“We empower others to develop, so bring your ideas to our table – make it happen.”
Thamer Miles – Analysis Practice Manager – Whitbread Tech
It’s not easy to define culture at a company, or judge it for yourself when you’re on the outside looking in. I guess you only really see it when you’re there, living and breathing it. In my career I’ve seen it done really well and I’ve seen it done… not so well.
What I’d say about the culture here at Whitbread Tech is we’re the ones creating it. It’s ours and we want to be proud of it.
We’re creating a place we want to be, a ‘culture’ of learning, of knowledge sharing, of support and growth – at a time when the business is involved in some of the biggest projects in its history.
The Architecture & Strategy team includes Innovation, Architects, Business Analysts, Digital Analysts, Tech Leads and the Data Centre of Excellence and we’ve got a front row seat as part of the work that’s going to define the future of our business.
I joined Whitbread as a Lead Business Analyst for Data. The IT part of the business was maturing, there was a clear recognition Business Analysis had grown and recognition BAs should report into senior BAs.
The natural progression was to move to a practice structure and when we did I got a promotion. I applied for the Practice Manager role and got it. Now we’re a big team of BAs all in one pool. A mix of permanent BAs and contractors report into me. It’s a standard model but you need a community to make it happen and that’s what we’ve got here at Whitbread.
We’re not siloed, we’re one team with the structure in place to mature skills and grow careers. Our informal, knowledge-sharing community – BADAF – aims to bring together all those with an interest in Business Analysis, including Digital and Data, with monthly lunch and learn sessions, learning from one another, driving consistency.
It’s a great place to be and everything I thought it might be when I was attracted to the Whitbread in the first place.
My background’s not ‘traditional’ IT in many respects – I finished my studies in Classics, so my world was more Latin and Greek than Waterfall and Java! However, after a solid career in Data and Business Intelligence and Business Analytics for well-known retail and travel brands I was ready for something different.
The things I’d read about the Whitbread, the reviews, the word of mouth – it felt really people oriented. I guess it goes with being a Hospitality business but people were so friendly. My interview process was fabulous, I was treated with respect by warm, professional people. It left me wanting to join even more.
Working for a brand that was well known on High Streets appealed to my sense of IT in the real world. Seeing the work we do in the office played out and impacting customers and guests is what excites me.
I also loved the history of Whitbread, the tradition – maybe not that much of a surprise with my background! But what’s more, the way it has evolved over the centuries to stay ahead, moving with the times, interested me. The reinvention is a real pull.
Our team embodies that. We empower one another to develop, bring your ideas to the table. We’ve got a fantastic profile externally that the team works really hard to keep relevant and make sure Whitbread has a voice in the big conversations in our industry.
We work across so much tech-enabled change, we see everything. To feed your interest we rotate you – so if you want to explore another part of the business, we’ll do that. You’re challenged to go for more here.
Rock a Tech role at Whitbread here.
