A Touch of Class
Siobhan McDermottThe Women at Work Skillnet has re-ignited Siobhan McDermott's passion for learning. She is now keen to avail of the courses offered by IBOA in association with Skillnets to boost her career by maintaining her focus on continuous learning in the workplace.
Siobhan has worked in many areas of banking during her career with Bank of Ireland. From customer service to cash desk to foreign exchange, she has acquired a wide experience in retail banking.
Now that she has taken up a more behind-the-scenes role, she is hoping the Women at Work Skillnet can help her career to flourish.
"I heard about the training in an email from IBOA. It was for a course on personal development and communications skills. In the Higher Diploma in Human Resources I took at university there was a lot of emphasis on communication skills.
"So I thought I might enhance the knowledge I had already gained from my diploma. I was also eager to see if there was anything else I could learn."
Siobhan discovered a relaxed learning environment at the course - one evening a week for four weeks. "It was a very casual format," she says. "There were about 10 to 15 people. We sat in a circle."
The course dealt with communication, assertiveness and conflict resolution at work. It was such a rewarding experience that Siobhan quickly signed up for more training on developing a more positive attitude in the workplace.
"The people who delivered the courses were experts in their field and gave really great insights," she says.
Although Siobhan saw the potential benefits of the courses immediately, the reaction among her workmates was a little more muted initially. However, word-of-mouth from colleagues who had attended courses soon generated plenty of interest.
"Initially there was not a lot of interest in the training," says Siobhan. "At first people were thinking: 'oh do I have the time to give up.' But once I had finished the course and signed up for a second one, a couple of colleagues decided to come with me.
"Now there are a couple of courses that people are very interested in doing. So I think the word is out."
She now hopes to continually upgrade her skills. "The goal is simple," she says. "It is to keep learning and to keep the brain busy. I think continuous learning has to be the key thing for anyone in the workforce today where everything is subject to change. Technology is constantly advancing."
"My attitude when anyone asks me about the training is 'if it's relevant to you and your job, then go. You will always get something worthwhile out of it."
