Background
ICG are a diversified global alternative asset manager, founded in 1989 investing across a number of different strategies, including private equity, private and public debt, real estate and infrastructure. They have a strong entrepreneurial culture which is collaborative, solutions-orientated, ambitious and driven. With integrity at its core, the firm encourages new ideas while also taking a considered approach.
As a fast-growing firm, ICG was keen to broaden its access to talent and increase the representation of women in the firm. They look for highly-skilled, talent to help innovate and deliver for their fund investors, shareholders and people.
The Successful Candidate
ICG were looking for a candidate with product expertise who would support and develop into a marketing and client relations role done over four days.
Hannah Wilcock was returning to work after a 7-year planned career break from JP Morgan in equity sales.
Having enjoyed a successful career, she missed the industry and the daily interaction of her career. Her aim was always to return to financial services after her break and she remained up-to-date with her sector via her network, reading the financial press every day and actively trading her own portfolio. When she started to look for a role, she registered with The Return Hub
“The Return Hub were really supportive with my return. I got some great advice on my cover letter and interviewing. We had some really helpful conversations, and I was prepped really well for the interview process, including an extra level of insight into who I was meeting and what they’d ask. “
Hannah was selected for the role and joined ICG during lockdown which was challenging at times, but ICG provided some good training. “As this was a new type of role for me, I had to put my hand up and ask silly questions. I used to love relationship building in my previous role and I leveraged that skill set. I picked up the phone as much as possible and when the office opened up between lockdowns, I went in to put some faces to names.”
ICG take a tailored approach to their L&D interventions, so when Hannah was in the process of joining, they took into account her time-out and adjusted the onboarding plan accordingly. Before starting, she was enrolled on to a course with the BVCA for a refresher and an overview of key terms and industry dynamics. On starting she received further in-depth training covering IT applications, technical courses as well as in-house training sessions.
A very strong network of women at ICG were incredibly supportive, helping Hannah to assimilate into ICG. As she networked through the organisation, she identified a number of sponsors who supported her onboarding process and more broadly the team she worked with always made time to help her whenever needed – particularly vital during lockdown.
“Hannah serves as a fantastic case study demonstrating both internally and externally the success that can be achieved with this deliberate approach to finding gender diverse talent. She is an excellent role model for others to aspire to and will no doubt be part of our overall strategic intentions to diversify the culture of our organisation”.
Antje Hensel-Roth, Executive Board Director
Job Share
In her first year, Hannah exceeded expectations, receiving the ‘sprinter’ award for her ability to so quickly ‘get up to speed’. Not long after joining (and during the pandemic), she took efficient charge of a fundraise, taking it to its successful conclusion and helping to exceed the set targets. She built strong relationships with internal stakeholders across the firm and her previous professional and personal experience combined gave her a solid understanding of what was necessary to be successful in her role.
More recently, as Hannah’s role grew, it became apparent that more resource was needed. Given family commitments, Hannah did not feel the time was right to ramp up to full time. Wanting to support the growth of the team and retain Hannah’s expertise, HR implemented a solution that would deliver for all parties, and together they introduced a job share scheme for Hannah.
Hannah now works Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday half day, sharing the role with an existing ICG colleague who wanted an opportunity to expand their knowledge set. This has created an ideal situation where the team benefits from the extra skills brought by the job share. Hannah can continue progressing her City Career whilst also having the required space to balance her family.
After her seven years away from the City, Hannah is very happy in her role and to anyone contemplating a return to work she says:
“You don’t know whether you can do it, or whether it’s the right move for you, until you try, so why not give it a go?”
