Meet the Team Questionnaire - Fiona
“Tell us about yourself – what’s your background and where did your journey with HR begin?”
I worked as a Global HR Director for a large multinational business before founding The HR Practice. I always wanted to have my own business but kept putting it off. Although a sad story, when my father-in-law was at the end of his life, I was reflecting on life itself and realised I needed to pursue my dream. That was in October, and I launched The HR Practice the following January and I can honestly say I’ve never looked back!
"It must have felt quite daunting going from a salaried job to launching your own business?”
It was daunting, as you say, with no guaranteed income. When you work in-house, the work comes to you! When you work for yourself, you have to be HR, Sales, Marketing, IT, Finance, and Operations so it’s a steep learning curve! That said, I had a good network and everyone I met wanted to help me. I have never forgotten that and always try to support others starting out in business. If anyone contacts me and asks for advice, I will always do my best to help.
“And what were your biggest challenges?”
Gosh, there have been a few! Generally, my biggest challenge is being too hard on myself. I’m always challenging myself to be better which isn’t a bad thing but sometimes I need to remember to reflect on what I’ve achieved. I’ve been very fortunate in that I have great clients, and they always pay their invoices on time. I know lots of businesses who haven’t been so lucky.
"In your opinion, how do businesses benefit from partnering with an outsourced HR consultancy?"
Businesses benefit from having access to an experienced HR team without the overhead. The team at The HR Practice have all worked at HR Director level so they can quickly solve any issues that clients have with employing people and are equally able to advise on HR strategy. Very often CEOs will say to me they feel relieved that they can phone us and then they don’t need to worry about it because they know they are in safe hands, and we will work with them to solve their HR matters.
"Outside of work, how do you typically spend your spare time?"
I have two Westies who keep me busy with walks on the beach. When I’m not out with the dogs I love a day in the city centre, shopping and going for lunch and drinks. I’m at the stage where I prefer to go out for lunch rather than a night out and be back home and in my jammies for 8pm!
