Pastures New

Starting a new job is an exciting time, heading for pastures new. A great time to embrace new challenges, meet new people, and, learn new skills. Little did I know when I accepted the job offer just how different the first 3 months would be because of 2020s challenges!

On my first morning I was greeted upon arrival by one of my new colleagues and made to feel very welcome. My manager helped me settle in and began my training. Very easy to achieve as we sit at adjoining desks. My manager suggested I took a laptop home to check I could connect from home due to the possibility we may at some point be asked to work from home due to the evolving covid19 pandemic.
The date was Monday 23rd March, the day lockdown restrictions came into force.

Having had only one day in the office and met 5 colleagues, including 2 from IT support who set up my laptop, we were all asked to work from home. I had worked from home before on occasion but could never have predicted this happening on day 2 of a new role!

Thanks to the fantastic technology we have in place my manager was able to continue to train me on all key aspects of my role just as if we were sitting side by side.
Outside of the core Microsoft Office suite which was already familiar I have been trained to use many new systems such as
• Using Microsoft Teams for the first time I learned Everything is possible!
From sharing screens to demonstrate new tasks, recording training sessions to enable documentation to be created afterwards or joining team meetings. Making telephone calls to customers, creating new external contacts. Storing team documentation for easy reference.
• The Finance System – Business Central
A whole new experience – Credit Control, cash allocation, entering AP invoices to support vendor payments, Updating credit card payments and expenses to name but a few!
• The expenses system -Zetadocs Expenses
This enables me to approve expense claims and process these into Business Central, as well as creating new project codes as required.
• HR Induction
Access to the HR portal in addition to a 1 to 1 Teams call with HR meant my induction experience was not impaired.

In summary, I am now three months into my fabulous new role, and I feel more confident as each week passes. I have had everything I need to make my new start successful. I have even finally ditched the traditional notebook in favour of OneNote!
As we consider what a return to the office might look like I believe one of disadvantages of working from home continually will be addressed. I will be able to meet my new colleagues in person and develop new contacts in a face to face environment. It will feel like a whole new start again!

I am proud to have witnessed, in being a part of it, how positive an experience this has been for many people as we embraced home working and proved we can keep the wheels of the business turning wherever we are.
#Client Obsessed #BePartOfIt #MasterYourCraft #GrowTheBusiness

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