How did you get started in HR?
I started my career in technology but was always the first to put my hand up to get involved in any people-related initiatives. It wasn’t until I was nominated to lead a people and culture board for my business area, that I had the opportunity to start thinking more strategically about culture and employee engagement. This led me to my role today.
Read more: Award-winning HR: CEO of the Year 2023
What are your main concerns in HR today?
We need to ensure we’re constantly evolving and adapting to remain an effective strategic partner to the business, building a high-performance culture that delivers against our strategic goals and for our customers.
At Santander UK, we’ve changed the way we’re working across HR to enable us to deliver more value to the business through more stringent prioritisation. A new team dedicated to delivering solutions has enabled us to spend more time developing the strategy to meet the business’ needs.
What will become more important for HR over the next five years?
Firstly, how we support leaders to recognise the benefit of having diversity of thought through diverse teams, supporting them to own their team’s data, while fostering an inclusive culture that attracts diverse talent. Secondly, how we use AI to drive more automation and data-driven decision making. These are both already very important, but I think we’ll see improved understanding and awareness over the next five years.
What subjects will HR still be tackling when you retire?
Hopefully very few, given how far away it is! However, it would be remiss of me not to mention culture. Culture is ever-changing and needs constant focus and direction to ensure it reinforces the business strategy. We’ll need to constantly assess and measure whether the existing culture is fit for purpose for the success of the organisation, pivoting where necessary to remain competitive.
How do you plan to change HR for the better?
My time and experience from working outside of HR has instilled in me the importance of engaging with and co-creating initiatives with the business. This allows us to ensure we’re truly understanding their needs and delivering value for our people.
This article was published in the July/August 2024 edition of HR magazine.
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