In the High Flyers spotlight this week is Lorraine Parry, customer service manager for the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme (TPDPS) and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) at Capita.

What was your first job?

A Saturday job at a local newsagent, it sparked what would become a passion for customer service throughout my career from the banking sector to joining Capita in 2011.

What qualifications do you have?

While working at a bank at the start of my career I completed a diploma in financial services and gained great insights into economics, marketing and investment planning.

However, perhaps the most important and practical skills I have developed are experience-based, learning from colleagues and from my mistakes!

These skills have been invaluable, particularly in my current role, and have helped me to equip my teams with the right skillsets to enable them to deliver excellent standards of service, in a positive and supportive team environment.

What do you attribute your success to?

At Capita we recently picked up three Contact Centre Network NI awards and I put that success down to being approachable, listening to staff and being very open. Our teams take calls relating to the Troubles Permanent Disablement Payment Scheme (TPDPS) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Given the sensitive nature of this work it is vital that claimants receive the best quality of service from us. That means we need to look after our staff with training and guidance to handle difficult conversations sensitively and professionally.

How would you describe yourself to someone who’d never met you?

Outgoing, adventurous, hard-working.

Who do you look up to in business?

I’ve worked with many managers in Capita and elsewhere who have really supported and mentored me, and I try to pay that forward by empowering my colleagues in the same way.

How do you get the best out of people who work for you?

We are supporting two key government programmes and our team members come to work knowing they are making a real difference to people’s lives. It is also important they know they can build a career with us, and I take great satisfaction in helping colleagues progress their career journeys in Capita.

If you could change one thing about doing business in Northern Ireland, what would it be?

We have a great talent pool full of lateral thinkers and hard workers in Northern Ireland, and I would like to see even more inward investment to unlock the potential of our people.

What website or app could you not do without?

LinkedIn for networking and business insights, Twitter for news and much more!

What was the last book you read?

Nothing beats sitting down for an hour with a good book and my last read was Rachel’s Holiday by Marian Keyes.

What car do you drive?

In a dream world my car of choice would be an Aston Martin DB12. Maybe one day...

Tell us something interesting about yourself?

I had a brief chat with Norman Wisdom some years ago after sneaking into a celebrity golf tournament.

What’s your greatest passion outside work and family?

I love going to see live music and travelling, although in recent years I haven’t done as much of either as I did in the past!