Quick profile
- Nationality: Malaysian
- University: BSc Psychology with Counselling, Hull University. MSc Human Resource Management, London School of Economics
- Position: HR Relationship Manager
- Interests: Travelling, reading, scuba diving and art lover
- High points: I like the variety, meeting clients and finding solutions the most.
- Low points: What I like least is not always being able to find a solution that everyone is happy with and sometimes having to disappoint some individuals, but you can’t always please everyone and decisions have to be based on business rationale.
I was born and grew up in Malaysia, but my mother is Finnish and I went to uni in London. But I’m not really unusual at WestLB. People come from an incredible variety of different backgrounds to work here.
I didn’t approach WestLB just because they’re a great bank. I applied because I heard they had a really professional Human Resources unit. I did Psychology with Counselling and I really wanted to work in HR, so when I applied to WestLB, I knew nothing about finance. Oh, and by the way, I realised the financial package on offer wasn’t bad either.
I was dreading the interview. Even though I’m very confident normally, I find interviews totally nerve wracking. But they put me entirely at ease and when it was over I realised I’d genuinely enjoyed myself. It was refreshing not to get the usual irrelevant verbal reasoning or numerical tests. And I soon realised they were interested in me and what I could do and weren’t trying to catch me out, or find fault.
I sit next to an intern and opposite an Executive Director. So I see all aspects of the job first hand. And if either myself or the intern need any advice, there’s someone who knows, right there to ask. It works the other way too. I find even senior colleagues take me seriously and are really open to my suggestions and ideas.
My boss is amazing. She’s been a fantastic manager and I have immense respect for her. She gives me room to develop and trusts me to handle things on my own but is always there for guidance.
This is one of the main attractions here – the Bank is not so large that you feel like a small anonymous cog in a machine – I’ve been exposed to every area of HR and to a large variety of issues and different areas of the Bank. The learning curve is steep, but the experiences available here are tremendous.
The opportunities to learn are fantastic. As I said, I knew nothing about banking when I came here, but the opportunity to have the same financial training as the front office graduates was one of the main attractions for me and differentiates WestLB’s HR graduate programme from its competitors. To be credible and effective in Human Resources with the business, it helps if you understand what they do!
I had a meeting with eight PhDs the other day which tells you how bright the people I get to deal with are. You might think all this cleverness can be a bit intimidating but it’s not, because the people here are so relaxed and friendly. In fact, for me the people at WestLB are the key because they’re what makes it an absolute pleasure to come to work every day. There is one drawback to working here though. I’m really into scuba diving which you do a lot of in London – not!
Interview Alan Curson Photography David O’Driscoll
“To be honest, banking was an accident!”
Tanya Ong