CTG At Work: Richard

Company title: Head of Unit, DC-BOS

Years at CTG: 11 Years

Hometown: Clacton-on-Sea, United Kingdom

Current City: Bissen, Luxembourg

Favorite Thing to Do Outside of Work: Agility with my dog, walking in the forest, enjoying a nice glass of wine in front of the fire during the cold winter evenings, going to a restaurant, or watching a Football or Rugby match

Favorite Song Right Now: I like most music, from Rock to Blues. Generally, it’s something that my daughters are playing very loud in the house when they are home.

My morning starts at 6:00 a.m. I start by reviewing my work-related emails for any important topics that may have arrived during the evening. I have a nice cup of coffee before I take our dogs for a morning walk. This is a good time to prepare myself for the day ahead.

After reading my emails in the office, I check if there are other important matters to address. I attend my morning meeting with the team leaders and work on any client or colleague requests. The type of requests that we are discussing determines which office I start in—I either drive to Gasperich or Bertrange. On Mondays I am in our Bertrange office, and this allows me time to follow up with my colleagues in Sales, Operational Service Managers (OSM), HR, Delivery, Engineering and Production, and Development to discuss any open points or new offers. While in the office I try to resolve as many issues as possible because, generally, this means communicating with our clients, and it is important that they are advised as quickly as possible. I prefer to meet people and have discussions over coffee (lunch meetings are also very productive) rather than sending emails back and forth. It’s more productive and you get to know your colleagues, which is nice.

No two days are the same. There are always different points to address, whether it’s providing information to sales, starting with a new client, having a discussion with HR, or arranging the planning for our agents. Being responsible for about 90 agents means it’s important that I have a positive, motivated attitude, but equally important is genuinely caring, listening to their concerns and initiatives (professional and personal) and showing that we are proactive and addressing any issues. It’s important that our people know when things go wrong and when something may need to be changed, but it’s more important to tell them when they do a good job and our clients are happy with the service, or if an individual has performed above and beyond the call of duty.

Once I arrive at home, I help my wife prepare our evening meal, and if my daughters are home from university, we prepare the meal together. I also have training three times a week with my dog. Either I am training with her, or I am the trainer helping other members of our club learn to work side by side with their four-legged companion. This, I find, is a great way to relax as there is always a sense of achievement, which has its own personal rewards. During the evenings when we are home together with no plans, it’s nice to sit down and discuss the day or watch a movie and relax.

I started at CTG in 2007 and was responsible for four people. Today, I am responsible for more than 90 agents working 24x7x365 in Luxembourg, London, Bogota, and Miami, supporting more than 35 clients. What I enjoy most about my position is the diversity of my role, the challenges that are always involved, and the interaction with different people, from agents to my Directors, not only in Luxembourg, but in the U.S. and Europe as well. I have a sense of achievement when agents move to other teams or to client sites to progress their career. It means that they are learning and CTG is retaining a colleague that may stay for many years to come. It’s especially important in today’s world to have a good work/lifestyle balance, knowing that our agents work 24x7x365. I like to help as much as possible and realize that I also need help from time to time from my colleagues when I need to know something. This past year I needed some help from colleagues in the U.S. and it was a pleasure working with and getting to know them, whilst learning at the same time. I try to have a “can-do attitude” to get results and work through problems. It’s a great pleasure working with a great team with diversified clients and solving problems together.