PIP Team Leader Review

I am a PIP team leader who is responsible for 11 staff who are the processors and the telephony agents for the primary helpline. My day to day role is monitoring their performance, helping them with service delivery and organising schedules. I act as their singular point of contact for any issues or concerns that they may have.

The apprenticeship has been really useful for both my initial caseworker role and my team leader role. We have looked at the customer journey and customer insight and these have been invaluable in giving me a wider view of the customer perspective which then allows us to provide better customer service with the customer in mind.

I find the activities engaging and varied. Some of the classrooms feel like common sense activities though and I would also critique the way that some of the questions are worded. It would be more beneficial if the categories were broad and then we could fit the topics to our actual roles. My skills coach has been fantastic.

Very well organised, we know exactly what is expected of us by which dates. The biggest issue we face currently is that with industrial action and apprenticeship days cancelled due to seasonal planning (for example, Easter), some of the deadlines are completely unrealistic for completion. I think there should be more leeway regarding the EPA.

My employer allows me 20% of my hours to focus on my apprenticeship. I try to take a whole day but due to my demanding position, I often have to work during this day and then find time to catch up separately, which is not an ideal situation. I also manage four apprentices so a lot of my time is dedicated to their reviews and interactions alongside trying to complete my own. However, my LM is very supportive and always helps me within her power.

My skills coach is always available to help me with my apprenticeship and is aware of my time difficulties so tries to incorporate activities together, such as completing portfolio mapping during learner interactions or practising PowerPoint presentations in 1-1s. I always feel as though I could contact her if I was struggling.

As a customer service based role, it is essential that we are constantly developing our understanding and deployment of excellent service and what this means in a forever changing work environment. It has made me much more mindful and compassionate when completing my role and this can only be beneficial.

There are opportunities available, such as sports teams and days out but nothing that I get involved in particularly. I am a member of HASSRA which gives me the opportunity to enter competitions and get discounted tickets on days out with my external friends which I appreciate. I am considering getting more involved in the sports aspect of work when the weather improves.

Yes

Absolutely. It is a great, varied group of people and we are making positive impact in people's lives everyday. It is a fulfilling role that people can get stuck into and take ownership for. Also the opportunities of flexi-time and hybrid have significantly improved the quality of my work/life balance.

I would encourage them to come in with a can-do attitude and prepare themselves for a varied expectation daily. There is a wide range of customers and this means that some days are easier and then some are much more complex, but ask lots of questions and make the most of the minds of the people supporting you and you will have a job that you genuinely enjoy.