Well, I don’t know how it happened, but my Summer Placement at Centrica is nearly halfway through. Five weeks crammed full of projects, plans and personalities – all gone! It’s been an amazing journey so far and I look forward to the next half even more.
Human Resources is no surprise, all about humans and resources. But it’s not about treating our people as resources: it’s about giving our people the resources, support and representation they need to do their job effectively. HR professionals are at work inside any large business; bringing the right people in, making sure they’re in the right role, and rewarding them for doing a fantastic job. It’s an important task because without all these things you haven’t got a business. And given that the Centrica group has the population size of a small country, HR has a big job to do.
Another great thing about HR is that it’s filled with people who care passionately about people, and are generally incredibly nice themselves. I have been made to feel exceptionally welcome by my team and Line Manager, who have gone out of their way to make sure I settled in to what was at first an alien environment.
Opportunities for learning, development and rewards are easy to come by; because these activities are run by HR for the entire business, they are readily available to HR professionals themselves. Even within my short time here I’m taking part in two learning visits, one to Stockport, Manchester and one slightly more exciting trip to Krakow, Poland, to develop my understanding of the company. It’s also a bonus to work in a part of the business which manages Centrica’s vast and complex workforce, as there’s no quicker way to figure out who does what and how to get things done.
What does my own work involve? I am in HR Systems, which organises and handles all information about our people. Day to day, I’m more involved with information than people so it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. It’s tremendously important work though, and great for interns who have both analytical and people skills. This is just one of many possible roles for an HR Summer Placement; I have colleagues who work to promote workforce diversity and inclusion, organise training and development events and help manage our wonderful British Gas call centres. If you’re successful in applying for a HR Summer Placement, the Graduate Team will choose from many available roles to find the one where you can shine your brightest.
So this is HR at Centrica: diverse, exciting, welcoming, challenging and rewarding. Put like that, there’s no good reason not to choose HR!
Find out more about Centrica's Graduate and Undergraduate schemes here.