BUSINESS PROFILE
largest banks , healthcare organisations or even government departments , chances are we ’ ve had a hand in helping them use communications technologies to deliver better experiences .
What has your career looked like so far ?
I ’ ve been in the communications technology business for over 35 years now , having started as a technical support engineer covering the Middle East with Nortel . Having risen up the ranks there to managing sales for the Gulf region , I joined Avaya when it acquired Nortel in 2009 and have never looked back . Don ’ t get me wrong ; the work we were doing with Nortel was fantastic , but there was a sense that , with Avaya , we had suddenly been promoted to the Premier League . I started off handling strategic accounts , and the ability we had to solve incredibly complex business challenges for incredibly complex organisations was – and still is – just immense . And that ’ s still largely what I ’ m all about as VP for the UK and Ireland .
How do you equip your staff with skills and knowledge ?
It ’ s honestly all about the mindset . Anyone can talk through the technologies and tactics they use to upskill staff at scale , and any number of them will do the job just fine – and we use a few different methods to aid staff enablement . More important is what we ’ re driving towards with these methods : at Avaya , we encourage everyone to be their unique self – the idea being , that individual ideas and actions can come together to support not just our company and our customers , but the larger society we all live in . We share a mindset here to create an environment where we feel valued , productive and have the opportunity to learn and grow . As a team , we ’ re all about thriving , both inside and outside the workplace . Once the opportunities for growth have been identified , our people go for it , and the upskilling flows easily from there .
How do you work with other executives within the C-suite to make sure your voice is heard ?
I ’ m quite fortunate in that the Avaya executive team are open and direct with each other . That ’ s been especially true since Alan came onboard as CEO last year . We ’ re all accountable for our own regions , ideas and teams , and by the same token , we ’ re all supportive of each other if things don ’ t go to plan . You need that breathing space to be able to try new ideas and solve challenges creatively .
How do you ensure different teams in your organisation work together ?
We ’ re a truly global company , and I don ’ t mean just in the geographical sense . We have core people up and down the organisation spread across continents , and they interact with teams around the world daily . We ’ ve been really good at managing that geographical spread for a very long time – well before 2020 – and I ’ m sure that ingrained knowledge helps when it comes to inter-team collaboration , too . Once again , it ’ s about people taking accountability , ensuring that they ’ re involved in the projects they need to be early on and continuously communicating throughout . x
36 www . intelligentcxo . com