Meet Evette, Assistant Company Secretary, working in our Legal Team. Here, Evette shares her early experience at Tesco, how her career journey has progressed and how the business’ collaborative culture brings new opportunities for development and curiosity.

 

I joined Tesco in January this year. One of the reasons I was first drawn to Tesco is the breadth of what this role offers me: it covers a vast range of areas, and I am always looking to upskill myself technically.

I was born in Sierra Leone and moved to the UK when civil war broke out at home. From a young age, I wanted to do something where I could help people or give back in some way.

After graduating with a law degree, I was working in a company where my CFO said to me: “You’ve got all these great legal skills, but you’ve also got good people and project management skills. Have you ever considered being a Company Secretary?”

This opened a new space for me: in this role you’re able to influence governance at a very top level and impact so many people’s lives tangibly – you can see the benefits of good governance. It ties back to my desire to help people.

My previous role was more specialised and had a very different pace to Tesco. When I saw the opportunity here, it seemed that I could do a bit of everything.

New things are always happening at Tesco. The opportunities to learn and grow are limitless – Tesco is a huge business. The pace is fast, there isn’t a time where you just sit there twiddling your thumbs and wondering, “What do I do for the next week?” The team is very, very collaborative: everyone is approachable, which creates an inclusive environment without any bureaucratic hierarchy. We all work together and ask what each other are up to – they will feed into your work, and you feed into theirs.

I remember the People induction well: it was unique because normally they consist of PowerPoint slides, filling in mandatory boxes etc, but this wasn’t like that. We had breakout rooms where we were given little tasks to do or games to play. We also had workshops with the Legal department where I got to connect with colleagues and discover, not only who they are as people, but what the department wants to achieve together – that was really beneficial for me.

As part of the Company Secretariat team, I’m responsible for ensuring that the business adheres to principles of good governance. We do this by supporting the PLC board and its committees and the wider Tesco Group. We provide directors with the right training and resources so that when they’re making decisions, they do so in the best interests of our shareholders and our stakeholders – the communities and people we serve.

We also manage relationships with our shareholders directly and explore ways to give more back to them. I oversee the AGM (Annual General Meeting) where we invite shareholders to ask our directors questions. We demonstrate our positive impact at the AGM, with our Annual Report highlighting the value we’re giving to them and sharing what the company has been doing.

From a practical perspective, we also ensure compliance. Tesco is a FTSE 100 company and we are obliged to fulfil certain duties, listing rules and reporting obligations. We're very much at the heart of ensuring that as colleagues are fulfilling the operational or commercial aspects of the business, they're doing so within a framework of good governance.

Through our team sharing and simplifying processes, we help to build that culture of good governance for Tesco and make it easier for people to engage with governance as well.

There are many training and development opportunities at Tesco. I’ve specifically been seeking training around leadership and coaching because I’ve recognised that, especially working closely with others, there’s an element of bringing colleagues along with you. I’m often offered networking opportunities at work – I can stretch my skillsets alongside the team sharing their own knowledge or taking the time out to discuss how and why we do something.

The business really wants you to grow as a whole and not just as a Tesco employee. There's huge value in that because you become much more of a rounded individual, and you get other perspectives that you can then bring to your role.

The work culture at Tesco is relaxed but hard-working, and that relaxed approach isn’t something that’s masked for the interview. There are no locked-away offices – you've got people sitting all around you in open desks. People engage in conversations, so you'll have a Head of Legal asking you what your weekend was like... It's a united Tesco, and people are proud to work for Tesco.

The opportunity to grow and do better is one of the best reasons to work at Tesco. I love that I’m always learning. I’m in an environment where I can see how the business is living its values. I believe that Tesco genuinely cares about its people, its communities, and the planet, and the things that they do promote that. I feel proud of what I have achieved so far and that my role continues to support Tesco with achieving its goals.

If I were to give advice to someone who is trying to get on at Tesco, I would say be curious. Curiosity is not a bad thing, it's very welcome here. Don't just say: “Okay, I've been told to do this. Let's do just that.” Own your voice.