August 2008 Spotlight on...

How did you get to where you are today?

It has been a long and varied journey. I spent 27 years in the RAF, travelling the world and learning my HR craft in a tough environment. It was a fantastic experience but I definitely needed a change of direction by my late forties. Undertaking HR appointments in civilian life has not been without its challenges, but definitely worthwhile overall. I started out in the interim world almost by default but actually like the concept so much I intend to stay with it.

What do you like best about working in the public sector?

The private sector is brilliant at ensuring that resource costs are reduced to the bare minimum to achieve optimum profit. The public sector has a lot to learn here. However, the public sector rightly prides itself on providing optimum value for money with essential services; and it still treats its staff with great respect which is why they tend to stay for longer periods of tenure despite lower pay.

What is the next big thing in HR?

Continuing to drive down support costs. Consequently, genuine shared services between organisations, offshoring and outsourcing will continue to dominate the horizon.

What frustrates you the most in HR?

I think the specialism is undervalued. So many people in other professions think that they could be an HR expert. In fact, there are genuine skills and competencies that make HR specialists invaluable to any organisation.

What is the essential tool in your job?

Flexibility - particularly in the interim world. The key to success for interims is to adapt their HR 'tool box' to new environments and ensure that a pragmatic route is devised to achieve a successful outcome.

And the most over-rated?

HR self service systems that are not backed up by proficient advice and support! The employee frustration that this engenders is vast.

Which website did you last add to your Favourites?

LinkedIn. It has great potential as a professional networking tool, particularly for recruitment candidates and clients.

What is the strangest situation you have been in at work?

As a Station Commander in the Armed Forces I particularly remember having to brief troops that they would be going to war in Iraq in 2003. I also had to brief their families on their partners/sons/daughters could be facing. Nothing in civilian life has approached this challenge!

What is the most annoying piece of management jargon?

RPO, BPO, MSP… there is a lot of nonsense built around the whole descriptive process of outsourcing. Actually, it merely boils down to ensuring that another organisation can provide an effective service that can be controlled and monitored by the parent organisation.

Who do you look up to and why?

The operational staff working in the emergency services. I have worked with many of them and their dedication to others (usually for relatively little reward or recognition) never ceases to amaze me.

What is the greatest risk you have ever taken?

Undoubtedly, leaving the security of the Armed Forces (where I had a job for life) and moving into civilian HR roles. It has not always been a smooth ride, but the experience has definitely benefited me by broadening my experience and horizons.

What three words describe you most accurately?

I like to think that they would be integrity, reliability and honesty.

How do you relax when you're not working?

I still enjoy travelling. I never tire of visiting different places and cultures. I also have a great family and am very much at home in their company.

What song gets you on the dance floor?

Dancing? At my age?! My teenage children would be horrified.

What is your worst habit?

I have never really achieved a healthy work/life balance. I keep resolving to spend more time on what I want to do in life but never seem to get around to it. One of the attractions of the interim lifestyle is that it should (eventually) allow me to develop this, hopefully between assignments.

What makes you angry?

Less and less, as I get older. Instead of 'black and white' issues, I recognise increasingly that most arguments are for and against.

What are you reading at the moment?

Roy Jenkins' biography of Gladstone. It's brilliantly written; lucid, readable and makes the 19th century come to life.

If you were a superhero, who would you be/what powers would you have?

In my youth I loved the Marvel comics so it would have to be Spiderman. A superhero racked with angst; Stan Lee was a genius for thinking up that one.