HR has gained yet another seat at the top table with Vanessa Georgiou
joining manufacturer Fisher Foods as human resources director.
The company is the latest in a long line of firms to realise the importance
of the function at the very top of the business and Georgiou is thrilled that
she has been chosen to fill this challenging role.
"The company has never had an HR director before, so it’s really
exciting, and an honour to be involved from the outset," she says.
Georgiou began her career in the HR function at supermarket giant Tesco, but
has also worked for clothing retailer Dorothy Perkins and paper distributor
Papyrus, where she was also human resources director.
As her industry background is varied, she sees her first task in her new
role as getting to know the business.
Fisher Foods specialises in supplying private label products to the retail
sector and Georgiou is looking to spread good HR practice across the
organisation.
"I want to make it a place that’s focused on its people and a place
where people want to work.
"We need to have a consistency in how we manage our people.
"For me, the biggest HR challenge is to convince line managers that if
you train people in the right way you really can make a huge difference,"
she says.
Georgiou lives in Hertfordshire and spends most of her time looking after
her sons Alex, aged 10, and five-year-old Jason.
"My hobbies are my children because when you are working and have two
young kids you don’t have time for much else," she explains.
CV
2001 HR director, Fisher Foods
1999 HRdirector, Papyrus
1997 Head of HR, Nobar
1991 Various HR roles, Everest
On the move
Karen Sheehan has joined Pitney Bowes
Office Systems as HR manager. The position is newly created and she will report
directly to the company president. She joins from music wholesale company
Telstar and has over eight years experience in HR. Her role will include
internal communications, reviewing and developing HR policies and helping to
influence the company’s strategic direction.
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UK supply chain management company
Gist has appointed Mike Bousfield as its new HR director. He will be
responsible for all aspects of the firm’s HR function and will focus primarily
on the development of its current staff as well as recruiting employees. He
joins Gist from P&O cruises where he was head of HR, looking after 5,000
multinational staff. The company operates across the globe serving over two
million customers in 50 countries.
Graham Hardiman is moving from his
position as vice-president of marketing and HR at Netstore to join the Vignette
Corporation as HR director EMEA. He will be based at the web content management
specialist’s European headquarters in Maidenhead. He was previously with
Netstore, an application service provider, and has also worked for Cellnet,
Data General and EMC.
