When Lola was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, BDO helped her through it. Now there's no stopping her - she's made the most of her career opportunities to become a team leader.
Here is her story.
"When I left college, I originally wanted to go down the legal secretarial route. But when I saw the job opening for team secretary at BDO, I knew I needed to apply.
I've been here for around six years now. When I was first starting out, I got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. It was really difficult; I couldn't physically walk or talk because my joints in my face hurt. But BDO helped me through it. They gave me equipment for my home and at the office, adjusted my hours, and really made things easier for me. And I don't think a lot of companies would do that.
Sadly, I had to leave because my husband lived in Liverpool and I couldn't work remotely at the time. But I was determined to find a job with BDO, because I had such a great experience with them before. I applied, was offered a new role as part of a new service line, and I accepted it immediately.
For two years I was providing learning administration support for running technical training and residential events. I helped to create content, go to the events, and be on hand to sort things out.
I took on a 12 month secondment within People Development. I was working with every department across the business. That's where things really started to change for me. I was getting involved in all of the important decisions that were being made and how processes would run. They also really invested in my development with training.
I had received such good feedback for working within that team, that when I returned to the SSC at the end of my secondment they said I was ready for the next step - to become a team leader.
I was really, really happy with that.
I became the L&D Team Leader, managing a team of three learning and development administrators for two months and was then asked to help BDO to integrate the new service line for resourcing for EH and EIC. I jumped at the chance and was then responsible for 20 direct reports.
Now that team has integrated successfully they have a newly appointed Team Leader. I have recently helped to introduce a new HR Services Team which will be transferred over to a new Team Leader in the future too.
Everyone that I've worked with has always given me constructive feedback. They've always taken time to upskill me. I've been very comfortable being able to ask, how can I get here?
I see myself always being at BDO. I love it here."
If you're looking for your next great career move, search for a role at BDO.