Change Implementation and Operations - Performance and Reward Analyst Review

Overall, I enjoyed the insight very much. I had a lot of opportunities while in placement, the projects I worked on were fairly demanding, the people I was working with were great and there was a nice community of interns in my base. However, the only reason I didn’t rate this higher was that while overall it has been great, from week to week the experience varies quite a lot. It took some time to get started as getting organised on all of the IT, telecom and security systems is pretty time-consuming and largely line-manager dependent. Some weeks are much busier than others so some days you feel worked off your feet and others you might feel like it would have been a better use of time to have the day off.

In my opinion, Lloyds Banking Group make a real effort to have their interns feel valued. The induction event that is held prior to beginning the placement really sets up the general feeling that interns can be a real asset to the organisation while they are there. It is motivating and this spur at the beginning carries through to the end of your placement. I was based in a hub office in Edinburgh and this environment makes it really easy for permanent colleagues to know who you are and be able to reach out to you for help. The working relationships that you are able to make in this setting really adds to your feeling valued within the organisation rather than a drop in the ocean of a really large company.

While not being based in the same office or even the same city as my line manager, I was really fortunate to have a mentor in the same team and office as me that was really supportive from the beginning. He got me set up on IT systems really quickly, gave me team, process, and office inductions all within my first week and I could not fault the direct support that I received from him. With Lloyds Banking Group being an agile organisation, it is not unusual to be based away from your line manager so it requires a bit more conscientiousness on your part to reach out and ask for the support that you need rather than someone being able to see that you need the support and/or just asking a question there and then. In terms of your wider network (the team you’re working in etc), staff are really supportive and happy to help when and where they can or when and where you need them to. Other things to bear in mind is that often when your workload is high, so is everyone else’s, so at times you might need to be a bit more patient with regards to getting support.

While there was a lot of opportunity for skills development on the internship, I didn’t feel that they were developed anymore than they have been while working towards my degree. I was familiar with software that was used here, comfortable with networking, and confident with many professional skills that I had more of a chance to utilise while on the placement. In terms of the information I received, I feel that this will assist me a lot more in my degree studies and beyond as it was very specific to the industry and career I want to pursue.

Really well structured. There is an induction event at the beginning and this is great to get the company overview, a real insight into the organisational culture and what will be expected of you over the course of the ten weeks. I was also fortunate to have a work-stream specific induction that gave you the overview of the organisation structure within the work-stream, where you fit in within the team you’re placed in etc. After those two days, the team specific inductions began and it was a good high level overview moving down to specific overviews across a few days. Moreover, I had weekly one-to-ones with my mentor, a mid and end placement review, regular updates and feedback on projects and this structure worked really well for me.

The general atmosphere was bubbly and upbeat. Everyone I worked with was really welcoming and wanted to help/give up time for you. Sometimes the office was quiet with it being a summer placement and people taking holidays but overall it felt busy and was a great atmosphere to work in.

The company invested a lot. As well as an intern development curriculum, there was a whole host of online courses that I had access to, there were courses lead remotely via telephone and Microsoft Live-Meet, courses lead in person. Weekly one-to ones were highly recommended for interns and we were also given access to the organisation’s performance management systems and processes.

I was working 9-5, five days a week for the whole 10 week placement, the same as the majority of people in the office. I was not just shadowing but I had projects I was working on, projects I was leading and additional responsibilities, same as all the staff in the organisation. I saw several projects through end-end while there and this was a great insight into not only the day-to-day operations but over much longer timespans as well.

From the beginning, interns are immersed in the company culture and it’s not something that disappears when you get into the office. Colleagues really believe in the values that Lloyds Banking Group stand for. Moreover, these beliefs are practiced all the time and in many circumstances (e.g. mid-year reviews), employees are asked how there actions and contributions live up to the Group values.

No two days were the same and this is something that I want for my future career - to have something that is varied and dynamic. So being able to experience a role like that in my summer placement was really valuable for me. As a summer intern, you don’t have much control over what placements you’re given in your chosen work stream so the placement was really good for helping realise what I don’t want to do in my future career. My mentor was really understanding of this and helped me reach out to get work on other projects and arrange networking opportunities with other colleagues in areas that were more aligned with what I want for my future career.

I was paid really well and always on time. Any expenses incurred were reimbursed immediately and with a really easy process to follow. Moreover, I had to move away from my preferred location and I didn’t have any accommodation, the organisation were really conscientious and secured me accommodation with one of their providers. It was a really great experience

Plenty! This was definitely a good thing in such a big organisation. By meeting as many colleagues as you could get to know people from all the different functions and divisions and see how they all fit together to form such a big organisation. With it being so large, a huge focus is put on employees reaching out and collaborating and it is something that is applauded.

All of the formally organised events were great, really seamless and tended to have a purpose that was unrelated to networking underlying them so as it could become an interesting discussion point. For example, there would be an invited speaker, normally an academic, scientist, entrepreneur etc and they would speak for 30mins, take questions and there would be discussions and networking afterwards. Similarly, the diversity networks in Lloyds Banking Group hosted networking events regularly.

There were plenty of formally organised and informally organised activities that employees can get involved with and the range of different types of activities you can do is phenomenal. Offices tend to be really social and friendly so there is even a lot of spontaneity with events and social activities.

I would recommend this insight to a friend whether they had considered financial services before or not. The support you get from the employer is endless, the people are really helpful and grateful for the work interns do, and there is a huge variety of “extra-curricula’s” that you can get involved in.