Business Operations Analyst Review

In my role, my responsibilities will be to make sure the People Operations team is functioning efficiently. I am responsible for communicating with a wide range of stakeholders, which include Executives, HR or Recruitment. I also have to manage various processes within the team: new hire induction (virtual), expense recording, assist managers with off-boarding or department organisational changes. I support employees with recording their working hours for different projects they work on. I also took the responsibility of working on the Net Promoter Score for UKI, analysing survey results and trying to find new ways to improve the satisfaction of clients working with IBM. In this role I also prepare monthly sector presentations which highlight the performance of those sectors and I also have a monthly meeting with our General Manager in which we present the latest results and challenges with different accounts. Dealboard calls are required to enable Bid Teams to take forward opportunities to Senior IBM GBS UKI Market / Europe & Global Management Reviews. It is very important to react to all Dealboard requests promptly and with accuracy. People Operations Team are required to schedule calls as and when requests come through the Dealboard Task ID, for the GBS UK Dealboards. The stakeholders are Senior members of the GBS Consultancy community and Project Leads, which are predominantly GBS Executives As the scheduler I am required to schedule calls, respond to any queries and work outside the box. The GBS Business relies on the Team managing this process to ensure that the calls are scheduled in a timely manner to ensure that the Deal is finalised on time, taken over to the client for sign off, which enables IBM to be the market leaders

I developed a wide range of skills through the work that I have done in my role. I have significatly improved my communication and collaboration skills, making use of tools like Trello, Box or Mural. I have also been required to prepare analysis and reports based on data, which has helped me improve my analytical and presentation skills. As with any job, there is sometimes quite a lot of change in demands/processes, which has tested my ability to be flexible and work with agility. This is a quality particularly important in a company like IBM, which takes pride in its Agile delivery of products and services. Through the learning platform that IBM has, I was also able to improve my knowledge of technologies like AI, Cloud or Blockchain, as I undertook numerous courses in this area. There have also been different events (hackathons) where I developed my Design Thinking skills, by using practices such as Empathy Mapping, Scenario Mapping etc.

I was given a great deal of responsibility in my role as part of the People Operations team and the second project I worked on (the Net Promoter Score). I always felt that my work was important and added value to the company. In the People Operations team, there was a lot of responsibility in terms of updating distribution lists (to ensure effective GBS-wide communication) and on-boarding experienced new hires (through our inductions), for example. At the same time, the Net Promoter Score was a very high-profile project, analysing client feedback and creating reports and communications based on it. My managers always ensured that I was given extra small projects, which helped me up-skill in different areas and improve my overall placement experience. I would say there was a good balance of responsibility in my role, which made my placement both challenging and rewarding. There was also enough freedom to seek new opportunities or take on more learning, I didn't feel like I was trapped in my main role all the time.

There was a great deal of guidance and support from day 1, particularly as we started and continued to work from home for the full 12 months. Apart from my task manager, I was also assigned a 'Foundation Manager', who looked after me and answered any queries I had throughout my year with IBM. This was really helpful as it provided an additional person who was there to help if experiencing any issues. In terms of well-being, there are various opportunities to get involved or seek support, and these were constantly promoted through communications we received by email. As a general note, the majority of people I met throughout my placement were very supportive and approachable, which significantly improved my overall experience. There was enough guidance provided about what is expected from us in terms of 3/6/12 month reviews, and there were also dedicated sessions where we could ask questions.

There were a lot of events taking place at all times within IBM, it's actually challenging to keep up with everything going on in the company. The main point about culture within IBM is the focus on learning, which is encouraged at all times and promoted through communications. IBM has a big learning platform (called Your Learning), where employees can pretty much learn about anything they wish to. The majority of courses are free and available to anyone. Considering the current situation, there were lots of events which encouraged meeting new people virtually and having conversations outside of work. These were well promoted and I always enjoyed the ones I took part in. At the same time, there is a great focus on diversity and inclusion events within the company, which was impressive to see. There are numerous projects with local communities and there is always the opportunity to do some meaningful giveback if time allows.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement, although it was fully virtual. I believe IBM is a great place to work in and the people that I met were so friendly, approachable and professional. Throughout my year I felt that my work is appreciated and that I have room for improvement and exploring new opportunities. The team that I worked in was very good, we had great cohesion and we collaborated well during our time together. I would have probably enjoyed more opportunities to join/shadow on client work, however the lack of opportunities made it more challenging for me to network and make my own luck. In the end I got to shadow on a few projects and had meaningful conversations with consultans within the company, which helped develop my understanding about the company. I was very impressed by the learning culture of IBM and I was able to explore a lot of courses and upskill myself. The range of opportunities to develop myself is one of the main reasons I would like to return to IBM as a graduate consultant. I have seen some of the work we do with clients from all over the world, and I find it both fascinating and intriguing to add value to similar projects. Overall I have been very pleased with my experience and I am looking forward to returning to IBM (I have applied for a Graduate role already).

Yes

If you want to work for a diverse, inclusive company, where you do meaningful and appreciated work, then IBM is the place for you. Please ensure you do a lot of research on the company before the assessment centre and interview, it is quite likely to come across some of that information in the process. Don't be put off by any technical requirements and do not underestimate yourself, IBM is a place where attitudine is valued very highly, so if you have a will to learn then you will fit right in. Make sure you are aware and understand IBM's values and prepare in advance examples of how you align to those values (you can think of examples from Uni, work experience, personal examples etc.) I would have loved to know that the majority of people are so open to conversations and giving advice, so please don't hesitate and network as much as possible with IBMers who work in areas you are interested in. At the same time, make the most of the opportunities that arise, especially because you are on your placement and are much more likely to have some flexibility. Please do not stress too much about day one, you will receive a lot of guidance and information, just be yourself and you will do fine. Get to know your team well during your first few days and your manager as well. Try to go over the 'working relationship' and actually get to know people on a personal level, they will make your placement a wonderful experience.