As one of our People Business Partners, Jack has worked within the People Team at Sofology for over a year, helping Sofologists at Head Office remain happy and comfortable in their roles. He was attracted to work at Sofology because he believed that the values of our company were ideals he already strove to work toward - Committed, Progressive, Caring, Trusted, Exceptional and Fun.
We wanted to chat with Jack about his career and his journey with Sofology, to find out where he’s been and what experiences moulded him into the Sofologist he is today.
Where did your working life start?
I began my working life in the retail industry, working in supermarkets in a variety of different roles. At Tesco I worked in a large store for several years in a variety of different positions, such as checkout team leader, petrol station manager and also grocery and household manager. I gained some amazing insights during this time on how to make the right decisions to improve the efficiency of a store and keep colleagues happy in their roles.
I supported the store in managing a large team of about 120 colleagues in customer facing roles, which gave me the people management skills to support my vocation in the Human Resources world. From Tesco I moved on to Morrisons, where I began to manage HR related matters in the stores across Manchester and Liverpool. With my main goal of improving colleague engagement, I began to learn how to help every colleague achieve their goals and develop their skills.
What’s your favourite thing about working at Sofology?
Working in the People Team allows me a certain level of autonomy and job management when it comes to my day-to-day routine - we’re trusted to manage our time, so we can get on with the task at hand and constantly strive to make Sofology an amazing place to work. We work both independently and as a team, so we can always achieve the highest standards - everyone is there to lend a helping hand.
As a team we work hard to deliver forward thinking, creative projects that will inspire our Sofologists to grow and develop in their careers. This could be reminding Sofologists of the benefits available to them, organising fun and rewarding internal activities and events or just being there to chat when we’re needed. The most encouraging thing about work for me at the moment is that we are a fast-growing company, which means there are more opportunities than ever for people to progress in their careers.
How do you help our customers feel at home on a sofa they love?
I personally believe that every single Sofologist plays an important role in helping deliver our company mission: Leaving our customers happy and comfortable on a sofa they love. The People Team play a pivotal role in supporting the Sofologists who directly influence the Sofology customer experience. Although the People Team rarely interact with customers, we’re there to help the Sofologists who do.
I’ve been at Sofology for over a year now, working as the People Business Partner for Head office, and in that time I’ve supported numerous Sofologists with their Health and Wellbeing, trying to improve their wellbeing so they can do their job more effectively. It’s amazing to see where they started and their journey to where they are and, what’s more, getting feedback from the people I’ve personally helped is a real perk of the job.
What does success look like for you?
Success for me is seeing Sofologists engaged with the business and engaged within their roles. I personally believe that for someone to work effectively they need to be happy, and that’s where I come in, always trying to keep people happy and content in their role. It gives me a great sense of pride knowing that I’ve positively affected someone’s job and happiness at work.
Recognition is at the heart of everything we do and, for me, success is gaining recognition for a job well done - something as simple as praise from a manager or being told from a stakeholder that you’ve been part of a job well done feels amazing.