Director of people and organisational development, Save the Children
Why do you think you’ve scored so well among HR and L&D professionals?
The fact that we can take pride in what we do, that we make a difference at home and internationally, and that feeling of connectedness is exciting. Ebola, for instance, is not just a distant thing going on in West Africa: we have people responding to it and doing a fantastic job in unprecedented circumstances.
We are also incredibly ambitious and innovative. Our partnership with GSK, our advocacy campaigns, the creation of our humanitarian leadership academy; these are all things that make the organisation an incredibly interesting place to work.
How do you build HR careers at Save the Children?
My HR development hasn’t really been straightforward, and we don’t necessarily map out a career path for our employees, but the opportunities are always there. You are not defined by your role and you will probably end up doing things outside your job description – for example, one of our resourcing staff has just gone on secondment to South Sudan.
Our CPD programme includes anything from project management to negotiation skills and brain-friendly learning. We also have a fantastic coaching and mentoring network, including 80 executive coaches working pro-bono.
What are the downsides?
To be honest, it’s a pretty tough place to be. The needs are huge and whatever we do, it’s ultimately just a drop in the ocean. Work-life integration is really difficult as we are very demanding of our people, but for me, working with incredibly talented, value-driven, passionate people is inspirational and is probably why I’ve been here for three decades now.