Understanding your career ambitions and how to make them a reality is not always straightforward. For Lauren Jones, the opportunity to participate in the Women in Defence mentoring programme has already had a significant impact.
A Team Leader for our Graphics and Print team at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Lauren was nominated as a mentee for the programme by her manager. After completing the programme, Lauren’s commitment saw her awarded the runner-up for Most Committed Mentee of the Year Award.
“I didn’t realise the extent of the benefit I’d get from the programme at this early stage of my career,” Lauren said. “I’d just started my first people management role, and my driver for becoming a mentee was finally being in a place, after having children, to start following some of my ambitions again.”
“During the nine-month programme, I met with my mentor about once a month for several hours each time. She’s a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force and I was so inspired by her. We have shared values and a similar outlook on life and are both single mums.
She provided an open and encouraging space which enabled me to share ideas and think creatively. She really showed me what’s possible; prioritising her commitments as a mother while at the same time seeing her drive to chase the things she wanted to do in her career.”
Since joining the Serco team at the Defence Academy in 2010, Lauren has seen her career grow from Graphic Designer to Lead Designer and most recently, Team Leader. During her tenure, Lauren has taken a career break to travel for several months, and a period of maternity leave. Now working part-time hours over a four-day week, Lauren relies on her team’s support to deliver an exceptional service to our customer.
“When I went for the Team Leader job, my part-time hours were a point of discussion. I explained how I believed the role could work within those hours, and I’m grateful for their belief and support. It has been a bit of a learning curve, but we are lucky to have a mix of flexible arrangements within our team, so we work together and support each other.
“I’m grateful to my management and to Serco for the opportunities I’ve been given and the space to balance my work life with my home life. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next.”
We’re #SercoAndProud of Lauren’s achievements and look forward to supporting her to impact a better future.