Sitting down today with my brew and a copy of ‘HR Inner Circle’ magazine for a rare “Five-Minutes-To-Myself” moment and spotted the feature I did for them recently! It is in this month’s issue.
The Inner Circle is not a stage magician’s club, but rather the UK’s leading membership organisation for committed, inquiring HR Professionals.
I have been a member since its launch in 2013, and find it a wonderful wealth of resources, contacts, ideas, support and inspiration. Its vibrant members’ Facebook group, for example, has often helped me think through a tricky conundrum (always keeping any details strictly anonymous). So I was thrilled to be selected by the magazine as their “HR Professional of the Month”, and very proud (if momentarily surprised!) to turn the page and see my Q&A in print.
A few comments made me realise that patients who have only seen me in the surgery were interested in my own career journey to this point. Life can surprise us with a variety of different paths, and often it takes an inspiring person to see the traits and potential we cannot see in ourselves, giving us the belief and confidence (often the push!) to take that first step. This is exactly what happened to me, which is why I am passionate about the power of HR to build relationships with people as individuals and help them reach their true potential.
At 18, I left college for an apprenticeship at a big multinational firm. Young and inexperienced, I could have pootled along as I was in a back-room position, but my line managers spotted something in me and encouraged (and supported) me to go to university - something I’d never contemplated. This lit a love of study in me- so much so, I continued on to a postgraduate degree in law, eventually qualifying as a solicitor!
Practising as a solicitor, after Neil and I started our family, I found working as an HR consultant a better fit for work/life and family balance- returning to the first of those twin career passions. Now fulfilling the HR role as one of my many hats at Crossbank Dental Care, I find building a supportive working environment in our own company- perhaps encouraging people to develop a spark I’ve seen in them at very first interview- incredibly rewarding.
For me, it all started with an 18 year-old being seen in that back room. I bet many of you have similar stories too- maybe now taking a pause to remember the people who helped us on our path, and think about how we can share our own experience, time and attention with those round us. While official HR and corporate social responsibility principles help embed good business behaviours, I’m passionate that this should never be box ticking, but genuinely living these values: a bit like handing on a baton of empowerment and kindness for others to grasp, run with, and hand on in turn.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a few steps of my journey. For the full reveal of my “Inner Circle” Q&A (including some of my “maverick” go-to films, books and TV!), click here.
Stay seen, Bex.
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