Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

head to head a regular monthly series where we look at similar roles in different sectors and industries

by Personnel Today 30 Apr 2002
by Personnel Today 30 Apr 2002


1 What are your main responsibilities?


TM As HR director for a National Health Service community trust (Gwent Community Healthcare NHS Trust) it is employing 11,500 staff with an annual turnover of £280m. The trust covers acute, community, learning disability and mental health services.


FO I am responsible for the London Borough of Brent”s human resources and consultancy services. This area covers all aspects of people management, equality/diversity and organisational developments, as well as general management consultancy support to the council.


2. What’s the pay like?


TM Around £70,000. It is enough to go on three holidays a year but still not enough to stay out of debt!


FO The pay is OK.


3 How flexible are the hours?


TM It is a full-time post with directors being expected to work as necessary to fulfil the role. Working flexibly around child and other commitments is left to the director to manage, but is fully supported by the chief executive. Success is measured by contribution and outcome, not presenteeism.


FO Flexible in so far as the working time directive does not apply and I am lucky that there are only 24 hours in a day.


4 What do you like about the job?


TM The wide scope and constant challenges of a very complex organisation with a diverse workforce in a service with unlimited opportunities to learn and develop.


FO It is diverse, challenging and there is a real opportunity to make a difference to the organisation.


5 What are the challenges?


TM Recruiting and retaining staff, life-long development of individuals to contribute to an ever-changing health service, keeping up-to-date with clinical and medical changes, and managing a ‘million’ agendas – both national and local – at the same time.


FO There are a number of challenges in local government right now, including the need to modernise services and the drive for continuous improvement. The people management implications are numerous. We are dealing with such issues as diversity, recruitment and retention, pay, management development and so on. But I guess the real challenge has been rebuilding a viable service which had been decimated in the 1990s, and doing it with limited resources.


6 What is your biggest headache?


TM Workload and time (not enough).


FO Remuneration and supporting effective management of change.


7 What size is your team?


TM Staff of 60, including personnel, training and development, workforce planning, nurse education, medical staffing and administrative and support staff.


FO We are 29 strong, which includes non-HR staff – one of the smallest in London local government.


8 Who do you report to?


TM The chief executive.


FO I report to the chief executive.


9 What qualifications do you have?


TM MBA and CIPD.


FO O and A levels


10 What are your career aspirations?


TM HR director with a national role or chief executive, not sure yet.


FO I would like to complete the work I have started at Brent. My long-term career aspirations would include broadening my experience outside local government in either central government or the private sector, and not necessarily in HR alone. I think becoming a chief executive of a quango would be challenging and rewarding.


11 What training and development opportunities are there?


TM Infinite, if you want to take them.


FO As well as affording me the privilege of representing my peers, my role in Socpo has provided me with one of the greatest learning and development opportunities I have had in my career to date. It has enabled me to get involved in a national agenda which encompasses areas outside HR as well as furthering the cause of local government.


12 What is your holiday entitlement?


TM Six weeks plus 10 bank holidays.


FO 30 days.


13 What’s your working environment like?


TM Never enough accommodation in health premises due to the demands for clinical space, but OK.


FO I work with hard working, committed staff.


14 What other benefits do you get? (company car and so on)


TM Contribution to a lease car.


FO None.


15 What’s the best part?


TM The freedom to make a difference.


FO Receiving position feedback from front- line staff and middle managers.


16 How does your firm treat work-life balance?


TM All the policies are good and in place and personally, I am very happy. I am not convinced they are universally applied to the 11,500 staff though.


FO We offer flexible working, but have targeted this as an area we need to develop further and will be doing so this year.


17 Who do you most envy? (what’s your dream job)


TM Influential, competent, professional women in top jobs but who retain their personalities and humane characteristics. I can’t think of a dream job I want.


FO My dream job changes with the weather. I have always wanted to be a presenter, maybe Jeremy Paxman style, however over recent months I have decided that I most envy Anne Robinson. Not only has she overcome personal adversity, become a millionaire in her late 50s and wears Armani, but she also gets paid for telling people what she really thinks of them. Great!

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
Lack of basic skills costs economy £10bn a year
next post
Government aims for temp compromise

You may also like

Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders receive 400% pay rise

4 Jul 2025

FCA to extend misconduct rules beyond banks

2 Jul 2025

‘Decisive action’ needed to boost workers’ pensions

2 Jul 2025

Business leaders’ drop in confidence impacts headcount

2 Jul 2025

Why we need to rethink soft skills in...

1 Jul 2025

Five misconceptions about hiring refugees

20 Jun 2025

Forward features list 2025 – submitting content to...

23 Nov 2024

Features list 2021 – submitting content to Personnel...

1 Sep 2020

Large firms have no plans to bring all...

26 Aug 2020

A typical work-from-home lunch: crisps

24 Aug 2020

  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+