After spending a short time working abroad, Cheryl eventually felt the cultural fit wasn’t right for her so returned to her homeland of England. Joining
Santander, Cheryl enjoyed the bank’s focus on personal development as well as the fast-paced, entrepreneurial work culture where progression is based on merit rather than simply who you know.
“Initially I wasn’t 100% confident about taking on a role at Santander because it was a new entrant to Corporate Banking and at the time the bank was around 80 to 90% retail focused. However with prudent risk focus, Santander has proved to be a dynamic, insurgent and growing company”, explains Cheryl.
“There has been a huge drive for recruiting more females into the bank and supporting women as valued employees. I’m very active in driving the Women in Business agenda myself and I am Santander’s ambassador for Thames Valley and the South West. The bank holds a national forum with regional events and I run events that provide support and coaching for women, with external speakers addressing a variety of issues relating to women in the workplace.”
Cheryl believes that there is a lot of flexibility for working mothers at Santander. “There is a culture of accommodation for personal situations and the bank trusts people to do their jobs well. I’ve also enjoyed the recognition one gets here too. I’m proud to say I won the National People Award (Retail, Corporate and Commercial) which is an internal recognition where nomination is based on how you manage and lead people. I attended a great event for the award and even got to meet Formula 1 star, Jenson Button. I’ve been put forward for “The Women in business Thames Valley business magazine award” and have won the “Thames Valley business award, bank of the year outstanding performer”. Santander has also been recognised as Bank of the Year.”
Diversity is very important to Cheryl, as it is to the bank. “Having people from different backgrounds lets you see a challenge from all angles and come up with creative solutions. Our customer population is diverse so without question we should reflect that in the makeup of our teams.”
Women considering joining Santander need to be dynamic individuals with ambition to succeed. Specifically, for Relationship Manager or Relationship Director roles, women should come from a commercial or corporate background with good credit skills and a resilient nature. A key difference to working at Santander as opposed to a long established bank is that employees get the opportunity to impact and influence aspects like culture and policy.
Enjoying her time outside work, Cheryl has taken up horse riding. “I always wanted to ride but it’s only recently that I’ve had the opportunity. It’s actually quite dangerous, and despite a couple of falls it’s a really great experience. I’ve also recently moved house, and this has seen a huge renovation project. We inherited a greenhouse when we moved in, so I’m also enjoying growing my own vegetables in excessive quantities!”
Cheryl believes the balance between work and home is important, and encourages other women not to listen to the voice inside that might say “you can’t do this because it won’t work”. Focus and perseverance are important for career women if they are to remain confident and keep aiming at what they want to achieve.
Santander attracts many impressive women like Cheryl. There are many exciting full-time and part-time roles available, and the professional development programmes and support are very impressive.
Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.