Working at MHS
Vicky Scott asssasaasasasasasassasaasassssasasasassaaView Vicky's profile
I have worked as an Information Analyst for Niche for over 3 years now. I previously worked in the NHS in a primary care mental health team. Working for a business is very different to the NHS but in a refreshing way. I became very conscious of time = money and completing projects in an efficient way to a high standard. I work from the Manchester office most of the time which is usually very quiet. This isn’t the type of environment suited to everyone but I like spending most of my time quietly working by myself. I also enjoy working with people at Niche who are highly experienced because this has allowed me to learn a lot very quickly.
The variety of the work
As an analyst I’m assigned to work on a wide range of areas:
• Benchmarking of an organisation’s finance, service and performance data
• Drawing patient flow diagrams with clients and designing ways to collect data for patient simulation modelling
• Market assessments and Needs assessments e.g. calculating prevalence of mental health disorders and gaps between this and the service provision
• Designing patient/staff surveys and analysing the results
• Internal work on IT support, database design.
Achievement within a timeframe
I wish to work for a company where I can work hard and achieve results. In other organisations the end goal of a project is sometimes never met or projects stop half way through and in others you are required to work longer than an 8 hour day to achieve results. At Niche we have a capacity planner where we estimate the number of days that we will spend on a particular project by month. Once a month is full you do not have to accept further work.
Trust in employees and work flexibly
• Niche trust their employees to organise their own work. Within reason I choose which work I do on what days of the week.
• Niche trust their employees to work from home. I mostly work in the office in Manchester but occasionally wish to work from home.
• If you wish to avoid peak time traffic or have family commitments you can arrive early and leave early (or the opposite)
Professionalism
I have never encountered bullying, unpleasant gossiping etc while working at Niche as everyone acts in a professional way. If you need help on a project from a colleague they will find time to help you.
Regular staff appraisals
A “1-2-1” is scheduled every 3 months with your line manager. This gives plenty of time to discuss any issues you have and ask about pay, personal development etc. Every organisation has problems but it is how these are dealt with that matters. When issues are resolved this avoids a feeling of helplessness.
Personal development
Niche have fully supported my request to complete a postgraduate certificate in public health. Niche have funded this and allowed me 1.5 days unpaid leave a month to study.
