To continue reading please register or login to your OHW+ account.
The name RAC conjures up an image of a motorcyclist in black saving the day for a driver of a broken down car on a rainy night. After all, most people think of the organisation purely as a breakdown service.
That's exactly what Jill Nealon did when she was approached by a headhunter last year and asked whether she was interested in the role of group HR director - with responsibility for RAC's vast UK workforce.
"I couldn't understand how 11,500 people could do breakdown services," she said. "But when you look at the organisation it's anything but that."
In fact, the group is a motoring services organisation consisting of 13 separate businesses, which provide a wealth of other things including driving lessons, windscreens, financial services and vehicle leasing.
It was an attractive proposition for 45-year-old Nealon and also gave her the opportunity to move back to the UK after three years working in Germany.
Speaking from the RAC's offices at London's Marble Arch, she said: "I was on secondment from British Midland, working for the Star Alliance airline network based in Frankfurt when I got the call. It was a great experience [working abroad] and I loved it - but, ultimately, I had to make a career choice."
Eight months into her new role, Nealon is confident she made the right decision. She even draws some comparisons between the two jobs.
"Both have separate businesses which are very strong brands in their own right, and some of the issues affecting the aviation industry are similar to here," she said.
One of these issues is talent - both how to get it and how to keep it.
"With no disrespect to anyone here, there is a lack of experienced and qualified people available with the right type of skills," she said. "Going forward, we need to recruit those people and have mechanisms in place to develop them."
Although the RAC has grown "phenomenally" since it was bought by rival motoring services firm Lex in 1999, there are still opportunities for further growth in certain areas, Nealon said.
The group's chief executive, Andy Harrison, has pinpointed financial services as a key growth area. After announcing the company's financial results earlier this month, he described buying out Axa from its joint venture insurance operation, RAC Finan-cial Services, as the group's "most important strategic step in 2004".
"The challenge for us in HR is to ensure we are spending the right amount of money
