This is where we help people

Matthew Lynch, Service Desk Manager

This is where we help people and where I unleashed my full potential.

I’ve noticed that all the people I’ve spoken to at RBL are very friendly, and Matt is no exception.

I call him for a chat as he takes a walk around the Isle of Dogs. Immediately, I get a sense of how warm he is. As it turns out, being approachable is a very important part of his management style.

Now the Service Desk Manager at RBL, leading a seven-strong team, Matt tells me a bit about his role and how he began working for the Royal British Legion.

"I joined RBL as a contractor coming up to six years ago, as a Support Analyst. My idea was to come to London, do some contract roles, and move around some different organisations. But once I got through the door my role moved to a permanent role and then a couple of years later, I moved up to a Senior Support Analyst role. And then over time, I’ve now progressed up to the Service Desk Manager role.

“I’ve had a lot of encouragement from the Royal British Legion.

“And I think that’s sort of what’s kept me around. I haven’t felt like I’ve had to leave to be able to progress, whereas in some organisations if you want to be able to move up you’ve got to leave and go somewhere else. Whereas at RBL, I’ve been able to progress as an individual and in my role. And now I’m relatively well established within the organisation.”

I very swiftly come to understand why Matt has stayed for so long, but it makes me wonder why he chose to work for RBL in the first place. I ask whether he had a connection to the Armed Forces community.

“I have no link to the Armed Forces community, but my passion lies in supporting and helping people. It’s really the only thing I get great satisfaction from. So, when I saw this role it felt like somewhere where I could achieve this.

“I love being able to sit with someone, talk them through an issue, and be able to provide them with a long-term solution. One that won’t just help them in that minute but could help them in the future.

“Being able to support our 1,600 internal staff hands-on, knowing that the work we do to make sure they’ve got the right tools and technology to do their roles, which in turn allows them to support our beneficiaries and our Armed Forces community – that’s amazing.”

Matt’s passion shines through with every word he says. And as we speak, it becomes clear that the Royal British Legion appreciates this passion and allows Matt to flourish.

“RBL has allowed me to be involved with lots of different things as well. The one thing that I’ve never witnessed at RBL is someone sat there saying, “Well, that’s not your job.” The thing I love most about this organisation and working for a charity is that it’s all hands on deck. There’s no, “Oh well, Matt Lynch is the Service Desk Manager, he can’t do that.”

It’s more, let’s see what he can do. Let’s all work together to achieve what we need to achieve.

“Every year we hold an annual conference for our members. And, even though my role is to manage the service desk, when I’m wearing my annual conference hat, I’m managing the audiovisual or being the technical liaison between us and the venue. And for me, that taps into my passion for theatre and working in the event industry. So, the RBL allows me to explore various areas of interest instead of just performing my day-to-day role. It’s really good at nurturing individuals and helping them work out exactly where they want to be.”

I reflect on how it seems like although opportunities are presented, you still need to put yourself out there and go for it.

Matt even finishes my sentence. As I say, “You get back what you…”, he adds “put in”.

“I put everything of myself into this role, and I think that definitely shows. It’s the opportunities that I’ve been given to grow as an individual. Being able to work up and through the organisation has extremely helped me grow as an individual. It has helped me outside of work as well. I mean, I’m a different person to what I was six years ago.