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Music and master data strategy

 

After a bright career in consultancy, Xinyi Guo is now pioneering master data strategy at the Group alongside her part-time role as a concert pianist.

Janet working on her laptop in the office

Xinyi Guo now works as a Master Data Strategy Manager for the Group, which allows for a better work/life balance than her previous career in consultancy. 

Lloyds Banking Group is a place that encourages you to be you – the real you. Rather than just thinking of you like a tool, as just one person in the workforce, the business values you as a person.

I used to work in consultancy, which was a great career, but you weren’t really encouraged to have a life outside of your profession. 

Music is a very, very important part of my life. It’s had a big impact on me from when I was a little girl. I'm a part-time concert pianist – I just had my first overseas piano recital two weeks ago. But when I was in consultancy, I didn't really dare to expose that side of me, especially to my clients. But since working at the Group I don’t feel like I need to hide anymore. 

I also have a very good work/life balance. When I have an invitation for recitals, for example, I can be flexible. 

 

“Music is a very, very important part of my life, I'm a part-time concert pianist. But when I was in consultancy, I didn't really dare to expose that side of me.”

Janet relaxing and listing to music on her headphones in the office with colleagues talking in the background

Perfect harmony

I actually got to know my husband through my love of piano music. He was a popular pianist in China, the same age as me, and I was a huge fan of his. Years later, we met in the UK and got married here. Piano has been a really important part of my life. 

One of the characteristics of my piano style is improvisation, and I compose a lot for myself. I'm not a great fan of following other people's scores and practicing repetitively all the time.

In my recent piano recital, I played music that I improvised from a melody of songs that had never had a piano version. My improvisation could be based on a very simple string melody, but I can create a lot of textures with classical piano techniques and give the music an orchestral feeling, with oriental melodies. 

Looking forward

I like to apply this focused mindset to my work, too. Master data is all about the core data seen in any business transactions. In my role I think a lot about what we want to achieve, and why we're doing things a certain way. When I come across data, it's the same thing, how are we going to use the data? What’s the purpose of using it?  

We consider our customer data, our product data, and the data about the bank itself, all our subsidiaries, our shareholders, our colleagues – it's all how it fits into the core business entities. 

Part of our job is to make people understand what we’re doing and why, pitching progress, persuading people with evidence to help them see why we’re making such big changes. This kind of thinking is newer to the bank. Our Chief Data Officer joined in the past few years, and he brings this set of more scientific, best industry practices to the table. Now, we have this exciting innovation rippling across the Group. We’re seeing a real transformation. 

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