Luciana Monfort - HR
Job title: HR Analyst
Degree & University: International Business, University of West England
Joined: September 2006
Transcript
What inspires you?
I’m drawing two people talking to each other, I’m putting the globe between them and the reason for that is it fascinates me the idea of how to bring people from different places, talking one language, how you can bring two cultures together and make that brilliant workplace or big business.
What attracted you to Barclays?
The first thing that attracted me to Barclays was based on more of a customer experience. I had already gone to branches a couple of times and talked to managers there and I really enjoyed what I saw, from a customer perspective. And so I decided to look into companies that had already built that sort of trust and then I looked at the graduate programme at Barclays.
Ther training development scheme was really, really interesting. I decided to apply and then went through the assessment days and I just really loved the way that they assessed you and the way they looked after you, and that’s when I actually said yes, I’m going to work for Barclays.
Why did you choose to join HR?
Well HR was already a passion I’d had before choosing to do a graduate scheme, based on experience I’d had in HR abroad when I was working overseas. I liked the international side of the business and bringing people together from different countries into one company that operates at an international level.
Barclays has that kind of HR department where you have people from a range of different cultures and this helps to create an international mindset. So I chose to go into HR to be able to have that experience in that business area.
Can you outline any interesting projects you have been involved with?
Because banking is changing all the time there are a lot of projects that are happening constantly in Barclays. The first one I had was the one I was involved in for my first four months with the organisation - the legal way to work project - where we had to liaise with the Home Office and Human Resource Legal to improve our policies, ensuring that we were able to create one policy in Barclays that could work for all the business areas.
It was a very challenging project because I had to try and combine everyone’s interests and needs into one policy, whilst at the same time complying with Home Office guidelines. So that was a very, very interesting project.
What qualities do you need to succeed in HR?
First of all, the one I think applies for the whole of Barclays, but specific for HR as well, is customer focus. And even though you wonder about how you’re going to achieve/deliver customer focus in human resources, there is a way. All of the employees, we refer to them at Barclays as are our internal customers, so you have to be really, really focused on the service that you are providing to them.
Secondly, you have you be really able to adapt to change, because things will happen really fast - mainly because it is a really fast-paced organisation, and you have to be ready to take on change and implement that in the company.
You have to be keen at understanding new ideas, and putting them into place, but above all I think that, to succeed in Barclays and HR you have to be totally open to feedback. So, this involves having people telling you what you’re doing well, and what your areas of development are, and then if you listen to what they’re saying and you work hard at it, you will be very successful.
Why join HR?
People don’t usually work for companies, they usually work for people. So, you know, when you go to work and you say I love this company, if you stop and think about it, what you actually love is the people you work with. And human resources is the team that is going to bring those people onboard in a company and make you feel that way. So, I’d say that’s why it’s an amazing area to be in.
Who at work inspires you and why?
I’d love to say one person but it’s so many of them. So, I would say that what inspires me at Barclays is the team. I learn from every single person I work with. I can’t only mention one person’s name because it is absolutely everyone that I’ve had contact with in Barclays so far – everyone has taught me something. They help me to either develop myself, or I try to share my experiences as well to help them. So I would say it’s a team, the whole team and everyone giving you ideas. Feedback, as I say, really inspires me - the whole group together, developing you. That’s what inspires me, not only one person.
