Is This Room Free?

I'm thrilled to be joined on this episode by Andrew Bartlow who has an outstanding pedigree in HR, spanning 25 years.

During his career, Andrew worked for some of the largest organisations in the US and globally, such as PepsiCo, Wells Fargo, and General Electric. However, as well as crafting his trade in Fortune 50 organisations he also has experience at the opposite end of the spectrum with much smaller start-ups.

In 2018, Andrew was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to exit his last permanent employed role with a golden handshake. However, retirement at such a young age left him without a sense of purpose. So, he found new purpose....... in the last few years Andrew wrote a book (Scaling For Success), became a consultant and advisor for PE platforms and tech businesses looking to scale quickly, mentors other HR Leaders, as well as creating the world's best development programme for HR leaders at high-growth tech companies.

Andrew is one of the most impressive guests that I've had the pleasure of speaking to on Is This Room Free? Some of the advice that he shares during our conversation is invaluable for anyone who wants to forge a successful career in HR, and is both pragmatic and insightful. Andrew has been fortunate to learn from some amazing individuals throughout his own career and he is now able to pass on that knowledge and learned experiences to others.

This is an ABSOLUTE MUST LISTEN TO episode and I am confident that you'll finish having taken something that will help you with your own career.

For more information, here are some useful links:

Andrew Bartlow - https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartlow/
People Leader Accelerator website - https://www.peopleleaderaccelerator.com/
Link for his book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scaling-Success-Priorities-High-Growth-Organizations/dp/0231194447

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We're back for a third series of the podcast and I can't think of a better guest to kick of this series than Lindsey Kucharski.

Lindsey identified a career in HR as the route for her professional career following a chance meeting with someone when she worked at a holiday resort post-university. Someone identified that she has the right characteristics and personality to succeed in HR, and a natural platform to build upon her Psychology degree.

Starting her career in a headhunting agency for the Legal sector, Lindsey was able to get exposure to HR activities that, once she had moved to internal recruitment, enabled her to also make the further leap into broader HR. After ten years in the Legal sector, she saw long-term opportunities of being in the Tech sector and joined a start-up. Here, Lindsey realised how beneficial working in a smaller company was to her commercial development by virtue of being exposed to more situations due to it being a smaller organisation, enabling her to get a better understanding of finances, operations, marketing... and simply how a business works.

As Lindsey's career progressed to becoming a HR Leader, she explains how using data to back up your proposals can really help you influence and gain confidence when working with C Suite level colleagues.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed my chat with Lindsey and some of the insights she shared are absolutely gold. We had a blast recording this so I hope you enjoy listening too.

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I'm thrilled to be joined on this episode by Jane Murphy as she's someone I've been wanting to get on for over a year.

When I became aware of all the large, global brands that Jane has worked for then I knew listeners would love to hear her story, what it was like working for companies like Kraft, Cadburys, Unilever, and Rolls Royce, and how she moved her career forward.

Interestingly, Jane shares how she actively pursued a career where she wanted to work for global brands on the assumption of how it would benefit her. Her most recent role was to cover the HR Director's maternity leave but how all the different experiences she had acquired over the years really set her up to succeed in a leadership role.

There was so much to discuss that we couldn't squeeze it all into just one episode so we'll be doing part 2 in a few weeks where we'll talk about life through an acquisition and operating on the global landscape.

However, there's an abundance of insights to take from this episode alone so I hope you enjoy it!

If you'd like to contact Jane with any questions or want any advice then here is her email - [email protected]

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I was absolutely thrilled to have Wayne Singleton join me on this week's episode of the podcast.

Wayne and I have been aware of each other for a few years but hadn't actually spoken until recently. I knew of him as a HR Consultant who did interim work but over the past few months so a variety of posts on LinkedIn promoting some of the other work activities he does. When we chatted and I learnt more about his situation I knew I had to get him on here as a guest.

Wayne has had an amazing HR career working for some monolithic organisations such as BAE and Siemens, and we discuss various insights he learned from working in these types of companies. However, following a redundancy Wayne took some inspiration from a friend who said you should try and do what you love as often as you can. This resonated with Wayne and, combined with his Dad suffering a stroke, made him want to do more outdoor and endurance events and really embrace life doing what he really wanted. From that point onwards he has combined HR Consultancy and Freelancing with his other passions to have what he describes as a 'portfolio career' - basically doing lots of different things.

For me, Wayne's story and journey is an absolute beacon for anyone who wants more out of life than the usual 9-5. He has been able to leverage on his HR career to secure various interim and consultancy work, which primarily pays the bills, whilst using the rest of his time to follow his heart and do things that put a smile on his face.

I cannot state how enjoyable it was speaking with Wayne. I absolutely believe that anyone, not matter their vocation, could take some inspiration from this episode so I hope you enjoy it.

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I'm absolutely thrilled to be joined by Julie Furnival on this episode. 
 
Julie started working in Operations at Nando's and became exposed to HR through her role as a General Manager. Nando's were a fantastic organisation with robust and comprehensive training but Julie explains how truly people centric they were. What she learnt working there has stuck with her and she has applied the principles in every role and organisation since.

Julie has been lucky to work for some amazing companies across a range of industries, but hospitality has always remained close to her heart. We discuss how she has been able to translate her principles to leaders and managers across each business, whilst never compromising the need for upmost integrity.

I could have chatted with Julie for hours about her brand of HR and I believe that anyone would benefit from listening to what she has learnt through her career. I hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed chatting.

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On this episode I welcome Mia Finley as my guest.

Mia is very much at the start of her HR career and began an apprenticeship in Aug 2021. However, she was recently credited with the accolade of 'Business & Law Apprentice of the Year' so I wanted to get to know more about her story, why an apprenticeship was the best route for her, and what she did to receive the award.

Mia shares her feelings of being almost dismissed by her College for not choosing to go to university, but why it was 100% the right decision for her. The conversation is also full of useful tips and advice for anyone looking to make themselves more employable, as well as how to get an apprenticeship.

I thoroughly loved chatting with her and for someone so young she has a very mature and advanced outlook. I'm sure Mia is going to have a fantastic career ahead of her.

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In this episode my guest is Sakara Jones, currently working as a standalone HR Officer for an international company who operate in the supply chain for the FMCG sector.

I first met Sakara last summer and was impressed by her maturity and pragmatism. She is someone who is at the early stages of her HR career but has already experienced some ups and downs. However, each 'down' has helped her learn and develop and been treated as a learning experience which is an amazing outlook and attitude to take.

She started her HR career in an outsourced HR company, dealing with high volume ER casework. Her next move was an unusual one as she then left HR and worked as an Administrator for an engineering business, yet Sakara believes this was one of the best moves she has done in her career. However, as much as she enjoyed this role she knew that HR was her calling and she moved on. After completing a maternity cover contract, she secured her current position 8 months ago.

We discuss how working outside of HR can benefit you as a HR practitioner, as well as it being OK to leave a company after a short period if it's just not right for you.

Sakara's journey is an honest one as life doesn't always go smoothly but there are some great insights that we can learn from how she has approached the ups and the downs.

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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 horror stories of others who had passed the course and still couldn't secure any interviews made her doubt herself. Indeed, it wasn't until Kathryn re-framed her CV, to really showpiece her HR experience, and became more focussed on what type of positions to apply for that things started to change for her too.

Kathryn accepted that she'd need to take a step backwards in terms of salary and seniority. But in less than a year she has managed to secure her first HR role, change jobs and get promoted, meaning she is now virtually back to the same level she was at before she changed career - a truly remarkable achievement. All testament to her attitude, work ethic and capability.

Kathryn's story will both resonate with and benefit so many others out there. It's a fantastic journey so I hope you enjoy listening.

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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 employee journey and experience in an organisation. So she decided to share her story and insights with you all!

This is a fascinating listen and there's value in even HR generalists learning about the role data analysis can play in a HR function. I hope you enjoy all that we talk about!

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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 where decisions were made quicker and she could drive change and improvements faster. Along the way she benefitted from support from senior HR colleagues but also stretched herself to push her own development.

Emma was a fantastic guest and this is definitely a 'must listen' for any aspiring HR professional. 

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