial Banking standpoint the RBS Group is a market leader. During the interview (especially the face to face interview), look at our values. Try and understand them as best you can, and then formulate real-life examples around them - these can be educational, work or volunteering examples. Use the STAR approach when structuring them. Of course it's also worth having good reasons as to why you want to work for RBS/NatWest and what key qualities you can bring. Also a question that can prove to be an obstacle is, "Why Commercial Banking" - it really helps to have a good understanding on this. Previous banking experience does help. In my case as I worked for the Group previously I was given responsibility from Day 1 and was better able to get to grips with the role at the start. Show lots of enthusiasm and willingness to make the most out of the programme. Although opportunities and plentiful, the responsibility falls on you to make the most out of them.