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Starting a Human Resources Career: Interview With Gemma Burns

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“Don’t just stick where it’s safe.” Gemma Burns, UK HR Business Partner at Xodus Group speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership. As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation with Gemma Burns from Xodus Group, who began her career as an HR Officer at Heli-One before moving on to become a Senior HR Administrator at Bristow Group. She then served as a HR Advisor at EMGS, and an HR Manager at Laings Bathrooms, Kitchens & Bedrooms before becoming a Freelance HR Consultant and Director of Resolution HR Consultancy and taking on her current role as UK HR Business Partner at Xodus. Can you tell us how you got into HR and why? I’ve been in HR for 15 years now, but I did start out quite late. I didn’t pursue it until I was 25. I had admin-based roles prior to that, working as an office junior at the age of 18, then progressed up to admin-based roles, including sales and personal secretary positions. It was only when I became friendly with an HR Manager at one of my places of work that the exposure to the variety of work involved sparked my interest in HR. Fast forward two years, I was working at Heli-One and planning my next move. I enrolled myself into college to do the CIPD accredited Certificate in Personnel Practice after going back to work following maternity leave with my first daughter, which taught me the basics of HR. It was during my studies that I was offered the part-time HR Advisor role at Heli-One, and I then took a break to relocate to Libya for 18 months. Upon my return, whilst on maternity leave with my second daughter I completed some contract HR admin work for Aramark then took a part-time Senior HR Administrator role at Bristow Group when ready to return to work permanently – they were another helicopter operator, so I had the perfect experience after Heli-One. I stayed there for two years, then progressed to an HR Advisor role with OHM Ltd, who were later acquired by Norwegian based EMGS. This required me to travel to Norway every three months to encourage integration with the rest of the HR team based at head office. During that time, I gained my Postgraduate Diploma in Human Resource Management. I spent another year at EMGS after graduating but decided to move on as there was no future development opportunities. A management role came up at Laings, somewhere that had no HR in place previously; so I moved from oil and gas to retail which was a massive culture shift and transition that some warned me against doing but I saw it as a fantastic development opportunity. The good thing with HR is that it’s transferable. Fundamentally, you’re dealing with people and HR process Although there are differences in culture, management style and organisational structure between companies, those elements are a constant. As long as you stay open to different cultures and structures, you can do HR anywhere. During my time at Laings, I created their whole HR platform, which was challenging but I absolutely loved it. I had a great working relationship with management and could coach and partner with them, which is a key skill in any business you work with. You need to be able to develop relationships, deal with different personalities, and adapt your style to support them and needs of the business. In my time there we also won the Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce Northern Star Award for Commitment to People Development which was a great achievement in recognition of the work we had done. Unfortunately, four years later I ended up being made redundant following the economic downturn in Aberdeen. Being unable to take on a full-time job at a time where any jobs were incredibly hard to come by, led to me setting up my own HR consultancy firm. The idea had been in my head since EMGS, and it just seemed like the right time. I felt as though I’d had broad enough exposure to be able to assist SMEs with a whole variety and scope of work. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been exposed to a number of areas within HR in every position I have held, from talent management to organisational design and development to performance management and employee engagement. It’s been very generalist, so I’ve been able to develop my skills in every area throughout my career and adapt these into more strategic thinking as I have progressed. To provide myself with a solid USP to tap into the market, I undertook GDPR training in April 2018 to enable me to provide an audit and consultancy service. After which, I gained a lot of additional requests for other HR services for a diverse range of businesses, which was great. Within twelve months, I was approached to interview for a maternity cover role as Scotland HR Business Partner at Xodus. I got on so well with the directors that I ended up taking the role even though it was full-time and meant putting my consultancy business on hold. With it being fixed term, it was a risk not knowing what the market would be like at the end of it, as well as leaving my clients, but it seemed like an amazing place to work and could provide me with further development. It has not disappointed. The company is very focused on employee engagement, strategic thinking to ensure we are continually improving our service to the business and investing in its people – which I absolutely love and  have a key role to play in it all. Seven months after joining, I took on the HR Business Partner responsibility for our London office and became the UK HR Business Partner managing a team of three within the

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Top HR Trends In 2020 To Keep Your Eyes On

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Trends are always evolving in the changing world of work, especially in the past years due to technological advancements, globalisation, and innovation impacting every aspect and department of a business, HR included. But like with any type of new HR trend, it’s important to avoid making important changes without first carefully weighing in the impact it will have on your team and company. Instead, you could keep an open mind, evaluate, and compare them to your business needs and goals, before determining if these emerging HR trends in 2020 fit your business model and long-term interests. So, without further ado, let’s dive in and see what this year will bring in terms of HR trends: 1. HR Analytics Out of all the HR trends in 2020, analytics is perhaps the most important one because it can be used to decrease employee turnover and increase engagement and satisfaction. Through new tools and intuitive analytics, the data collected by HR departments can contribute to a better understanding of employees, their goals, aspirations, and well-being. By making objective, data-driven decisions instead of subjective ones, HR teams can help create a better working environment and come up with faster, more accurate solutions for unique problems. A good example is analyzing the retention rates which can help identify critical bottlenecks and solve issues by connecting that data with other metrics like performance indicators, engagement levels or changes in financial incentives. 2. The gig economy will take over the 9-to-5 economy What’s the origin of the 9-to-5 work schedule? Has it always been this way? As a matter of fact, the 9-5 came out of the industrial revolution back in the 18th century. Ever since, we’ve come through two more industrial revolutions and we’re about to enter a fourth. (Science|Business) In view of the new UK labour market trends in 2020 – and, more broadly, global HR trends – the traditional 9-to-5 economy will soon become a thing of the past. Instead, people are now transitioning towards the gig economy, which prioritizes flexibility and temporary projects over long-term contracts. The gig economy implies making the most of each opportunity as it showcases itself, enjoying the benefits of working outside the traditional cubicle and having complete control over how much money one makes. For HR leaders, the gig economy means having to adapt to the unique needs and requirements of a new generation of working professionals with the gig mindset who are more interested in freedom than climbing the success ladder and contributing to a retirement fund. 3. An increased focus on employee engagement and experience The level of happiness felt by an employee working for a company is measured by an indicator known as employee engagement. Considering employees are a key asset to a business and that without them, the organization cannot fulfill its promises towards clients and move forward, prioritizing the employee’s happiness at the workplace is key to the success of any company. So, in the context of UK labour market trends in 2020, human resources should focus on ensuring that employees have the best possible working experience, that they feel valued and that they love their jobs. This, in turn, will help employees establish an emotional connection to the workplace and work harder, and lead to increased performance and productivity, as well as an increase in the employee retention rate which otherwise would negatively impact the overall results of the company. 4. Emerging technologies dictate HR trends in 2020 Organizations at the forefront of innovation have long been interested in new tools and pieces of software to help them grow, but in 2020, technology is quickly gaining ground as a key HR trend. With all major areas of a business now relying on technology at some level, HR is now also saying “yes” to chatbots, AI in HR and machine learning processing, big data, RPA and virtual reality in return for the promise to improve screening process, identify patterns, take employee training to new heights and automate repetitive tasks. 5. An increased focus on diversity & inclusion More and more organizations worldwide are beginning to understand the importance of a diverse, inclusive and collaborative working environment. As the business landscape is increasingly globalized, creating a transparent working environment where your team feels comfortable and productive is key for harvesting an above-average financial return on investment. However, removing pay gaps, maintaining a gender-equal workplace isn’t enough. Instead, HR leaders might want to build a culture where everyone’s voice is heard without repercussions and where every employee feels empowered to do their best work. Continuing the 2018 and 2019 HR trends, 2020 will see large organizations making diversity and inclusion their # 1 priorities, with a focus on creating a sense of belonging for employees as well as ensuring diversity of thought across the business. This could be achieved not only by hiring people of different backgrounds and making sure that everyone has access to the same benefits. But also through the implementation of programs that support employee equality, diversity initiatives as well as by building fair workplaces of the future where all employees feel respected, valued and welcomed. Considering all these UK labour market trends above it’s easy to see how the human resources sector will continue to evolve this year and allow HR teams to increase efficiency and autonomy, become more productive and human, as well as reduce costs and minimize errors. And since more and more companies and HR professionals will adhere to these HR trends sooner or later, it might be a good idea to assess how they can help your company grow and become better at engaging employees and stimulating an inclusive working environment. While there’s no need to start implementing all of these HR trends right away, it will pay dividends to apply an objective perspective of how they will affect your industry and how they could help your team. Perhaps better than anyone, HR leaders know that balance is key for a company interested in sustainable growth

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The Future Of Recruitment: AI In HR

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In today’s changing world of work and intensifying competitive world, employers turn to technology for more accurate answers related to their businesses. Until recently, the primary goal of adopting artificial intelligence in HR was to provide transparency and drive savings. Today, however, smart emerging technologies enable HR teams to do more than that. So what does the future of recruitment hold in store? Thanks to technological advancement, we can not only automate repetitive tasks but also solve critical business challenges that have a direct impact on profitability and results. In other words, AI in HR now allows human resources teams to reach new productivity heights and deliver an even more significant impact on business outcomes. For the future of recruitment in particular and HR in general, artificial intelligence is a good example of such a technology that can reduce time-consuming tasks and make jobs faster, more accurate and easier which also means improved efficiency for businesses. From sourcing candidates to employee experience, AI in HR has the potential to forever revolutionise the way we think about recruitment and other HR-related operations. But what is artificial intelligence exactly you might ask? Artificial intelligence refers to a type of technology that can solve problems previously associated only with human intelligence. It’s a software tool trained to do what humans can – learn and process data. As opposed to regular software, the advanced machine learning and deep learning algorithms used by AI provide better accuracy to recruitment processes, policies and procedures. Below we address more specifically exactly how artificial intelligence will impact the future of recruitment and how AI in HR can further help your business grow. 1. Saving time screening resumes Screening resumes manually remains to this day one of the most time consuming tasks for recruiters as “52% of talent acquisition leaders say the hardest part of recruitment is identifying the right candidates from a large applicant pool”. (Vervoe) With screening resumes and shortlisting candidates taking an estimated 23 hours of a recruiter’s time for one hire and the hiring volume increasing every year, recruiting teams needed a more efficient way to do more in less time. Considering all this, AI in HR came like a breath of fresh air allowing recruiters to automate the resume screening interview scheduling process. 2. Removing biases from the future of recruitment As much as recruiters try to be objective and inclusive, at the end of the day they are humans too, which means that the recruitment process can be affected by personal beliefs towards certain candidates who may or may not get the job because of this. However, thanks to AI and automation, this lack of impartialness can be avoided through algorithms that can be programmed to assess skills objectively and reduce human prejudice. While recruiters and employers have been looking forward to a solution that would render the recruitment process as objective and impartial as possible, there’s still a long way to go for AI in HR. One example often used as an argument against AI in recruitment is a vulnerability found in Amazon’s recruiting engine. Reportedly, the computer models used by Amazon’s AI were able to catch on to cues about the applicants’ gender and favoured candidates who used language more likely to be found on make candidates’ resumes. In addition to gender bias, the same experiment revealed that the algorithm also failed in that it often recommended candidates who were unqualified for the position. The key takeout here? While the future of recruitment holds great breakthroughs in store for employers and the industry at large, the recruiter’s role is still essential in making the right hiring decision. 3. Improving the quality of the hiring decision Even though a main recruitment success metric, the quality of a hire can be difficult to assess by recruiters. Lack of data and measuring systems regarding what exactly happens to candidates after they get hired are just two of the reasons. By incorporating AI in HR, recruiting professionals can map and match candidates’ experience and skillset to the requirements of the job. The future of recruitment has in store a more accurate and transparent selection process, reduced costs, and better resource allocation. And eventually these also translate into happier, more productive employees and better business outcomes. 4. Increasing the retention rate Poor retention rate is something most companies struggle with. So companies can use AI platforms to measure employee experience as well as to single out employees that may be looking to hand over their resignation letter. By using artificial intelligence in HR to detect changes in the activity and behaviour of employees, or satisfaction rate, HR leaders can predict when employees are unhappy and might be thinking of leaving or even when they might need a raise for outstanding performance. 5. Minimizing repetitive tasks using AI in HR Low-value, repetitive tasks lead to employee frustration, mistakes and lack of ownership. Instead, by allowing employees to focus more on value-driven tasks and leave it to AI tools to takeover common HR tasks that do not require strategic decision making – like filling out excel documents, productivity and employee happiness can significantly increase which will also lead to better time-management, resource-allocation and overall improved business results as well. Contrary to popular belief, AI and technology won’t take away jobs, but actually allow HR and recruiting staff to do their jobs to the best of their capabilities by automating mundane tasks and generating more profit for the company, freeing up time to focus on the human element of recruiting. 6. Improving training processes, learning and development opportunities In terms of ongoing staff evaluation and training, AI can help with identifying skill gaps and easily organizing training programs according to the unique needs of the employees, thus offering them an overall better learning and development experience and companies specialized resources. More specifically, AI-powered e-learning platforms can provide tailored training suggestions based on the skills set of employees as well as serve as an excellent database for their growth.

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Working In Hospitality HR Is A Way Of Life

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Interview With Heather Stewart, Human Resources Director at Vine Hotels Ltd “I would definitely say that if you want to work in hospitality HR, you need to understand and love hospitality; it’s a way of life.” – Heather Stewart, Human Resources Director at Vine Hotels Ltd, speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.   As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some hospitality HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation with Heather Stewart at Vine Hotels Ltd, who began her career in HR as a Training Manager at Mount Royal Hotel in London. In March 2008, Heather took on a role at the Doubletree by Hilton Sheffield Park Hotel to continue her work as a HR Manager, transitioning to her current role in April 2016.   Can you tell us how you got into hospitality HR and why? I would describe myself as a hotel manager who specialises in HR. My initial introduction to HR happened because at the time when I went into hospitality as a hotel manager, females were always given the HR stuff to deal with. I had an aptitude for it, so I just continued with it. I have taken other non HR roles in the hotel industry, but I’ve always found myself coming back to HR. I got bitten by the bug of hospitality straight away when I was at uni. People who want to work in hotels are often those who enjoy a nice environment with a fast-paced atmosphere and are happy to deal with a new challenge every day, and that definitely ticked all the right boxes for me. In terms of hospitality HR, I’ve always enjoyed helping people get to somewhere or something they want. I love assisting development and recognising the potential in people. I want the people I work with to be the best they can possibly be, and I understand that they can’t always do that on their own. I love seeing people grow and develop and get the jobs they want, and from the hotel side of things, I love taking a property and transforming it into a warm and welcoming place where everyone’s happy and guests want to stay there. It’s HR that allows me to create that great vibe, so the two go hand-in-hand.   Can you tell me about the key themes and challenges that you’re seeing across the hospitality HR sector? I think the great unknown of what will happen with our European staff is a big thing for us in hospitality at the moment. There’s a part of me that thinks they’ll be able to continue to work as they are due to special status, but we’re not sure, so that’s something we need to be thinking about. For years and years now, hiring chefs has also been a challenge. We can never get enough chefs, even though as an industry we try all sorts of methods of training and apprenticeships to pull them in. We need to give this area some serious blue sky thought, because we need to produce the same quality food product with fewer skilled people, maybe using technology or complex purchasing. This could be a big cultural change, and that’s a slow process, because this industry is very proud of its traditions. It should be, but as a result it can be a bit slow to move with the times. Whatever industry you’re in, you have to keep changing, but I’d say that’s particularly challenging for hospitality. Another challenge that I’ve found is in the quality of managers that hotels employ. They can be very different from the managers of 20 years ago in terms of their expectations around the immediacy of things, but also their attitude to the job. They can be more driven by wages and needing to work a certain number of hours a week, whereas managers back then wouldn’t know how many hours they did and were in the job primarily because they enjoyed it. Our business is very much up and down, so managers having a more fixed mindset in terms of things like the hours they work can be a challenge, as can the expectation of salary increases or promotions without the understanding that you actually have to put the work in to get there. I’m sure that affects every industry, but hospitality has always been one where, traditionally, experience is always valued over qualifications. It was quite common for people to start off as a porter and work their way up to general manager 20 years ago, for example, so maybe it’s more of a challenge for us than others. I think our industry is also changing in terms of work becoming by spreadsheets rather than by people on the floor managing themselves and doing jobs until they’re done. Because of that, we have to work on staff engagement; both to get buy-in from members of staff who want to do their jobs well, and ensure we recruit people who want to buy into that. That comes from the top, so you have to develop your managers to be good leaders who create a positive, motivated atmosphere. As an industry, we really need that sort of engagement, because it’s important that our staff look and feel happy in order to give our guests the sense that our hotels are nice places with good vibes that they want to be in. Something else we also come up against a lot is the British attitude to hospitality. Where it’s considered a high-status role in Europe, British people seem to have a problem with service, and that holds us back. I would definitely like the hospitality profession to be held in higher regard, because running a hotel is a difficult job that requires a much wider breadth of skills than management in another industry might require, and I think that’s hugely under-represented.   What

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How To Make A Successful Flexible Working Request

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Wintertime and the beginning of the year, in particular, are perhaps one of the best times to take a step back and reflect on your career and current job situation. Contemplating making a career change asking for a pay-rise, perhaps taking the path of entrepreneurship or maybe considering flexible working are options you’re considering. According to research, flexible working is a trending interest among many employees in today’s technology-driven workplace as well as for companies looking to offer their employees a complete benefits package that makes them happier and thus more productive. Thanks to the rise of digital tools like online work platforms and adaptive legislation, physical presence at the office are no longer mandatory, which also makes long commutes and road traffic a thing of the past. But what is flexible working exactly? Flexible working is a type of work-related arrangement between an employee and an employer, that focuses on providing a different working pattern than the existing one. Flexible working can take various forms, from arrangement referring to working from home, working less than full-time norm – or part-time, working full-time hours but over fewer days (compressed hours), taking time off during school holidays (annualized hours), to working between agreed hours every day also known as flextime, starting and finishing at different hours than your colleagues (staggered hour), to reducing hours and transitioning to part-time working for employees approaching retirement age which is called phased retirement. And in case you do decide that this is the right solution for you and want to proceed, then you need to consider making a successful flexible working request to your employer as the first step. A flexible working request is a document or verbal plea for changing the current working pattern and laying out the details and reasons for such an agreement. There are two non-dependent ways in which you can make a flexible working request. One is to make a formal, statutory request, that is covered by law. The other is to make a non-statutory request, that largely depends on the company’s policies and procedure or the employer itself. So how should you proceed in making a flexible working request and make sure you get the desired outcome? Before making a written flexible working request, you should know that an effective flexible working request is one which persuades your employer that it’s a good idea for both you and the business. You should prepare by: Doing some research on the subject to understand your rights and assess if you legally qualify for flexible working. According to gov.uk, any employee has the right to make a statutory application for flexible working if they have been with the company for a minimum of 26 weeks.   Discussing the topic with other people with similar job roles who work flexibly and gather information on their experience. And if you’re unsure on how the laws might apply to you, speak to your HR department or The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service for advice on your rights and the best course of action.   Starting with an informal conversation before you make your written request to test the water and get an idea of what your employer’s reservation or objections might be. This conversation could also take place after you make the request, but it would be a good idea to make this your initiative and discuss openly.   Considering the decision-makers and other people who could support you. While this is mostly a business decision, there could also be subjective and emotional elements influencing that conclusion. So it might be a good idea to take a strategic approach about this and position your proposal in a way that appeals to their values and preferred ways of communication.   Thinking about your ideal scenario or outcome and then about the things you would be willing to compromise on if they don’t work for your employer. By showing some flexibility and empathy when making such a request, taking into account not only your situation but also that of your employer will possibly yield better results.   Painting a vivid picture of how this arrangement will work and show that you’ve thought of everything. This will give your employer confidence and help them better understand how you’ll manage your time, day to day activities and work relationships. Will it be by phone, chat, conference calls?   Making it a win-win and being prepared with arguments and solutions to any of the problems that might arise. Some employers think that working flexibly or from home means less productivity and a less structured working pattern. But the reality is the opposite. A study by Lancaster University, predicts that flexible working will be the main type of working for 70% of organizations by 2020. Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Powwownow found that 47% of full-time employees do not have flexible working encouraged at their workplace. So consider letting your employer know about other companies that have adopted flexible working as well as the benefits that such an arrangement holds for their business. As there are significant benefits related to time-saving, office costs, a boost in productivity and employee retention as well as lower carbon emissions thanks to lack of commute to consider. What should a successful flexible working request contain However, if you prefer a more formal approach, you can consider requesting in writing or using this template which is considered standard for such an application. Whether it’s a statutory or non- statutory flexible working request, it is good practice to use the same approach as to the statutory approach even if for there is no set format for a non-statutory request that you need to follow specifically (no matter if you are or aren’t eligible to make a statutory request, you can still opt for a non-statutory one). Your written request (letter or email) should include: The date A clear statement that this is a statutory flexible working request (unless it’s non-statutory in which case it’s not specifically

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Millennials In The Workplace: 6 Recruiting And Retention Strategies For 2020

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Millennials or Gen Z are an important part of today’s workplace currently making up for 35% of all employees. And by 2030, millennials in the workplace will comprise a whopping 75% of the working population. Born between 1980 and 2000, the millennial workforce often has high expectations for their careers and strong beliefs about the workplace environment. Typically they are loyal employees with a high sense of purpose, and an interest in the social dimensions of a business. But while millennials are valuable in the workplace, self-reliant and tech-savvy, 53 % of recruiters report having difficulties in finding and retaining millennial talent. Here are the most important things to consider when setting up a strategy for recruiting and retaining millennial talent in the workplace: 1. Make your company attractive and emphasise your healthy business culture As competitive benefits packages are getting more and more standardized across industries, millennials are interested in a company’s unique culture as a key differentiator when considering a career move. By inviting a candidate to check out your company’s social media accounts where you regularly post new photos and videos that show off your culture and subscribe to your newsletters during the pre-screening interview phase, you can reinforce your promises and give them a sneak peek into what their life will be like if they accept the position. 2. Offer flexible hours Like most employees today, millennials are big on flexible working and work-life balance. And considering they grew up in the internet and globalization era, they are big fans of pushing local barriers and making the most of digital communication platforms and tools available today that enable remote working. Many millennials believe that getting quality work done should not depend on an hour commute, specific working hours and a cubicle. Instead, while the regular 9 to 5 window is still pretty standard for reaching colleagues and customers, millennials are also primarily interested in opportunities that don’t limit their creativity and productivity––even if that means working during the night. This allows them to live and work from anywhere in the world, explore opportunities and maximize the time spent with their family and friends. While many find it hard to grasp this concept and believe it’s a good idea to keep them separate, for millennials in the workplace, work is part of their persona and brand. While remote work and flexible schedules aren’t an option for everyone, providing even some work from home opportunities or the ability to start the workday early or late can go a long way. Work with your employee’s schedules rather than expecting them to always adhere to strict start and end times. 3. Give meaning to their work By nature, people are purpose-driven individuals. And some millennials will be prepared to give 100% at the office as long as they feel like they are dedicating their time to a good cause, a cause they believe in. So if you can prove how the role you are offering can make a significant contribution to their personal and professional lives during the recruiting process, you’ve already got their attention. Organizations that are shortlisted during the recruiting process, are usually those who are able to demonstrate how they bring a positive change into the world, adhere to unconventional and transparent work policies and align to their own set of values. While paying the bills is something we all have to do and work for, if you want to attract millennials into your organization tell them about the solid contribution their job will be making for a particular subject. Particularly if you can attach some level of social impact or higher meaning to their day to day tasks they will choose your organization over another job with less social impact. But try not to overdo it. The last thing they want you to be is a salesperson in disguise selling them a perfectly rehearsed script. Instead, try to be genuine as they value transparency and authenticity. 4. Offer growth opportunities and be invested in their professional growth For this particular type of employees – who stay on top of trends, industry news, constantly hungry to learn more — stagnation is terrifying and a static environment can soon bore them. According to a Gallup report, 59% of millennials in the workplace say that professional development opportunities are also important when weighing in the pros and cons of a new job position. To attract millennials and build a reliable and productive work environment for them to feel comfortable and appreciated in, stay ahead of the competition with a benefits package that includes access to the latest industry training and programmes for their growth. 5. Offer competitive compensation for millennials in the workplace As mentioned before, millennials aren’t the type of employees motivated by money. However, this is not to say that they do not know their worth. Quite the contrary, they see the rewarding package you are prepared to offer as an indicator of how much you value them and their work. But aside from salary, when reviewing the entire compensation package, they also look at benefits, perks, and personal development opportunities to stimulate their career and feeling of self-worth. So when presenting them the offer, consider a comprehensive compensation package with better perks and opportunities that align with their individual needs and values if you can’t compete with bigger companies on the same salary benefits. These can include health packages, gym discounts, parties, remote working opportunities, opportunities to grow professionally, even company trips, or events can be a great way of showing appreciation for their work, getting millennials excited about working at your organization, and make them feel like they are part of the family. 6. Let innovation be your driver Innovation is a powerful way to attract millennials in the workplace. They don’t want to just come into an office and work for a stagnant or boring company. They evolved alongside technology and they’re used to a certain cadence. Your toolkit should be up-to-date in

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“The most important thing for me is to be passionate and invested. You need to be committed to supporting people and putting a personable, fair, and consistent human face to HR.” – Zehra Hussain, Head of Human Resources at London Women’s Clinic and JD Healthcare speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.

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“The most important thing for me is to be passionate and invested. You need to be committed to supporting people and putting a personable, fair, and consistent human face to HR.” – Zehra Hussain, Head of Human Resources at London Women’s Clinic and JD Healthcare speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.   As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation with Zehra Hussain at London Women’s Clinic and JD Healthcare, who began her career in HR in the civil service, taking on a role as an HR Programmes and Projects Consultant for the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills in May 2004.  She later ascended within the organisation, assuming roles as Industrial Relations Manager, People Survey Programme Manager, and the HR Consultant on Shared Services, Next Generation HR Programmes, and the HR Delivery Model Project. In February 2014, Zehra joined the team at Spence Johnson Ltd / Broadridge Financial Solutions Limited as an HR Manager, later transitioning to the charitable sector to act as the Senior HR Manager for Children with Cancer UK before taking on her current role in June 2019. Can you tell us how you got into HR and why? My career in HR started in the civil service. Before I got into HR, I was managing a large team, and had a reputation for being fair and always following the correct procedures. I was told that I might be a good fit for an opening as a HR Business Consultant in the Department of Business, so I applied for it and ended up in a role implementing the first disability strategy, handing disability issues across a department with about 2,500 people.  I found that I really enjoyed discovering the challenges people faced and working out how we could make adjustments to overcome them as an organisation. It was a steep learning curve, but I loved the work, especially when I met people whose working lives had been improved because of it. It’s all too easy to get lost in the processes and plans involved with making change, but seeing the end result really brings home the value of things. From there, I moved onto a role as a Business Partner involved with the department’s people strategy. I worked to put together a sound, consistent, fair appraisals process, and during its development, I really tried to talk to people and understand what their concerns were as I had done beforehand. That seemed to really enhance my work, and I found myself becoming an HR leader very quickly. In my time at the Department of Business, Innovation, and Skills, I had the opportunity to deal with the entire spectrum of HR issues, and worked with key players in a range of other departments to provide a joined-up, holistic, cross-departmental HR service. I was later able to take the skills I acquired there over to Spence Johnson Ltd/Broadridge Financial Solutions to learn what was a priority for them and build and introduce policies and procedures around that. After a while, I found that I wanted to undertake work that had more of a social benefit, and moved on to work at Children with Cancer UK, which again was very much about building a framework of policies and procedures around meeting their needs and improving the employment life-cycle of those within the organisation. From there, I transitioned to the London Women’s Clinic, and I’ve been thoroughly enjoying implementing structure and learning about the conditions that employees are working in. I think it’s really important to be clear and transparent around the state of the working environment, as having an accurate perception of things really helps us in HR to communicate and engage with people across the organisation and empower managers to lead effectively.  Working with managers is a huge part of what I do, and I love supporting them to ensure they’re engaged, loyal, and thriving in our organisation. We’re aiming for total fluidity of policy and procedure across the organisation, and the feedback on our efforts so far has been overwhelmingly positive. Can you tell me about the key themes and challenges that you’re seeing across the HR sector? I think it’s vitally important for HR to be reactionary, supportive and proactive in equal measures, and I’ve always believed that HR needs to be at the heart of a business to make the biggest impact. All the organisations I’ve worked with have benefitted from HR being involved at board level—our impact is felt across the entirety of a business, so it makes sense that we play a role when key decisions are being made. I think CEOs and leaders need to recognise that HR has to be positioned at the heart of things for them to get the most out of our involvement. After all, key things like growth in profit and productivity start with HR. I think a key theme we’re seeing become more and more prevalent in business and society alike is mental health awareness. In HR, we’re more conscious than ever of the importance of pinpointing and meeting the mental health needs of our employees, and I’m particularly keen to do that within the London Women’s Clinic. We’re working within the challenging area of fertility issues, and we have a very young workforce who encounter emotional situations as part of their work, so I think it’s key for us in particular as well as all organisations more generally to have support mechanisms in place that can detect issues staff may be experiencing early and respond to them appropriately. I think a large part of that is having effective one-to-one support, and we’re currently developing mental health awareness training for our managers to ensure employees have that available to them. Another important thing we face in HR is working out how we keep the workforce engaged and loyal beyond

“The most important thing for me is to be passionate and invested. You need to be committed to supporting people and putting a personable, fair, and consistent human face to HR.” – Zehra Hussain, Head of Human Resources at London Women’s Clinic and JD Healthcare speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership. Read More »

“My advice to anybody is don’t ever take it personally. If you do that, that gives an in to anybody to say, right, I know which buttons to press actively”, Rajiv Gunawardana, Head of HR, with experience in the social care sector speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.

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“My advice to anybody is don’t ever take it personally. If you do that, that gives an in to anybody to say, right, I know which buttons to press actively”, Rajiv Gunawardana, Head of HR, with experience in the social care sector speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.   As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation with Rajiv Gunawardana, who began his career as a mechanical engineer before moving into HR.  Can you tell us a bit about how you got into HR and why? I think it was probably an intelligent mistake. I started with a mechanical engineering degree and I really wanted to be a car designer. I should have been going through more like art college than engineering. After that, I basically started to work in a temporary contract and one of the training and development people said  “have you ever considered HR?”. They thought I would be a good fit because I was working on a couple of projects and I had to deal with various changes that were happening in the workplace and I was actively like an office manager for a small project and straight out of university. So I pursued a postgraduate qualification in Personnel Management at Wolverhampton poly and then secured my first proper HR role. Can you tell me about the challenges or key themes that you’re seeing across the HR sector? The biggest challenge for everybody in social care is around retention and recruitment. Because we are a charity and our funding is based on care packages from local authorities who are under pressure from central government to make cuts. The challenge is trying to recruit people who are just above the minimum wage, and to provide something that can be quite challenging at times, in terms of some unpredictable behaviours, but also hugely rewarding. So, it’s not like a normal recruitment process. If you find the right match of person, they could be from any sector. Also turnover it’s notoriously high in the care sector, and we’re trying to address that by looking at some really key analytics, like when they’re leaving, why they’re leaving and what can we actually do about some of these issues. In addition, given the current rate of employment, I think that people can afford to become incredibly choosy, and they just don’t turn up to the interviews. I just can’t believe somebody would actually go through the whole process of putting the application and just not show up. What career advice would you offer to someone working towards a career like yours? In terms of careers advice, it’s incredibly rewarding, and it’s so diverse now. You just need to decide whether you want to specialise in one area (eg Recruitment) or whether you want to become a generalist. Ist very competitive but persevere. If somebody really wants to get into HR, the paths are clear. Find a project that is kind of in an HR department with an employer who really wants for you to do your qualifications otherwise you have to go and do it yourself. CIPD qualification is the industry standard. While some people don’t prescribe CIPD and don’t believe in it, I believe it is imperative to be qualified, but there are many senior people who are not. That does not make them a poor HR practitioner and neither doe having the qualification. At the end of the day if you enjoy what you are doing then that in itself will be the motivator to do better and progress. if you don’t like working as an HR person (or anything else for that matter) it’s simple, go and find what you enjoy doing.  My advice would be to get your CIPD accreditation. The other thing is to try and work in as many different types of sectors as you can. And this may sound a bit controversial, but I also would say don’t stay more than five years in one organization because you need that fresh challenge in terms of HR, you need to get your experience.Especially if you’re going to head towards a head of HR or HR director role, you just need to have that because different organisations do things differently.  So I would say if you want to work in HR, try and work in as many industries as possible in your initial career like, manufacturing, retail, local authority, charity sector. Because it helps you build up a huge range of knowledge and casework and experiences of how people behave, and how managers think and you will understand that difference ‘pace’ at which each organisation operates. Also make sure that you get the experience of working with unions to get that experience of dealing with and talking to management staff and union people, which is different to the study management and staff.  Rajiv is an experienced HR Director and has 20+ years of experience in HR. If you are interested in having a confidential conversation about your career or would like support growing your team, please get in touch today.  

“My advice to anybody is don’t ever take it personally. If you do that, that gives an in to anybody to say, right, I know which buttons to press actively”, Rajiv Gunawardana, Head of HR, with experience in the social care sector speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership. Read More »

On HR in Schools: Interview With Stephanie Readhead, Head of HR & Compliance at Pocklington School

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  “In HR, you’ve got the opportunity to make a tangible difference to the bottom line of an organisation, but also to the individuals within it. [
] You’re making across the board difference that filters across every part of the organisation, and that’s quite unique.” – Stephanie Readhead, Head of HR & Compliance at Pocklington School, speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.   As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation about HR in schools with Stephanie Readhead at Pocklington School, who began her career as an HR Administrator at Barnardo’s before moving to NestlĂ© to work as an HR Advisor in 2001. This was followed by positions as a Senior HR Business Consultant for Scarborough Building Society, and an HR Advice Team Manager for Comet. In 2008, Stephanie joined the education sector as Director of HR, Support Services & Special Projects for Headlands School, and in 2013 joined the HR team at Pocklington School, expanding her responsibilities from Head of Human Resources to her current role in September 2019. Can you tell us how you got into HR and why? It was completely by accident, really. My early interest was science, so I studied the sciences and Maths at A-Level, then undertook a Human Genetics degree, as well as some interesting classes in business and economics. The ethical future of genetics was looking a bit questionable at the time, and I found myself enjoying business and economics more, so I took a bit of time to reassess what I wanted to do. During that period, I took on a temporary assignment in HR at Barnardo’s, and it’s been a 20-year career since. It’s a challenging and rewarding career, and I think it stuck because Barnardo’s gave me a great start and pushed me to do the qualifications. I also had a manager who was great about involving me in what she was doing. Although I was new to the career and lower down in the hierarchy, she gave me a really good insight into the rewards of climbing the career ladder. In HR, you’ve got the opportunity to make a tangible difference to the bottom line of an organisation, but also to the individuals within it. One minute, you’re sat looking at the strategy, what you’re going to bring in and how it’s going to impact the business, and the next you’re talking to an individual who needs your support and help. You’re making across the board difference that filters across every part of the organisation, and that’s quite unique. Can you tell me about the key themes or challenges that you’re seeing across the HR sector? I’ve had a really diverse career, but HR in schools particularly is a very unique and challenging environment, and is quite complex. There’s a unionized aspect, and navigating the various terms and conditions of a school setting, but also the external expectations put on schools. I’ve not worked in an organisation before where I get 24 hours’ notice of an external body coming to assess my work, and if my work isn’t up to scratch, it has the potential to close my business down. A big part of school inspections focuses on the HR side of things, and if you haven’t done what you’re meant to do in the way you’re meant to do them, that reflects on your school, and you can fail the inspection. There are actually an awful lot of demands, pressures, and things that happen that you have very little say in but you have to follow through, and that can be difficult when you’re trying to do project work—particularly in the maintained sector, because your hands are a bit more tied than in the independent sector, so you have to be more inventive and find the way around the red tape. I think HR in schools is becoming much more of a key role in the sector, both because of an increasing business focus and a desire for shared resources across academy trusts, as well as the increased workload that changes in legislation have put on local authority centralised HR functions. It’s grown rapidly into being a much more focused and specific role in schools, whereas before it was something that used to be done by non-specialists with the support of the local authority. It’s an up-and-coming area with much more demand for it these days. Neither school I have worked for had a specialised HR role before I started, but most schools have an HR representative onsite now. We’re also seeing recruitment shortages across the teaching profession, so attracting and retaining talent is a key thing for us in schools, especially when we’re competing in an international recruitment market to a level we’ve never seen before—I think there’s a need to evolve in terms of the way we look at things like flexible working to retain staff while also being inventive with the resources we have in order to offer them benefits. Schools are increasingly being run much more like businesses, and we need to be able to meet the changing expectations of staff as a result. There’s also a very real threat to the existence of independent fee-paying schools within the sector, and whatever your view is on that, I think we need to understand that there’s a real personal impact behind moves like adding VAT to fees or stripping schools of their charitable status; not just for us, but for our students, our workforce and our local community. We are the largest employer in our locality so what impacts us can have wider ramifications. What career advice would you offer to someone either working towards a career in HR in schools, or someone just getting started in their HR career? I would say that HR in schools is an area that there’s a lot more demand

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Developing a Career in HR Leadership: Interview With Zoe Stephens, HR Director at Blatchford

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  “
You can be good at tactical HR, but you can’t be good at the strategic stuff if you don’t understand what your organization’s trying to do and where it’s trying to go to.” – Zoe Stephens, HR Director at Blatchford speaks to us about developing a career in HR Leadership.   As part of our commitment to supporting candidates to develop fulfilling careers, we’ve invited some HR Leaders to share the secrets of their success. This week, we had a great conversation with Zoe Stephens HR Director at Blatchford who began her journey in the hospitality sector before moving into a career in HR. Can you tell us a bit about how you started your career in HR Leadership and why? I trained as a chef and started working in restaurants then I very quickly realized that I preferred being out front instead of in the kitchen. I moved into restaurant management quite quickly after that I spent a period running several restaurants in central London. I look back on it now and it was the best job when you’re new out of university and you can party and enjoy yourself and still go to work the next day. Whilst working for a chain of restaurants and I was put on their high potential program, for restaurant management. As part of the high potential program, they asked me to look at getting the investors and people accreditation for the chain. I knew nothing about managing people, or using resources in a way that drives business success. I quickly started to understand what the emphasis on people and standards could do for a business and it sparked an interest in me. Back then it was a desktop exercise. You literally just had to create a performance review form and put it in a folder, and you didn’t have to demonstrate any evidence that you were using it on the go. But it was enough to make me think, I find this fascinating. At that point the company that I worked for wouldn’t sponsor me through what was the IPD then now the CIPD and I moved to The Body Shop and sponsored myself through the CIPD. Can you tell me about key themes or challenges you’re seeing across the HR sector? I think the first one is the way people have begun recognising value of HR and the impact it can have on a business.  In my role, I’m really in the centre of helping with business achievements. Whereas when I started my career, HR’s role was to keep the business safe, “let’s not get into trouble and also avoid high staff turnover”. It was much more geared towards employee relations. But now, I would say it’s about demonstrating how you add value. We’re solution finders now. So, tell me the problem that you’re trying to fix, and let me see if I can find a way using people and all the resources, we’ve got to fix your problem. And that might be through recruiting the right person who’s bringing in new skills, it might be through development and training interventions, that might be through reorganizing the business for them or giving them suggestions as to how they can move the skill sets around for business to be better focused on the objective. It might about looking at the rewards and recognitions agenda. Thinking, ‘Are we missing a trick, are we staying ahead of the curve?’. And in terms of employee engagement, how do you really harness all that discretionary effort? It’s about understanding your employee base, knowing one size does not fit all. What career advice would you offer to someone either working towards a career like yours, or someone just getting started in their HR career? I’d offer them the basics initially, which means understanding what the business is trying to achieve and understand your employee base and how do you leverage them to be able to help achieve the objectives of the business and the individuals. I’d also advise them to be the eyes and ears of the organization. Keep close to the temperature of the organization, because often managers don’t. So, you can be good at tactical HR, but you can’t be good at the strategic stuff if you don’t understand what your organization’s trying to do and where it’s trying to go to. I would also say be super curious about the business and every role you’ll be in, ask questions. Why do we do that? What’s the outcome? What’s the impact if we don’t do it? Just try and be inquisitive, frequently HR people don’t naturally come with that as a behaviour trait. So, pure curiosity enables you to challenge the norms of the business in a very constructive way. And I think the other thing is that you must take risks, calculated risks.   Zoe is the HR Director for Blatchford and has over 22 years of experience in the HR industry.   If you are interested in having a confidential conversation about your career or would like support growing your team, please get in touch today.  

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