Business Administrator Review

My role is a business administrator at the Co-op. My role is sat in the Co-op Chief People and Services Office. I support the Chief people and services officers and the senior leadership team, ensuring they're organised each day, this can be from helping with diaries to formatting presentations. I also help a lot with the comms.

I have learnt lots of new skills during my apprenticeship. I have done half of my CIPD modules. I have learnt about how businesses are structured, a lot around data and why data is important to use within human resources. Doing an apprenticeship has helped me understand the business I work for and how I can help make improvements.

I enjoy my programme a lot, you have to have a lot of self-motivation as there is no one checking up on you! Time goes really fast however at the start of the course, the training provider spoke through a lot of time management techniques which really helped me. My Coach doesn't mark my work often at all so I'm not sure where I'm up to.

The programme is fairly well structured however a few changes have occurred, for example; new coaches come and go as well as whilst being on the course, we have now changed to a new system where all the information is which is quite confusing after getting used to one not long ago.

My employer is supportive, we plan our own time however my manager always comes along to meetings with my coach and if I have any questions, the apprenticeship team are always there with lots of advice and support, especially [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyApprenticeship Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions] who is an apprenticeship whizz. It is great that the team have or are currently completely apprenticeships as they can give top tips.

The training provider, Avado have been supportive, I have a catch up with my coach once a week however my work does not get marked very often therefore I struggle to know what I am doing well and what I'm not doing so well. The learning platform is quite good, a bit hard to get around. We have meetings throughout the modules where a tutor talks through the subjects which is really helpful.

The qualification is helping me perform better in my role as my colleagues around me are helping me get involved in more projects that they think would help with my apprenticeship, if I wasn't doing an apprenticeship, i don't think this would happen as much so I am definitely getting more opportunities.

There isn't many extra-curricular activities to get involved with at work that I am aware of. Co-op is in a lot of debt therefore we cannot afford to spend money on anything like social activities unfortunately. I am grateful of the opportunity with the apprenticeship funding though so I don't mind.

Yes

I would recommend Co-op to my friends/ family if they were interested in doing a qualification, they are supportive around apprenticeships however it is a difficult company to progress in, there are many restructures which cause low morale in colleagues, and our retention rate has been impacted massively due to this.

If you are thinking about applying to work at the Co-op, be prepared for lots of change. This could be your role name, your team, having to get a new job altogether. There are many restructures however the overall values of the company align with my own. If you care about your local community and the people/ world around you, co-op is a good company for you.