Meet Rachel, Head of Maintenance North. Here, she tells us about her 20-year career at Tesco and the support the Women’s Development program has given her.   

My role is to lead Maintenance for the North of the UK. Within my team, I have two levels of management and then our fantastic Maintenance Technicians. Our role is to ensure that our assets and buildings are in safe working order and that we support our store teams to deliver the best for our customers.    

I have a primarily strategic role, along with the other regional Heads of Maintenance deciding on and leading the vision for a  Maintenance team that is fit for the future.  

I joined Tesco at 18 years old, fresh from being kicked out of college and with no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I had potential but no clue what to do with it. I very quickly learnt that Tesco had some fantastic development opportunities. Over the next few years I progressed quickly to become a team and lead manager within our stores. I moved across several shops, doing different roles at each level gaining experience as I went.  

I then procrastinated for ten years. I worked really hard and received great feedback but didn't have the guts or self-belief to put my hand up. I put a ceiling on my own career.  

Something then happened which changed not only my career trajectory but also my mindset. A new, female Store Director joined our team. Recognising my potential, she asked me the simple question "Why are you not a Store Manager?" I gave a million reasons why but what it really boiled down to, was that I didn't have the guts to put my hand up and ask for it. Having that strong female role model had a profound impact on me. I was inspired and my confidence grew working for her.  

I went on to complete my Store Manager placement. 

I completed my placement through Covid-19, an already challenging time. During my placement, I faced into some personal challenges. I lost my mum to a mental health battle and also discovered that I had a condition, Endometriosis, which had left me with fertility challenges and needing significant surgeries. I was also caring for an elderly couple. Facing into all of this gave me a real sense of what I am actually capable of and something shifted in me.  

I was signed off as a Store Manager and having done a great job, I approached my new Store Director to discuss progression. He was very engaged and very keen on career development. He told me to remove any career ceiling that I had and opened up my thinking as to where I could go. I asked for a bigger, more challenging store, with full confidence that I would do a great job. He agreed and I spent the next two years managing one of our complex Extra stores.  

I gained in confidence and experience during these two years. My biggest learning was that I was really capable of doing what I set my mind to, with enough determination. I'd previously suffered terribly with Imposter Syndrome, feeling less educated, less qualified and constantly comparing myself to others around me. I shook it off and thought "you know what, you deserve to be here, you're capable of being here" and did a good job.  

From here, I decided that I wanted to explore the wider world of Tesco. I had a conversation with my line manager around working towards a Director position in the future and knew that having a better breadth of knowledge would support me with this. An opportunity came up within the Maintenance function and I was very lucky to be selected for the role I currently have.  

I feel very lucky and very proud to be selected to be part of the Womens Development Program. I think it's incredibly positive and encouraging to see more and more women in senior leadership roles , we're breaking down the barriers and creating a level playing field. 

There will be many women like myself, who have struggled with confidence or felt that Imposter Syndrome. As women, we systematically underestimate ourselves and I think that this program really helps support with that as well as many other issues that women face into. 

There are some great elements of this program. Not just networking, which is fantastic but we have also been given our own personal coaches. The coaching sessions are really helpful and individually tailored to each person. We've been supported with sponsorship and mentoring as well as several workshops tailored to support our development. I think it's really wonderful that as a business we are recognising the need to have that gender balance. 

I think it can be challenging for us as women to say "I did an awesome job there and I deserve recognition for it". The Womens Development Program really shines a light on that and helps us to realise our potential and put up our hand. For me, that's massive. It's just having that seat at the table, raising your hand and going "I'm here" and not allowing ourselves to be overlooked.    

A couple of things I really want to get out of the program are building a strong network and investing time into myself. I've always worked incredibly hard and I've realised in recent years that your brand and your network are equally as important. You absolutely do need to do a great job and have the goods to back up what you're doing, but that network is critically important in what you want to do. This program really helps with that. The coaching has been very thought provoking, to give yourself time to think about what you want for yourself, what is on your mind and what do you want to get out of each session. It's almost like a work-related therapy session where you can say "What is it that I want to get out of this time that is just for me, one-to-one with a coach to help me to explore my own thoughts?"   

It's incredible to part of a business that I have seen come so far over recent years. I have a colleague who is a mum to three children. She is actively encouraged to work flexibly around her life and prioritise her home life. It feels like the company is really invested in its people. We're encouraged to invest time into ourselves.  

The advice I would give to any women considering a career within Tesco is to go for it. I'm very passionate about the company, the benefits are great, we have fantastic development opportunities and we really invest in our people. We have a strong, diverse workforce, where authenticity and peoples differences are celebrated. I'm incredibly proud to work for Tesco and feel very fortunate to part of the Womens Development Program.