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Welcome to Is This Room Free? In this podcast I will be talking to HR professionals and listening to the stories of their careers. I will be finding out about the journeys they have taken and what they learnt along the way. The purpose is to help others in the profession identify and understand the various paths available and take inspiration from my guest speakers. Whether you are someone who is looking to get that first step on the HR career ladder or an aspiring HR Director, I hope you get value from these conversations.
107 Episodes
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Joining me on this episode is Kathryn Guy, whom I think is a perfect case study for anyone wanting to change career and move into HR.Kathryn had previously had a successful career in the Retail industry, operating as a Store Manager. Feeling that she wanted a change she looked at what she enjoyed within her role and realised it was the HR and People aspects that most engaged her. So she self-funded her CIPD Level 5 qualification, sacrificing all her spare time to studying.However, hearing hor...
My guest this week is Ellen Richardson who works as a People Data Analyst.Ellen wanted to join me to share the world of HR Analytics as it's not a career path many people would naturally think of. Her own journey was that of someone who did a Criminology and Sociology degree which involved research and data analysis. From her she joined Lancashire Constabulary and ended up working with their HR function. Ellen enjoys the uniqueness of HR and People data and the role it plays in supporting the...
On this episode I'm joined by Emma Knight who works as Head of People and Culture. The reason for inviting Emma on as a guest is that she went from her first HR role to 'Head of' in only 6 years.... highly impressive!I wanted to try and find out how someone manages to progress their career at such a rapid trajectory, and Emma provides lots of insights and reflection regarding her journey.She started her career working in large, complex organisations before wanting to transition to an SME wher...
Happy New Year and welcome to 2022!I'm absolutely thrilled for the first episode of this new year to be joined by Philippa Lucarz who is HR Director at Myerscough College in Lancashire. Philippa started her working life via an apprenticeship before deciding upon a career in HR after speaking with family members who were in the profession. She has spent a large chunk of her career in the public sector, but also took the bold move to run her own HR Consultancy business for a year, before r...
I'm absolutely thrilled to have Scott Simpson as my guest this week. I've known Scott around 12 months after we connected and I supported his move from Contact Centre Team Manager to HR Advisor. We said at the time that I'd have him as a guest one day so it's fantastic that we've been able to get this accomplished now he is 8 months into a HR Advisor position.Scott's story isn't just useful for anyone who has worked in an operational role and wants to learn how to make that transition to HR. ...
In this week's episode my guest is Georgina Grice who is currently operating as a HR Business Partner. Georgina had a colourful and varied background before fully diving in to a HR career. However, it was the lessons she learnt and the experiences she was exposed to in these other jobs that were some of the building blocks for how she approaches HR.Georgina learnt about having a good work ethic at a young age, then early in her professional career she operated in an environment that taug...
We have a first for the podcast - it's the very first time that I've had two guests feature on one episode.I'm joined by Gemma Ellison and Lisa LLoyd who are both returning guests from this series. Since my recording with Gemma in October 2023, the pair have teamed up to create Leadership Labs which provide a truly unique approach to helping leaders tackle issues and drive change.Both highly passionate about workplace culture they also recognised that the general formats for Leadership d...
My guest this episode is Jane Ferre who is an expert in all things Talent Management.Jane is such a fun and engaging individual who is prolific on LinkedIn so connect with her on there if you aren't already.Like many she didn't know what she wanted to do after university but secured a job at Euro Disney in Paris soon after it opened resulting in her dancing in the parade as Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast and having the time of her life!Eventually she moved to British Airways where she spen...
My guest this episode is Lisa LLoyd who could be considered an unconventional guest for me to have on. Whilst Lisa hasn't worked in HR per se, the work she does feeds into the HR ecosystem. In the spirit of bring as broad a variety of people from the HR world onto the show then her story definitely warrants a place here.Lisa studied Psychology at University, not knowing exactly what she wanted to do but feeling it would be something that could help her in whatever vocation she did ultima...
I'm joined in this episode by Julie Spicher who is Head of People & Culture for energy company Leep Utilities in Manchester.I've know Julie about 8 years when she was a HR Administrator and have watched her career flourish at quite a rapid rate over that time. Even back then she was someone who stood out so it's not surprising that her career has rocketed.I wanted to get Julie on to share her story so we could try and discover what it is about her that has enabled such fast-tracked career...
My guest for this episode is Steven Ingram who worked for the bulk of his HR career doing consultancy before launching his own business, Neurodiversity Together, in the summer of 2023.Steven has ADHD, autism, and a stammer. What I absolutely love about him and what you'll realise from this conversation is that he approaches discussions on neurodiverity in a different way. It's a more holistic and inclusive way for all concerned rather than focussing simply on any singular individual.Having go...
I've often referenced the HR Bingo sheet through various podcast episodes. That's the list of everything you can do in the HR spectrum and ticking off as many as you can.Well I think this episodes guest is the first person I've ever met who can probably stand up and shout "HR BINGO!"I was incredibly thrilled to be joined by Simon Shumann-Davies for this 101st episode.I would class Simon as being in the top percentile of HR professionals, simply based on what his market rate would be if he wer...
This is a landmark episode as it's our 100th!!Therefore a landmark episode requires a guest of equal stature and I'm delighted to be joined by Annette Andrews.Annette has an incredibly fascinating career story to share. From growing up and moving countries ( and schools) reguarly due to her Dad's job, she strongly considered joining the Army but a significant sporting injury meant that was no longer an option.Unsure of what she then wanted to do with her life, some summer work at a local hosp...
Joining me on this episode is Beth Orford who is the Head of People for a FinTech business called Everything Financial.Beth is an incredible guest as she changes the perspective on how we should look at not only our careers but HR as a function. She is someone who has learnt to understand what type of work she is suited to and therefore, just as importantly, what types of roles and environments she wouldn't be a good fit for. This has been something she has discovered over time but now she ha...
Joining me on this epsiode is Caroline Oxley who works as Head of People & Culture for a property investment company and is based in Greater Manchester.In her early HR career, Caroline worked in Facilities Management. What I found interesting was that people in HR always talk about delivering bad news, such as redundancies in the right way and being empathetic, however, Caroline shared a further nuance where in industries where there are high levels of TUPE transfers, such as outsourced s...
I'm delighted to be joined by Hayley Duckworth on this latest episode of the podcast. Hayley is someone I've known in a loose sense for a long time and have watched her career flourish. Like many, she began in recruitment but didn't enjoy the sales aspect to it so made the logic move into HR. Hayley has had some amazing opportunities to get exposure to some of the less-common HR activties such as mergers, TUPE transfers, and change/transformations. This leads us to discussing the HR...
This is the final episode of 2023 and I'm joined by Jo Mountney, who has spent the entirety of her career so far within hospitality and tourism, working for the largest theme park in the UK for 20 years.Jo initially began in operations before moving into L&D and then ultimately HR. She believes that her background in operations has been one of the most useful aspects for her career, as it has enabled her to understand the position of her stakeholders better.It becomes apparent that Jo has...
The guest this episode is Jane Ayrton who has been working in the L&D space for over 30 years.Her career has incorporated being in both self-employed and employed roles. In her most recent role, Jane was Head of L&D in a financial services business and worked with what she describes as 'the best team she had ever had the pleasure of leading'. Within that same organisation, they introduced Insights Discovery Profiling and Jane shares the principles of what that is but then explain...
My guest this episode is Daniel Balshaw who has built a HR career combining his two interests - technology and people.Dan was working in his local Sainsbury's store when he was approached by the HR team (personnel back then) to help with letter formatting, as simple as that now sounds, due to his IT skills. This was the early days of computers in the workplace so having the ability to work his way around a PC became advantageous.Sainsburys were one of the first large organisations in the UK t...
My guest this episode is Natalie Ellis who is the founder of Rebox HR, a multi-award winning HR Consultancy business based in Daventry, Northhamptonshire.Natalie has spent over 17 years in the world of HR, working her way through the corporate world before deciding to start her own business in 2020.Originally starting her career in the travel industry, Natalie believes it was those lessons she learnt about tailoring the service to the needs of each customer that gave her the foundations for h...
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