HR director, Arts Council England
Is life at the Arts Council all clinking champagne flutes backstage at the opera?
Some people might have the idea that we’re some serene, stately ivory tower. But the role of our people here is to go and work directly with artists in a variety of locations, from the Royal Opera House to the Chinese Arts Centre round the corner from us. We have nine offices across England, from Newcastle to Bristol, with major offices in London and Manchester, so our HR partners need to get around a lot.
What’s the best part about working there?
It’s very fast-moving. We’ve had a lot of change. If you’re interested in a flow and variety of tasks, and working right across the portfolio – from L&D to employee relations – you’re getting that in a very short space of time here. The sheer variety of things you can get involved in is huge. And all of them will get done – the public sector has a reputation for red tape and doing things slowly, but it’s possible to get things happening very quickly here. But like any HR role, the key thing is understanding people.
What do you look for in an HR recruit?
A lot of people you come across in HR fall into two categories. They’re either the ‘I don’t do detail’ people who almost wear that as a badge of pride. It worries me if they’re saying there’s no point even asking them to look at a spreadsheet. On the other hand, there are people who can’t see the bigger picture because they’re all detail. I look for people who can do the detail when required but can also tell the big stories that will engage a wider audience, particularly those outside HR.
The data skill set is also important – your systems might be up to date, but you still need to be able to work them and spot the patterns. It’s useful to have someone who can read between the lines in a survey, for example, and dig deeper into what’s really going on.