COMMENT I believe that as humans we are all curious, with a keenness to develop and learn. The idea that anyone can be engaged doing the same things, day in, day out, over a long period of time is something most people would struggle with. However, this does not necessarily mean there is a need to switch from company to company throughout your career, provided you have the right support.
I started at Octopus Investments eight years ago as a business development manager. This involved working with financial advisers and their clients in the complex world of tax and investments. I loved it. The challenge of every conversation presenting something “new” really appealed to me. Whether it was a new client, a new circumstance to discuss or a new problem to solve, I loved all of it. It was a stretching and enjoyable period. After three years, however, I became restless. Not because I didn’t enjoy the the role or the financial advisers I worked with, but I felt that the amount of “new” I was being exposed to was reducing.
I struck up a conversation with D’mitri Zaprzala, now head of residential at Octopus Real Estate. D’mitri had made the transition from Octopus Investments previously, and I got chatting to him at a social work event. The property lending arm of Octopus Group was looking for BDMs, so I could use all the skills I had built in my previous role, but in the real estate market. This meant a new industry and new clients, but felt like a great transition, all the while staying with Octopus, a company I loved being part of.
Before I knew it, with Octopus’s full support, I had interviewed and moved into a new role, and was travelling around the UK working predominantly with real estate brokers and intermediaries. My role focused on helping them secure quick, yet complex finance for residential and commercial purchases/refinances, as well as providing finance to refurbish or develop residential properties. It was a fast-paced environment that I thrived in. Anyone who has worked in the specialist lending sector knows it is both vibrant and exciting, and I threw myself firmly in the deep end.
Opportunities to stay
I would have left Octopus if this opportunity had not been possible with the company supporting me, but instead this role allowed me to specialise in the real estate industry. I worked in that role for two and half years.
Another role then became available, head of internal BDMs. By then, I knew the industry and the role of the BDMs, however managing a team was a whole new challenge. I took on the role and Octopus supported me all the way, including providing detailed manager training.
As I continued in this role, I started to look at how to solve some of the underlying friction my team were facing day-to-day. Hearing about their challenges made me want to fix these issues. Octopus has always allowed its employees to try out new things alongside their day jobs and give things a go, and I began fixing and resolving process, system, and operational challenges as part of my role. For 18 months I did this role combining management and operational improvement.
For me, the operational improvement is where I found my passion. The ability to find a problem and rectify it was something that engaged me. I told D’mitri this and before long, D’mitri, Benjamin Davis (the chief executive of Octopus Real Estate) and I were discussing how to make this passion I had found into a career. A new role was created, business operations manager, a job dedicated to removing friction, improving efficiencies and operations of the business.
And that is what I have been doing for over a year now. It is a very varied and often challenging job. I have learned many new skills and a lot about other sectors of real estate. I have helped raise institutional funds, launched products, and now have a Business Operations Associate reporting to me.
I truly believe I have been able to give more back to Octopus as a business through its support of me changing roles and moving to different parts of the business. This has helped me grow and develop both as a person and as an employee. It has kept me engaged and therefore my output has been greater than if I had remained in a role that I did not fully connect with anymore.
Requests for new challenges, progression and development do not mean you are not committed to the business, they show your hunger to give back to the business in the best way that you can.
Lauren Gill is business operations manager at Octopus Real Estate
