When Team Hemlow employee Callum decided he needed a new challenge, he took a leap of faith to progress his career to the next step.
Accepting a promotion that moved him from a mobile role as an engineer, to a manager’s role that was predominantly office based, Callum discusses the impact that this had on him as an individual, as well as his exciting plans for the future of his department, Technical Services Team.
Where it all began…
Having joined Hemlow in September 2016 as a mobile air conditioning engineer, Callum worked at sites across the UK, travelling up to 1000 miles a week. Something he was used to, having been in mobile engineering roles for over 16 years.
After 2 years in the role, Callum was empowered to apply for a new role, Technical Service Manager, and despite some initial nerves, Callum felt the time was right to take on the challenge.
“Going from a mobile to an office-based role was a scary transition – a huge challenge. I didn’t even know if this role was for me, but what I did know, was that this was a company I could see a future with and I knew I wanted to progress to a supervisor role.
If you would have asked me 5 years ago if I could see myself in a manager’s role within an office environment I would have said no! But Hemlow saw the potential in me, and that gave me the confidence to make that leap!”
Overcoming challenges…
Callum successfully secured the role and saw his work schedule change overnight.
New challenges, such as, a change in work style, acclimatising to new IT systems and becoming a leader.
“I definitely underestimated the physical impact it would have on me. I thought it would be easy sitting at a desk, after having such a physical role for so many years, but the change was emotionally exhausting and that drained me!
There were other challenges too, like learning our IT systems, it’s not something I’d used before in any of my roles. Hemlow were quick to offer me support and guidance within the role but by choice I ended up self-teaching myself certain aspects as I didn’t want to look incompetent. Hemlow put trust in me which allowed me to see the potential in myself. I learnt quickly, and I’ve now built a whole new matrix for the team which all of our planned preventative maintenance is scheduled against. It also ensures that we remain compliant and offers the operations team a high-level snapshot of all our jobs.
One of my biggest struggles was not being in control. As an engineer all I had to manage was my time. It was very rare something unexpected would happen. I’ve learnt now how to react under pressure but it’s not something that came naturally.”
Having doubled in size since it was formed, Hemlow’s Technical Services team consists of trained engineers who provide our clients with a specialist responsive service.
“I am lucky to have such a great team.
We’ve put the technical services department on the map within the company. Before we were individuals, working independently, but now we are a hard-working collaborative team that is recognised for our specialisms. I’m proud of our team.”
What the future holds…
As the department continues to grow from strength to strength the team is looking to expand into new regions across the UK.
In addition to regional expansion, my aim is to expand our service offering. In the future I would like to see all our specialist contracts move in-house. Being able to offer such a reactive service to our clients in so many areas would be amazing.”
To find out how our Technical Services Engineers could help you, contact us today…
