Lara Waldrom - Training and competence partner

Lara is responsible for ensuring our member-facing teams are up-to-date with the latest regulatory training and their performance is compliant.

I have worked for The Nottingham for 15 years and during this time I have worked in finance, compliance and now people and development. It’s important to me to work for a company that gives you chance to develop and grow. When I applied for my first job in the accounts team at The Nottingham, I never thought 15 years later I would still be working for the same company, albeit in a totally different area of the business.

I had worked in finance for seven years and felt I had achieved everything I could in the role at the time. I still enjoyed working for the Society so decided to explore other options. My manager supported me with this and I went to spend time in other areas of the business to see if I could transfer any of my skills. One of the departments I visited was the compliance team. I was interested in this area as the work seemed very varied and different to the job I was currently doing. I was lucky to secure a role in the team.

During my first year working in the team there was some change in mortgage regulation which resulted in more work in this area. My manager had faith in me and encouraged me to complete my mortgage adviser training which meant I could support with the supervision of this area. This led me to my career in training and competence.

A key thing I learnt from this is to be honest with your manager. If I had not told my finance manager that I was no longer enjoying the role I might still be in that role or have left a company I still wanted to work for.

At the start of each year I spend some time with my manager planning the year ahead and setting some high level goals of what I want to achieve each month. It is important to have a clear long term plan even if on occasion you get a curve ball which throws everything out a bit!

Finding an employer that supports personal development and career progression is something I recommend when applying for a job especially if, like me, you are unsure what you want that career to be. Working for The Nottingham has provided me with opportunities to get to the stage I’m at now where I love my job and enjoy the challenges it presents.