World Cup Wins, Six Nation Grand Slams and Fixing Blocked Drains

Would you expect someone who has won the Rugby World Cup and a Six Nations Grand Slam to come and fix your blocked toilet within a matter of days? No, neither would I. What if I then told you this fully qualified plumber also happened to be an elite-level sportswoman by the name of Marlie Packer. Pretty cool right? This is the incredible story of one of HomeServe’s employees, who not only juggles oval shaped balls (pretty well) but has a full-time job working for the #3 Best Place To Work in the UK 2017. We managed to drag her away from tight heads and absorption fields (I’ll let you work out which one refers to plumbing or rugby) to talk gender pay equality, equal treatment at work, achieving ultimate dreams, and fixing U-bends. Which came first plumbing or rugby? Rugby came a long time before plumbing, 22 years to be exact. I played from a young age - getting my first full England cap in the summer of 2008, in Amsterdam.  At roughly the same time, I started my apprenticeship to become a Level 3 NVQ Plumber. You’re a plumber, who also happens to be a female, who also happens to have won the Rugby World Cup? That’s quite a combination. How do you make sure you’re always treated like a ‘normal’ HomeServe Employee? I wouldn’t class myself differently to anyone else within the workplace, however I am one of only a few female engineers at HomeServe and generally when people think of plumbers they still have this perception of a man coming to do the job. Sometimes I get a small reaction when I arrive at a Customer’s home but it’s always a good one - a lot of the Customers tell me that they weren’t expecting a lady. Also people at HomeServe have heard about me and my rugby, so sometimes when I ring into the office about a job, they ask if I’m the engineer that plays rugby and the conversation gets a bit side tracked but it’s really lovely to have colleagues that take an interest in what I do away from work. I don’t feel like I’m treated differently at HomeServe, they treat everyone with the same respect and that flows throughout the company. For me to have a company that is proud to have me working for them, and having their support, is amazing, and makes me proud to say that I work for HomeServe. How do you go from lifting the World Cup one minute to fixing a U-bend the next? *Laughs*, it was quite easy to be honest, after we won the World Cup we were still not professional athletes so I had to start making up for all the time I’d had off. We were used to juggling rugby, work and training all at the same time - it was just like going back to what I knew really. During the World Cup I got injured and knowing I was going to have to take more time off to have an operation, I felt bad on my manager and the rest of my South London team because it meant an added workload for them. You returned to work less than a week after winning the tournament. Why didn’t you take some time off? How did your fellow colleagues react to the win? I had a couple of days off just to let it sink in, also to see/celebrate with my friends and family back home. But as I said before, unfortunately it was still just an amateur sport, so like any job you only get so much time off and I needed to return to work. To be honest it was nice to go back to work, Customers seemed to love it, and at this point I was still taking my medal everywhere I went, so I would show it off to Customers which they loved. My colleagues also gave me so much support when I was away, so it's nice to go back and see them, and be back with my other ‘team’. In terms of transferable skills, how have you channelled the discipline of being a rugby player to improving the performance of your day job? I think there are lots of transferable skills from rugby to my day job, being part of the team for one plays a massive part in so many different ways. Communication skills are key on a rugby pitch both in attack and defence, and that's the same when you’re at work. Whether it’s communicating with Customers about what you’re going to do, or how you deal with a problem when speaking to your colleagues, it’s all the same and you help each other out along the way. Thinking on your feet both on the pitch and at work is vital. You can do as much analysis on your position as a rugby player as possible but your opposition could turn up with a completely different game plan. Similarly at work you could be told you’ve got a leak coming through the toilet when actually it’s coming from somewhere completely different. Knowing how to deal with changing circumstance is a key skill I have definitely learnt through the game of rugby and taken with me through to my day job. The gender pay gap and the theme of absolute equality in the workplace are real issues, and we know HomeServe take this very seriously. How do you feel your profile (and success) has helped bridge any preconceptions in what is clearly a male dominated industry? I think within any industry and the world today there are still gender equality difficulties, however HomeServe has always tried to make sure we as employees feel equal and valued for our professional ability rather than our gender and regardless of your position. Even changes in the world of rugby have been seen, especially within women’s rugby with us all having just experienced our first season as professional athletes. The gender gap is being bridged everywhere, one way or another, slowly but surely. HomeServe as a company respect everyone’s needs and abilities, and although I have a slightly heightened profile to other employees, they treat me and everyone else with the utmost respect, and cater to our own individual needs. Your CEO Martin Bennett has previously appeared as a Highest Rated UK CEO and this year HomeServe was voted the 3rd Best Place To Work in the UK. In your words, why is HomeServe such a fantastic place to work? HomeServe is a place where you are appreciated and respected by all. You are made to feel that you’re part of one team and that for me is a massive part of what keeps a company going, like a rugby team, with a solid support network around you. In fact the first time I really spoke to Martin I just thought he was a general manager.  We had a massive conversation about rugby as it’s something he follows and mentioned how he was there in 2003 when we won the world cup. It wasn’t until later that day, that I found out he was the BIG boss. Martin is very approachable, interested in what we are doing in our day jobs and he’s really keen to make things better for us engineers. He has a good team around him – all of whom are really passionate to be working for him. I think that’s the making of a great leader, (Boss, Captain) mutual respect is key if your workforce/team are going to be successful. Clearly from the records and this #3 best place to work in the UK, it shows his work as CEO is so influential. He has always been so accommodating with my rugby and understanding, even going as far as personally asking me if there was anything HomeServe could do to help me be the best England Player I can. He is a great man to have as your boss. With the next World Cup this summer (August 2017), what does the future hold for Marlie Packer the ‘rugby star’? Are you hoping for a place in the squad to defend your trophy? I am really looking forward to this year, already having a great start with our Six Nations campaign, it’s kicking off nicely and got me really excited for our summer tour and the World Cup this summer. For me personally, I am looking to get my head down, train hard and make that number seven shirt mine. Having not played XV’s for almost three years after being in the England Sevens set up, I was itching to get back on the pitch with the girls. Since the start of the season and the Old Mutual Wealth Series, it has really got me excited for this Summer’s tour to New Zealand and the World Cup in August where I’ll hopefully be playing in that number seven shirt for my country at my second World Cup. Does HomeServe sound like somewhere you’d like to work? Apply for jobs with them here.