Maren Dumbuya
BA Business Management at the University of Westminster, MA Human Resource Management at the University of Westminster. Joined ICI Paints: September 2004.
What were your first impressions of ICI? What influenced you to join?
I first heard about ICI from the website and from my first contact on I felt valued and that ICI was genuinely interested in me. Having met a few people in graduate recruitment and from HR during the interview process I felt there was a very open and friendly atmosphere and my first thought was: there are great people working for this company!
My aim was not to join a graduate scheme where I would work in different functions every few month since I knew I wanted to go into HR. The most appealing thing about the ICI graduate programme is that it has given me the chance to take responsibility from day one within an HR role and progress within this function.
Has your view changed since then?
I believe that ICI Paints is giving me an opportunity to develop in my role and career in a way I could not imagine before I started. I believe that a benefit is that I work within a great team who were very supportive helping me to get into my role and now to progress my career. The most motivating thing is that I am challenged every day not only by my day to day responsibilities but also with the freedom to progress my ideas on process improvement.
I am both working in a team and having end responsibility for the business functions I provide HR advice to. Since I started, I have realised what great opportunities ICI Paints offers but at the same time that I have to be the driver of creating them and using them.
My job title is HR Business Partner. I help managers with any HR questions they have in the areas of recruitment and selection, compensation and benefit, performance management and any day to day people management. I am also involved in different projects, for example I am currently responsible for reviewing our recruitment process especially looking at candidate attraction. In my role I have the chance to speak to as many managers as possible to get ideas where we can improve our HR processes so that all employees can benefit from them.
I feel I am challenged every day and no day is same because I work with people. This means I have to adapt to different situations all the time and there is always something unexpected coming up. It’s great!
What's next for you i.e., what does the immediate future hold in store?
My aim always was to work in a company where the knowledge I gained during my studies and previous work experience could be challenged and broadened and ICI is offering me exactly that. I am currently gaining as much experience in HR as possible, learning from the different ways people work and enjoying the responsibility I have to make decisions and implement.
I hope to work in different countries and parts of the ICI business and am very interested in focussing more on training and development. I enjoy working with people and the variety they bring to my job. I want to bring HR to the people and become the best HR manager that I can!
