Tayla tailors her own global adventure

A global career, working across various countries and cultures remains a coveted ambition for many young professionals, and Tayla Le Guier is living that dream.

From New Zealand, to Australia, and now the Netherlands in just six short years, Tayla has leveraged Rabobank’s global network as a conduit to work across the world – her focus on continual personal and professional improvement expanding her career opportunities.

Setting the wheels in motion for a meaningful career

A former pre-school teacher, in 2018 Tayla moved to New Zealand with her now husband, and – looking to embark upon a career change – gained an entry-level position in the Rabobank call centre.

“Long story short, I was quite good at it!” she laughs.

Tayla soon progressed, proving her worth in the “sink or swim” dynamic environment of the operations department, where she helped support a full overhaul of the core banking system, with a very short lead time.

“It was an incredible opportunity, and I loved working for Rabobank New Zealand, everyone was so positive and friendly and to this day my former colleagues continue to reach out to me and remain connected.”

With her husband transferred to North Queensland, and with no Rabobank opportunities in the region to match her skills, Tayla wasted no time up-skilling.
 

Tayla and her husband taking in the sights of the Netherlands

“I secured a role in another bank and enjoyed some branch experience, and it was my first experience in leadership and retail banking, but little did they know it was all to get my foot back in the door at Rabobank!”

In 2020 the couple returned to Sydney and Tayla was straight on the phone to her old manager, and laughs that she may have used the words “Help, I need to get back to Rabobank!”

“I think the reason I loved returning to Rabobank was because I craved that tight-knit, positive environment, where people felt they could make a change.”

“In Rabobank New Zealand and Australia it does have that small, family feel – staff are heard, and it feels realistic to grab opportunity.”

It’s a sentiment that reflects Tayla’s inspiring personal drive to embrace every chance she can, and she was soon working back in the Rabobank Call Centre – but not for long.

Her meteoric career progression, from customer care management to a learning specialist implementing a skills identification and training program exemplifies her range of skills and thirst to take on new challenges.

“I eventually settled into a role providing skills identification and training management for staff, helping lead their career development pathways and opportunities in the operations team. I also supported the onboarding of new staff, and upskilled staff across the bank in small, continuous improvement initiatives which naturally led to a role in continuous improvement.”
 

Tayla, on the lookout for any opportunity to upskill around the world!

Describing herself as a “big continuous improvement fan”, Tayla was already well-versed in continuous improvement, having completed her White Belt Certification and becoming a White Belt Coach across Rabobank Australia and New Zealand.

White Belt is the first step in Lean Six Sigma’s rankings and introduces principles and tools used in process improvement and quality management.

“Continuous improvement is part of any leadership role, and it’s important as it encourages understanding the root cause of a problem to avoid band-aid solutions, and it gives you the best lens to focus on improving the client experience.”

Tayla’s role entailed leading large improvement initiatives across the bank, facilitating workshops, influencing leaders to embed the Continuous Improvement mindset, coaching fellow Rabobank staff through their White Belt Certifications, and ensuring everyone had access to use their new skills.

A fateful visit by a Netherlands’s global team, which was running a workshop in Australia underpinned her next move.

“I mentioned to the team that I’d love to work overseas in the head office at Utrecht,” she explains. “We all got along so well, so I put it out there, and there just so happened to be a job for me!”

A world away, yet still at home at Rabobank

Having never even been to the Netherlands, Tayla admits it was a daunting move.

“The first thing I noticed is that everyone knows who Rabobank is, which was quite comforting. Rabobank has such a strong presence, with buildings in every city.”

“Arriving at Head Office is an experience in itself, it’s huge, with a robot sculpture dominating the entrance, so it has a really futuristic quality.”

Relying on the global Rabobank team she’d met in Australia to help her settle in, Tayla gradually met new friends, yet admits the challenges of moving to Europe were greater than she anticipated.

“There’s a very different communication style over here, which was an adjustment – people are very honest, they’ll tell me if they don’t like the shirt I’m wearing, and while I was a little taken aback to start with, I understand now it’s not personal.”
 

Seeing the sights across Europe

She believes the move was also eased enormously by the comfort of having so many global colleagues within her Rabobank network.    

“In my new role as a strategy and business change consultant, I focus on strategy execution for Chief Operating Officer (COO) team in Europe and Africa and work with Andrew Vickers, who I previously worked with in Australia.”

“What I’ve also learned from Andrew is that he and our Australian COO General Manager, Alexa Glynn, speak regularly about COO talent and global opportunities or exchanges, and they are really supportive and positive in creating a global network.”

“Since my move, I have a few former colleagues who have made the move to head office, and some to London, which is really nice – and again exemplifies that genuine Rabobank family feel.”

Now, almost 12 months into her new European life and Tayla is enjoying the travel perks of the region, listing Belgium, Poland, and Luxembourg as some of her favourite destinations so far.

She’s also discovering the terrific work-life balance encouraged by European culture.

“There’s a real focus on taking a four-day week, and here no one ever works outside of nine to five – it’s a strange thing to get used to – and it’s wonderful!”

Grabbing global opportunity with both hands

In her ongoing quest for continual improvement, Rabobank is supporting Tayla in an intensive Dutch language course, and now the culture shock has subsided, she’s keen to immerse herself in the community.

And Tayla is incredibly grateful to Rabobank for the opportunity.

“Moving to, and working in another country is a dream come true – so many people can’t due to visas, family, and career constraints, but at Rabobank anything is possible, there are so many relocation options, with support to ease the transition.”
 

A global career, and cultural opportunity

“Even considering the number of opportunities I’ve been afforded, reflected in my varying job titles, demonstrates that this is a company not afraid to take a chance on you, and that lets you follow your dreams, which I think is quite unique in the banking and corporate landscape.”

While she’s missing the Aussie humour, and the long winter took a toll, Tayla would encourage staff to utilise the global opportunities Rabobank presents.

“So often we get caught up in the way we do things, the way we live our lives, yet there are so many other ways and it’s only through embracing different experiences and perceptions that we grow.”

“It’s something I live by and something I strive to share through my Rabobank role, and I’m excited by the prospect of what we may do next, and where we may end up.”