People

For a football fan from Southampton it’s a time of new beginnings – with a
different manager at the helm and a new ground at St Mary’s it’s the start of a
fresh era. Mike Young is also at the start of his new role as HR director for
corporate communications firm Avaya.

He joins the company after 17 years in the profession, most recently with BT
subsidiary BTopenworld. He was recruited by Avaya (which incidentally also has
a soccer connection as an official partner at the 2002 World Cup) to help drive
business transformation and employee development.

He will report to the European HR director and has been charged with
managing a pilot programme engaging employees in the long-term strategy of the
business:

"What I really want to do is make the company a place where people want
to come and work. We need a good brand behind us because there is fierce
competition for talent in the market," he says.

He will also take responsibility for the employee development programme, which
focuses on cultivating skills in high growth areas of the business.

Young, who is married with two children, also enjoys golf and is settling
into the position while enjoying the new challenge. "What I really enjoy
is being at an American company because people seem to be very open. The
systems are very flexible and fluid and I hope I’m bringing a bit of that to
the management style."

CV

2001 HR director for UK, Ireland & Nordics, Avaya
2000 Vice-president of HR, BTopenworld
1996 Head of HR, BT Enterprises and BT Product Solutions
1994 HR director, Cellnet

On the move

IT services provider Synstar has
appointed Julian McCarthy as HR director. In addition to developing HR
strategy, McCarthy will sit on the operations board. He joins from Nortel
Networks where he was responsible for HR across Europe, Africa and the Middle
East. He will be based at Synstar’s international headquarters in Bracknell.

Kay Holloway is the new personnel
officer at managed pub and bar firm Barracuda. She took up the post earlier
this month at the Buckinghamshire-based company which employs more than 2,400
staff. Holloway joins from JD Wetherspoon where she was personnel and training
support manager. Her role includes handling recruitment issues on-site at pubs
and clubs around the country. She is also responsible for creating recruitment
literature and advertising.

Aberdeen-based energy services
business Wood Group has recruited Maureen McKellar as HR director. The global
company works across 30 countries in four separate energy-related businesses.
McKellar, who has more than 20 years experience in the field, moves from
Railtrack where she was an HR manager. She has also worked for Scottish
Amicable (now part of the Prudential Group) and the NHS. In her new role she
will develop a framework for people management as well as best practice in HR.