Apprentice Business Analyst in Design & Change Review

As a Business Analyst I am involved in delivering Change Projects at the bank. In order to accomplish Agile timeline milestones and to deliver value to Commercial Banking customers I work in a team of other 3 Senior Business Analysts; and we engage with all-levels stakeholders and Subject Matter Experts in order to deliver the change required. At the start I was working on the smaller transformation investment projects and currently I am involved in a long-term Payments Regulations project. My daily activities consist of combination of the below: 1. Shaping and scoping the project 2. Feasibility Assessment and The Business Case 3. Process Improvement 4. Business Requirements Definition 5. Transition and Change Management 6. Benefits Management

I am continuing to develop my existing skills, such us presentation, coaching and overall business administration. However, more importantly, I am actively learning new skills. My professional and personal development journey has been tremendous! I have gained stakeholder management skills and learnt how to expand and build my network, which is crucial for my career progression. I have plenty of opportunities to increase my IT skills: MS Office 365, MS Teams, MS Project, Visio, Jira Software and many other internet platforms. I think the most valuable skills I have learnt so far is an effective performance and time management.

Working in Design & Change at the Commercial Banking domain provides many diverse opportunities to get involved in differing projects. All the colleagues I have engaged with so far had been really helpful and resourceful. Additionally, the bank offers great learning opportunities - I have an access to internal Commercial Bank Academy and NatWest Group Academy, where I am required to invest 50 hours or more of learning a year. Similarly, we have various Employee Led Networks (Wellbeing, Rainbow, Diversity, Army, etc.) uniting and supporting like-minded people and giving us a great sense of belonging

The programme has its flows. 1. I think, the bank has organised a fantastic induction for us. Firstly, I was invited to meet my team at the bank prior my first day at work, so that I felt more familiar with the environment and people around me on my first day. I joined a team meeting with my new colleagues for an hour and I had so much fun for the first time in my employment history. After that to set all the 82 apprentices up, we were invited to The Royal Bank of Scotland Groups (NatWest is a part of it) headquarters in Edinburgh for the 2 days long event. The speakers talked about the organisation, about the value of apprentices, the benefits we will receive and what the programme entails. It was great to be well informed before I started my job and learning. The event made me feel excited, inspired and special. 2. Getting access to all the required systems and applications at the bank was lengthy and confusing. My colleagues could not help me much because no one could remember the exact steps to set up the account. It would be more useful if I would already have default access based on my job role requirements instead of me trying to figure it all out via IT support. 3. Learning and training materials provided both by the bank and the BPP are excellent. The sources are current and totally applicable to my job and the industry I am in. The best I have experienced and seen so far. 4. I am entitled for 7 hours studying on my own or with supporting colleague if required. During more challenging study weeks I am allowed to take an additional time to study too. Having a foreign school qualification I have to re-take my English by the UK standards; and for that reason I have had more time to study and prepare for my exams, which was really helpful. 5. The learning provider BPP has had quite a few opperational/organisational issues and we experienced disruptions on the programme. Currently, they are taking serious measures to improve the rest of our learning journey, which is promising. 6. My manager is quite supportive and is prompting me to do my best and improve to the best of my ability. He emphasises the importance of being able and having enough time to reflect on what I have learnt on a regular basis. When my line manager is busy and/ or out of the office, he ensures his deputy is there for me to support me.

I have mentioned in my previous answer that my manager is supportive and ensures I am successfully tracking progress for my learning and performance management overall. The requests to HR or IT at the bank are taking longer as I work for a large corporate organisation, they have to support many of the employees simultaneously. The processes are frustrating sometimes. At the bank we have a specially designed Mentorship Programme that is available to all employees. I am aware that a few selected fellow apprentices where directly offered to have a mentor without the need to apply separately for it. In my situation, I have graduated form the University of Manchester and have had some work experience prior this Apprenticeship, which I believe is the reason for me having to go through the separate application process to connect with the mentor. I believe, having a mentor will greatly benefit my career development and it is crucial to have an opportunity to discuss overall matters with someone outside my immediate working environment. Overall attitude of the managers and my colleagues is incredibly supportive and open for discussions. During the Covid-19 lockdown I have had a chance to connect with my colleagues and a wider group simply for fun quizzes and virtual workouts as well as breaks. The bank provided me with the office chair and all the computer equipment I required at the time to be able to have a comfortable and safe working environment at home, all free of charge. The bank is offering desks, laptops, screens, stands etc., if needed, which is fantastic and very helpful!

Tutors are knowledgeable and also have real business world experience too, hence, they provided us with relevant examples to support the delivered theory. I have not engaged much with tutors outside the learning occasions (webinars, seminars). We have their email address, if we need to contact them. I have a Business Coach who is in charge of my learning progress and development. She is very supportive and resolves any occurring issues. Every 5 weeks we have 1:1 sessions to discuss my achievements, aspirations and overall progress. My manager is invited to them too. Unfortunatelly, since the lockdown the sessions have been inconsistent and some were cancelled, making me feel like their plans to support us were not fulfilled. Webinars and seminars are great and I have learnt some useful and relevant theory. However, the assignments seem to be too formal and forced, so that I document what's required to evidence my learning outcomes simply because I have to, not because I have genuinely achieved something. To sum up, I am a true advocate of learning and development, thus I am really enjoying the opportunity of learning and applying it on the job! The support could have been tailored better. It would be helpful to have have a more regular calls with my business coach, especially to support the process of gathering evidence for my Apprenticeship portfolio.

I do feel that I know more about the industry from completing my qualification. The theory has helped me understand the business and regulations dynamics in the UK. Unfortunatelly, very small part of the theory applies to the Business Analyst role I am currently doing. Some of the learning materials helped me understand an overarching reason for some of the business analysis activities I perform. After a few month at the bank, I actually discovered by speaking to former apprentices at the bank that the business analysis qualification is actually categorised as a Level 6 apprenticeship, however I work towards Level 3 at the moment.

100% yes. I feel like there are even too many to choose from. Actually, I had a few conversations with my peers, line manager and my colleagues to help me decide which events and activities I should take part in to get the most value for my career development, as well as personal benefit. Before the lockdown, I was planning to spend a day in 250 Bishop gate office in London in order to learn more about different domains at the bank by shadowing motivating leaders and experts. Unfortunately, the plan did not come true due to traveling restrictions and Covid-19 laws now. Currently, we have a chance to connect with anyone in the bank and have a virtual meeting with them in order to learn more about the domain, department, their job role and helping us to expand our network too. So far, I have been involved in several events with my colleagues after work or during the lunch time. We are also planning to meet for a picnic at the park. It feels like, whatever you can put your mind to - you can organise it. All is possible for a greater good of work and life balance :)

Yes

I have experienced NatWest as a great and supportive employer. They emphasise the importance of continuous learning and development and they do the best they can to provide employees with opportunities to progress their careers. Employee Led Networks are offering great communities to join and live your values, which is crucial for our overall wellbeing. The benefits I receive as NatWest Group employee are generous and helps me to manage my finances better than I could before. Flexible working hours I think is the key too :) I really enjoy being part of NatWest Group!

The most important aspect, I believe, is willingness and desire to learn while you working. Time Management skill is of high importance here. During the application process each candidate is assessed on 5 Critical People Capabilities that will represent the level of your communication skills, decision making, IT and innovation skills, influencing and knowledge sharing skills too. Crucially, each candidate will be assessed on the adaptability to change. NatWest, being a large organisation, always goes through series of changes based on the customer needs, regulatory requirements and competitive advantage as well, therefore each candidate needs to be ready for changing circumstances and activities too. Myself I have been working on 4 different projects across the Commercial Bank, hence building resilience is very important. During the final stage interview you will be presented with an opportunity to have a nice conversation with a colleague or a manager from the department you will potentially be working at. Remember, to asks all the questions you have, because there are 2 parties making the decision here - the employer and the candidate. If you really want to work for NatWest, it's also important to know, that if you don't like the job role after a while at all, you have an option to change it either during the programme or after your successful completion of it.