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Women in Leadership
Name: Mrs Bayjou
Role: Senior Cover Supervisor
Company: Invicta Grammar School
Why did you decide to go into your chosen field?
I can’t say that when I was growing up I wanted to be a Cover Supervisor as until I applied for the job I had never heard of this role.
All my previous roles have required dealing with a variety people of all different ages, good communication skills, planning, problem solving, training individuals and working collaboratively as part of a team. These are all transferable skills.
As you get older, your priorities change and so it is important to have a skill set that is adaptable.
What qualifications do you have and what did you do before joining Invicta?
Before starting my Economics degree, I had always thought I would become an Accountant but after doing some accountancy units during my studies realised it would not be the job for me.
After graduating, I worked in banking for ten years. I worked for the same company but in different areas.
I started in Retail Banking then went into Corporate Banking before moving to Lending Operations which was in the Global Banking and Markets division, where I stayed for six years.
Lending Operations administered the loans for Corporate Clients where facilities could range from hundreds of pounds to hundreds of millions of pounds and depending on the Loan Agreements could be drawn in different currencies.
Funding, rate fixing and payment deadlines had to be met daily and these differed depending on the currency of the loan. It was important to be able to reprioritise your workload during the day to meet the demands of the queries from clients or the Relationship Management Team, the loan drawdowns coming in, as well as process the loan renewals and meet the deadlines that were in place.
On a daily basis we could be speaking to Corporate Customers, the Funding & Rate Fixing Dealers, the Relationship Management Team and Agent Banks. It was essential to pay attention to detail and complete the work in the required timescales as errors could lead to a financial loss or have a reputational impact on the Bank.
I really enjoyed working in this department. It was long hours and hard work but I worked with a great group of people. I liked helping clients and colleagues, problem solving, dealing with colleagues in various parts of the world and looking for more efficient ways to work.
I progressed through the various roles becoming a Technical Specialist and I also managed a large team.
At the time I had always imagined I would stay with the Bank, just moving to various departments if I wanted a new opportunity. Unfortunately, Lending Operations was relocated to Manchester and staff in London were made redundant if they did not wish to relocate.
My redundancy began one month before my second child was born. When I returned to work I wanted a job that was local and would fit around my family. I applied for a role as a one-to-one support in a nursery for a child with autism.
I had the opportunity to study for a Children and Young People’s Workforce Level 3 Diploma which I achieved. After the child I was working with left to go to school, I moved to a different nursery. I was given the responsibility of setting up a Term Time nursery room which I loved. I led the Term Time facility, and enjoyed the planning of topics and activities as well as trying to get visitors in to provide new experiences for the children and bring their learning through play to life.
Due to a spinal injury, I returned to Banking. The job was a processing role. Whilst there I was also involved in identifying, proposing and testing improvements to processes and procedures to increase operational performance as it was a target driven environment.
I obtained the Chartered Bankers Institute Professional Banker Certificate as the opportunity was offered.
How have your previous roles assisted you in your current job?
In Lending Operations, we would do as much forward dated work as possible to make the actual day run smoother as you never knew what could happen during the day, especially at month, quarter and year ends where the volume of loan renewals to deal with would be much higher but the same timescales still had to be met.
I still work in a methodical and logical way. I plan ahead and try not to carry over any work whenever possible so that I can deal with all the new requests and queries on the day.
I also look at things from a very different perspective, and due to my experiences I regularly review working practices to see what can be improved.
What obstacles have you overcome in your career?
When I originally worked at the bank, we never had obstacles or challenges, we had development opportunities!
I left Banking (the first time) and Child Care due to situations not under my control but this gave me the opportunity to re-evaluate what I wanted to do.
Since being at Invicta, I have dealt with having no systems for several months after the cyber attack and at the same time having whole departments having to isolate due to covid. Organising cover and room changes, using an excel version of the staff and room timetables was a very manual process. It was extremely time consuming to create the daily cover and room change information sent to staff and students due to the high volume of absences.
Why do you think it is important to have a strong female representation in industry?
For individuals, it creates much needed role models to inspire those wanting to work in the industry, or to move within the same company to different areas.
For industry, a larger talent pool to recruit from should ensure that the most appropriate candidates are offered roles.
Through the diversity of its workforce, industry will benefit from the perspective and experiences of the individuals it employs to generate innovation, creativity and better problem solving.
What advice would you give those wanting to take a similar career path?
- My advice, no matter what career path you take, would be to apply for job opportunities that interest you.
- Most job advertisements are a wish list of what an employer is looking for.
- Never rule yourself out by not applying, that’s the role of the person looking through the applications! You’ll either be offered an interview or you won’t but if you don’t apply, you’ll never know.
