Raj Pooni is an Organisational Change Manager at BT Group. In her article, Raj reflects on how her current role as an Organisational Change Manager at BT Group. Raj reflects on her career journey and how she infiltrated male-dominated spaces at the start of her career and how she navigated being taken seriously as a woman of Indian heritage. She also learned how transferable her skill sets were to try different roles and how important good Managers, Allys, Sponsors and Mentorship is on your career journeys – which I am thank full for.
Raj is also on the committee of BT Group’s multiethnic and multicultural network group, The Ethnic Diversity Network, who won at the 2023 Ethnicity Awards.
Raj Pooni: My Journey
I am a British born Indian Sikh, born in Wolverhampton. I grew up in Nottingham as the middle child amongst four siblings. I think My dad moved here to the UK in the 60s and then my mum came here in the early 70s, super proud they embraced the culture here so we fitted in and used their experience here for their children to progress, “Education was key”, however a job in the corporate world the message was “work hard and you will be rewarded!”.
My current role is as an Organisational Change Manager at BT Group, working within the Transformation department. So, that means is I manage the change for our organisation, including bringing people on board and creating champions in that space. I listen to people’s concerns and help address them.
Its taught me that people have different relationships to change. Some people embrace change, and some people don’t, because whether that’s because they fear change or are uncomfortable learning new things. It’s really made me listen to people rather and consider my approach in getting people along on the journey of change, and I really enjoy that part of my job.
My first job, after graduating was in 1995 at the University of Leicester as a computer technician fixing PC issues, setting accounts, more like a help desk analyst. After seven years in that role, I moved on to work for a sports media company IMG/TWI in 2007. That role was exciting, and it was a completely different experience because it was my introduction to the corporate world. We were working on events like New York Fashion Week, golf, boxing, the premiership games, you name it. From there I moved on to BT hired by a manager from IMG/TWI, who believed in my skill sets, where I’m still here today and over the years navigated completely different roles. As I reflect back, I’m proud of all the roles I have done.
I have realised my passion for working with people. I’d gone from building kits and servers and fixing technical issues to a completely different role. It was actually a mentor who advised me to go for my first role within BT as a Service Manager. I quickly found that my skill sets from the technical world of working with suppliers and managing customer expectations could be applied within my service management role. I was certainly doubtful in my first few months, but I had supportive people and a team around me, including my mentor at the time.
Interestingly enough, when I was at school, I wanted to be a car mechanic because I loved working on cars. For my first work experience in schools, I remember saying to my dad that I wanted to have my work experience at Kwik Fit, but he mentioned it was a male-dominated space, so why don’t I consider a career in teaching instead? I ended up doing my work experience as a teacher, but I realised it wasn’t for me. What is ironic, is how male dominated the role in IT was at the start of my journey!
Alongside my current role about seven years ago on top of my day job, I started my DEI journey. It has been a truly eye-opening journey. I’ve learnt about my biases and how to push past them. It’s changed my life and has been instrumental in helping me embrace my heritage and what makes me, me. Being a part of BT Group’s multicultural network group and championing people who look like me and bringing their stories to life is also extremely rewarding. And of course, our win at the Ethnicity Awards gave us that recognition!
I do wish I had more self-belief earlier in my career journey and had not depended on other people to tell me I’m doing well, and recognising that within myself first. I had challenges with being taken seriously as a woman earlier in my career, but it was wise words and coaching from my mentor at the time about showing my understanding, taking control with believe in my capability that helped me to overcome these challenges.
The advice I would give to women navigating their career journeys is what I wish I was told and believe in my capabilities. Of course, I am proud of where I am and what I’ve accomplished, but I think that if I was those three things much earlier in my career, I would have leaned into opportunities and stretched myself more. To women navigating their careers, I say: “Be bold. Be brave. Be you.” What’s the worst that could happen?
This interview was conducted by Michelle Aboagye.
