Sammy Dalton

Sammy Dalton came to The Cumberland with a background in retail and has always known she wanted to work with customers and help others.

Now she is sharing her passion for supporting customers as a Training and Competency Analyst for the building society's Training and Competency Team..

Describe your role at The Cumberland…

I’m a Training and Competency Analyst, which means I support teams across our Operations department to provide efficient and effective training and support to all colleagues to align with our T&C framework and meet the requirements of our Regulator.

Another part of my role is providing an introduction to financial services training session to all new starters across Operations. This was a session I had put together to give anyone joining the business the opportunity to understand what is involved in this sector, discussing things such as products, regulations, financial crime and more. As we have people from all different backgrounds and experience levels, it’s a great way to have everyone starting their role on the same foot with equal understandings of what to expect throughout their journey!

I also support our Operations assistant apprentices as their competency supervisor. I help them throughout their journey with the Cumberland and provide help with both work and college as well as supporting them through the transition from school to work. This is a relatively new scheme to the Cumberland and is such a rewarding opportunity to be a part of.

How has your career developed at The Cumberland?

I was in retail, but I wanted to do something more for customers, so when I saw the Cumberland were recruiting, I applied. I really wanted to be able to help other people.

Whilst on our Customer Care team, the role of training coordinator became available, I went for it and I got it! The role then progressed to becoming the supervisor. That position helped me find who I wanted to be and how I could continue to help customers in a different way whilst also supporting colleagues too. I get a lot of enjoyment out of making people engaged and positive.
After working alongside my mentor at the time who worked in the T&C environment, it opened my eyes to a whole new level of ideas and opportunities to helping and supporting both our customers and colleagues so when the role came up, I jumped at the chance as this was something I was working towards.

I didn’t believe in myself initially. It was a mental challenge to get to where I am. I have had great support from my managers, It’s made such a difference having supportive managers who I know are here to help.

Did you always want to work in this field?

When I was younger, I bounced around from one thing to another. At Sixth Form, I didn’t know what I wanted to study because I didn’t really know what I wanted to be. So, I thought I would cover all the bases and started to study health and social care as well as psychology. I was chatty and wanted to help, but I didn’t know what kind of job that would translate into. Ultimately, studying wasn’t for me, so I stepped away from education and went to into retail work.

What guidance do you have for young people who aspire to work in a role like yours?

If someone wanted to be in my role, I would say be yourself, you can’t go wrong by being who you are.

Believe in what you can do, there will be setbacks, but they will help you grow.

What advice do you have for someone applying for a job at The Cumberland?

Do it, you’ll never look back. It is the most welcoming place I have ever worked. Even if you don’t know much about banking, there are plenty of opportunities to do anything.