There is a huge amount of attraction that comes with a company that not only offers plenty of room for career development but truly delivers on its promise. At Medibank, there are many different ways in which employees can expand their skills and abilities, and try their hands at new roles. Customer Retention Team Leader, Rhys Geddes, has the first-hand experience of how Medibank encourages individuals’ to find and follow their interests, by giving them room to move around the business.
Rhys has been a part of the Medibank family for the last four years and amongst all the positive reasons for this, one is because of the opportunities he has been able to have.
For over two decades, Rhys has been a Medibank customer, both as a child with his family and as an adult on his own. He says that when the opportunity to join the company arose, he didn’t have any second thoughts based on his positive experience as a customer. It was when he began working with the company that he truly understood why he, as a customer, had such a great experience.
“I soon discovered how involved we are with the community. We have so many programs aimed at helping our customers. We stand by our purpose of ‘Better Health For Better Lives’ not only for Medibank customers but for all Australians. I think that’s incredible.”
Rhys and his colleague supporting Red Nose Day.
Rhys began his career with Medibank as a Support Consultant and less than a year later was given the chance to move into the Solutions team. This move allowed him to discover his true passion.
“During my 11 months with the Solutions team, I was approached to join the Retention team based on the skills and abilities I had demonstrated. This was a role I really enjoyed as I strongly believe in what we offer our customers. I’m very passionate about showing them the value in our products and services.”
In this new role, he had the important job of educating our customers on why having private health insurance is beneficial for them and keeping their cover with Medibank. In the 18 months that he was in this role, he was a part of a variety of projects and expanded his skills as much as he could. This focus and dedication to his role led him to become a Team Coach, sitting within the Sales and Service Excellence team. Rhys has once again proven himself and has currently taken up a secondment in a Team Leader role back in the Retention team.
Being in a place in his career where he is able to guide and support others is a responsibility Rhys doesn’t take lightly. He understands how important new opportunities in the workplace are to individuals and their careers so encouraging his team to keep learning is something he does on a daily basis.
“For me, engagement is a very big part of any role so it’s extremely important for me to make sure that my team is engaged. We’re fortunate within our space, and because of the skill level that our consultants have, there’s so much room to move and grow. When a team member demonstrates a high level of work ethic, it’s hard to let them go but our priority is always to encourage progress, which is very important.”
Rhys and his team at an offsite event.
Rhys says even now, he is still regularly being supported by Medibank in everything he does and knows that there will always be opportunities for him to move around the business if he feels it’s time.
“I’ve been very lucky in the leaders that I’ve had during my time with Medibank. I’ve always been supported and I find that my leadership style definitely reflects theirs. They’ve always had my interest at heart and whenever I’ve needed it, they were there to provide me with the support that I needed as well as the skills and tools that they thought would be beneficial for me. I had some doubts about my abilities and thought that I just wanted to stop at being a Team Coach but the manager I had at the time actually opened up my eyes to the potential that I have.”
For Rhys, being a part of Medibank has been one of the best things for his career. He says that the people he has the chance to work with on a daily basis play a huge part in why being a Medibank employee mean so much to him. In addition to this, he says that no matter where he is in his career, one thing is for sure, it’s evident that Medibank cares about the health and well-being of all Australians.
“There is so much support around me, no matter how busy everyone gets with all the different campaigns we’re working on and day to day jobs, there’s never any shortage of it. I’m so passionate about what we do as a company, we put our customers first in everything we do and we’re not afraid to show that we care. Medibank wears its heart on its sleeves, and that makes all the difference.”