Sophie’s Story: “With everything I’ve been through, I’ve always been met with empathy & compassion

Mental Health problems affect 1 in 4 people annually and is something no one should feel ashamed of. We prefer to look at this statistic as 4 in 4 people, as every one of us will be affected by worry or a recurring issue at some time in our lifetime.

Sophie is a Senior Manager within the Customer Experience team and tells her personal story of dealing with anxiety whilst working here at Vodafone.

“Throughout my career, I’ve worked within many different roles and business areas at Vodafone. I first joined IT as a Business Analyst and now I’m a Senior Manager within Customer Experience. In every role, I’ve been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to challenge myself, grab new opportunities and develop my skills. 

At some point during our lives, we all go through major life events and I’ve been through my fair share of these at Vodafone. Throughout all of this, I have received incredible support from the business. 

When I found out I was going to be a mother, I had anxiety about taking time off work and how it would affect my career. There’s a perception that taking a substantial amount of time off impacts how people view new mums, but it was returning to work and finding that work-life balance with a new baby that was my biggest concern.

From the moment I told my manager I was expecting, I was reassured. Vodafone offers a brilliant ‘Return to Work’ program, designed to ease parents back into the workplace after parenthood. I felt supported and welcomed when I came back to work and any doubts about the impact it may have on my career were completely forgotten.

It’s hard to explain but there’s a sense of belonging at Vodafone. With everything I’ve been through, I’ve always been met with empathy, compassion, and support. It’s not just the policies in place or amount of holiday you receive as an employee that makes Vodafone a great place to work – it’s the culture. It’s truly embedded into every department, every manager and every team member. 

As well as compassion, Vodafone introduced me to their ‘Employee Assistance Programme’ which put me in touch with a therapist in my hometown. These sessions taught me how to manage my anxiety and allowed me to talk to people in confidence.  

Fast forward to today, I have a truly brilliant team helping me to challenge the ‘status quo’ and I feel confident in maintaining my anxiety, in work or outside of work. I'm proud to say I have a career in an area that I am truly passionate about and a positive work-life balance. Vodafone enables me to Be Unlimited”.  

Vodafone is passionate about supporting their employees and helping them thriVe. If you’d like the opportunity to be a part of that, take a look at our live Customer Service vacancies below.