Carron Ward

Can you tell us about your role at QBE and how you ended up here?

I joined QBE in 2013 as a HR Business Partner - I’ve always been in the HR space and prior to QBE my roles were more generalist, working across employee relations, training, payroll and business partnering. This led me to my current role as a Senior Reward Manager in the People team.

So, you had a lot of interesting experience to bring to your role at QBE?

The experience I brought with me came from different sectors. I was predominately in retail and environmental consultancy services, so my experience was very different to a financial service organisation like QBE.

How has being at QBE differed from your other roles?

There have been things I have achieved at QBE that I would not have been able to elsewhere, simply because we didn’t have the same level of resources. For example, QBE projects are well funded to enable us to achieve the best outcomes and we also have a high standard of specialists in the People team to continuously bounce ideas off. It was a bit of a (nice) culture shock not having to either plan projects on a shoestring or not do them at all!

I also appreciated the level of progression and development that is available in an organisation of this size, compared to my previous companies.

You spent a year on secondment in Australia for QBE. How was the experience?

Australia came about as a result of a colleague in the global team taking maternity leave. I had already expressed a desire to live and work in another country to experience a different culture. When the vacancy came up for a fixed-term period, my manager made me aware, and I wasted no time in asking if they would consider me.

Because I work in a global team it meant that I already knew my colleagues (even though I hadn’t met them), and I understood the global processes and projects, for example annual merit review. So, from that perspective it was a ‘safe’ move.

My challenge was managing what was ultimately a stretch assignment in another country with a completely different time zone. That could have been really difficult considering my personal support network was back in the UK. I am very privileged that my managers involved in the secondment were thoughtful about this - I’ve built a great network and friendships with my colleagues in Australia, and I still regularly keep in touch with them.

What were your motivations for the moves you have made in your career? What initiated the process?

My moves have predominantly been made through an interest in learning something new. The most impactful move for my career was when I moved into the Reward team on a secondment basis. My motivation stemmed from the activities I enjoyed most in my role as a Business Partner, which had a reward element. However, I almost missed my opportunity as initially I thought the role that became vacant was too junior for me - I didn’t apply and the role was filled. It was very lucky for me that the person ended up not joining and the role became available again.

I used my second chance to discuss the role with my manager and ultimately applied. I was initially offered the role as a secondment, but after six months was offered the role on a permanent basis.

What makes a fulfilling career for you and how have you been able to develop one at QBE?

For me it’s all about continuous learning, the opportunity to do a role I love, and having fun while I do it. I really enjoy all aspects of remuneration, from running the annual merit review to managing benefits, to managing the regulatory aspects of reward in a regulated firm. I think my future will continue to be in the rewards space, as I’m happy in my area of expertise and there are lots of opportunities to keep learning. For example, I am currently acting in an interim capacity while my manager is taking a period of parental leave. This is an experience which will be helpful for me in terms of building my readiness for my next move.

How have you been able to develop yourself and learn new skills both inside and outside of your day-to-day role?

Separate to my day-to-day role, I’m on the sustainability network committee as a representative for the People function. It’s a subject that I’m very passionate about, but at the same time I’ve got a lot to learn.

I’ve also fairly recently (since lockdown) discovered podcasts, and love to listen and learn when I walk to work.

How can lifelong learning be encouraged in the workplace alongside those working full-time jobs?

There’s a lot that QBE does to support staff, but you’ve got to be prepared to ask for it. Everything that’s happened for me has been the result of having that conversation with my manager, so they’ve been aware of what support I needed, where I wanted to go and what I have to offer. Between us we’ve been able to identify the next steps - a lot of it hasn’t necessarily been a course, but often a case of learning on the job with interesting projects.

What advice would you give to others?

Put your hand up to take on opportunities outside of your day-to-day job, so that your manager and the senior leadership teams can see the types of work you’d like to do or learn. Take a chance - my personal experience is that the leadership team at QBE are really thoughtful about how we as a company can help you to succeed and grow.

Finally, periods where you plateau slightly is okay too. I often find I need some time to allow everything I have learned to embed