Advancing Quickly and Always Learning: Exploring My 6 Years of Growth at 1 Supportive Company

From early on, Morgan Small knew what she wanted to do. “Since high school, I could confidently tell anyone that, when I grew up, I wanted to be a CEO of a major company,” Small tells us. “During college, I realized my passion and my natural affinity for leadership. Throughout my career, I have kept a five- to 10-year plan of skills or experiences I needed in order to get the job(s) I was interested in doing next.”

Small tells us that this planning helped her managers and mentors see her ambition, passion and hard work. “It also allowed me to speak up about projects that I wanted to work on or lead to help expand my skill set,” Small shares. “I love learning, and trying new things has been the most rewarding part of my career journey.”

It comes as no surprise then, that this innate curiosity was a key factor in her career progression at her company — The PNC Financial Services Group. 

“I have been fortunate to be at a company that values internal transfers and moves, which has enabled me to develop my career,” Small says. As for how she did this, she notes that, “I made it a point early on to look broadly throughout the organization for a new opportunity when I felt too comfortable in my current role — and that has allowed me to advance so quickly so early into my career.”

Now, nearly six years into her time at PNC, Small is a senior business analytics consultant, where she performs business and data analytics for the Enterprise Security and Technology department’s Agile crew health. 

We caught up with Small to learn more about what her career has looked like thus far — including how she’s advanced in her career and taken advantage of mentorship and other opportunities to grow.

An inside look into growing a career at PNC

When asked how she grew her career at PNC, Small reiterates that her curiosity has been key, as well as taking advantage of several programs offered by PNC.

“The first was the technology development program, which allowed me to rotate through different roles in the technology department and network with a wide range of people,” Small shares. “Next are the Employee Business Resource Groups that are focused on employee development, as well as on sharing resources and connecting people across the company. Lastly, there’s PNC’s formal mentoring program.”

While she has benefited from each of these opportunities, Small attributes her current role to the networking connections she made during PNC’s technology development program.

Boiled down, her current job is to answer the ambiguous question of what the Agile health of the company’s enterprise security technology teams is — as well as figure out who needs help and identify points of interest that can help improve an Agile crew’s way of work and performance.

“I work with a team of product coaches to understand best practices surrounding Agile and discover the best methods for measurement,” Small says. “This includes trending analysis reports and providing ad hoc analysis for crew and senior leadership to gain more insights and formulate recommendations for improvement.”

This role suits Small, who says that business acumen is one of her top strengths. This is “a huge help since my job is usually taking business problems and solving them with data,” she explains. “I need to understand the business and then interpret my data back into the business context.”

Small is actively aiming to improve her skills while in this role, too. “I’m currently getting my master’s degree in Analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology to gain new technical skills in computer programming and statistical modeling to, ultimately, help advance my career in analytics,” Small notes. “This has also taught me a great deal about time management, being a part-time student and full-time employee.”

Looking back at her career at PNC, Small says she loves working at the company and has stayed there because of the “mix of the sponsors I did and did not know I had, as well as the opportunities to move internally that aligned to my career goals.” PNC is a perfect fit for anyone looking to take charge of their career.

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