"We’re in the process of transforming the way we do resourcing, to future proof our offering. It’s really exciting and there’s never been a better time to join us.”

What attracted you to HR and why did you join Deloitte?

In my first career, I was a contemporary ballet dancer, so it’s been quite a change! After I retired from professional dance, I turned to HR when I was 28. It’s a real people-focused job and gives you the opportunity to solve complex problems creatively, while helping others to thrive. I decided to join Deloitte in 2016 because the people I met really stood out. I clicked with everyone and there was this great rapport, even when we were having challenging conversations. I think that people focus is really what makes us so unique and attracts so many others to work here.

What does good HR look like to you?

Good HR is about far more than bringing the right new talent into the business. In addition to leading the way in recruitment, we are the ones making sure that flexibility and inclusivity are more than just soundbites. As an openly gay man from a working class background who lives with a neurodiverse partner, I know how important inclusivity is. I believe it’s important that the culture starts at the top and feeds down through the whole business. We need to make sure that everyone feels valued, both within the resourcing teams and throughout the wider organisation. Sometimes it’s about making small amendments to the way people work in order to help them achieve the best they can. I’m really passionate about helping people who might need a bit of extra support and seeing them grow and develop. I love to see people thrive, especially when they have faced challenges before.

What does the future look like?

To win the race for talent, I truly believe that a resourcing function needs to be proactive as well as reactive and that’s what sets Deloitte is focused on doing. At the moment, for example, we’re working collaboratively with resourcing business partners to predict hiring demands for the next few years, then ensuring that we have the right amount of people to deliver those hires and campaigns to achieve our business goals for critical skills and talent. It’s all about partnering with the business and asking the right questions to make sure we’re well equipped to do this. We’re in the process of transforming the way we do resourcing, to future proof our offering. It’s really exciting and there’s never been a better time to join us.

"I find helping other people to navigate their careers rewarding.”

What do you do?

Mainly HR relationship management – I work with the business to understand their requirements and put in place resourcing solutions that will help them achieve their strategic goals. It’s important to understand the external influences on the market, as well as our internal recruitment processes, so that I can be proactive and make recommendations.

In Resourcing, we’re responsible for overall attraction, engagement, recruitment and mobility across the UK and Switzerland. We’re moving towards our new high impact HR model, so we’re working more closely than ever with other teams in HR. We feed our market knowledge back into these teams, so we can create more informed policies to help us attract the best people.

Your biggest accomplishment?

A career highlight for me was setting up the BrightStart Higher Apprenticeship scheme from scratch. It’s been embraced by the firm and has had a hugely positive impact on the business, as well as on social mobility. We’re not just recruiting people cut from the same cloth; we’re bringing in diversity of thought and differing perspectives, which the firm is benefitting from.

What do you like most about your job?

I have the opportunity to take the lead on projects that interest me. As part of our huge focus on gender diversity, I recently got the business thinking about which roles could be done on a part time basis or in a more agile way. The result was our ‘Return to Work’ Scheme. Initially pitched at Deloitte Alumni, this aims to bring females back into the workplace who’ve been away for two years or more. It has since become an industry award-winning scheme, and has been so successful that we’ve expanded it across all service lines and to the wider market.

I can see how my role makes an impact in the business when great people come on board. I find helping other people to navigate their careers rewarding. There’s huge variety in this role and I get a lot of training and development to help keep me on my toes. I even spent two weeks in Poland last year as part of an exchange programme.

"The support that Deloitte offers is great, and the work is always interesting and motivating.”

What made you join the Cardiff Delivery Centre?

The main reason was Deloitte’s commitment to working parents and the flexibility offered. As a mother of a two year old who had only just finished a law degree, I was looking to embed myself into a working culture that encourages the opportunity to enhance my skillset whilst supporting a good work-life balance - both of which are highly valued by Deloitte.

What’s your role like?

I’m an Immigration Alliance Finance Assistant (IAFA) working on over 100 clients across eight Deloitte member firms globally. I’m responsible for the coordination of billing between these clients and our member firms. This includes ensuring that the Alliance group follow our best practice billing model and that issues are resolved when there are missed payments.

The best thing about the work I do is the challenge and that not a single day is the same. I might be responding to client team queries, preparing presentations, delivering training to my colleagues, hosting calls, to name just a few things. The support that Deloitte offers is great, and the work is always interesting and motivating.

Most memorable moment so far?

It was the trust placed in me by the Partner and Cardiff managers to lead a team only seven months after joining. This was completely new to me but I’ve learnt so much so quickly, largely because I’ve had amazing support along the way. It’s really helped my confidence grow.

"The amount of investment in me in terms of training and development has been incredible - it has undoubtedly helped me to progress my career."

What do you do?

I lead our industry aligned support teams, which are focused on building outstanding relationships with our key clients. We do that in three main ways: i) we prioritise our firm’s resources so that we invest in our client relationships; ii) we enhance our client conversations through sector knowledge and thought leadership; and iii) we build teams consisting of industry focused people who can best serve the needs and understand the issues of our clients. We collaborate and liaise with all areas of Deloitte, both here and overseas, to serve our largest and most influential clients in the best possible way.

What are you most proud of at Deloitte?

I joined as a graduate almost 20 years ago and I progressed to the level of Director in a relatively short space of time. I’ve had lots of different roles and the amount of investment in me in terms of training and development has been incredible - it has undoubtedly helped me to progress my career. And what I’m most proud of is seeing my personal investment in the development of others helping them to progress.

Working at Deloitte gives me the opportunity to champion the issues that matter to me in a supportive environment. Personally, I’m very vocal about gender equality as I believe it’s important. I am proud that we follow through on our purpose of ‘making an impact that matters’ as an organisation and aim to personally contribute to bringing our initiatives to life. Deloitte has provided me with outstanding support as a new parent, and enabled me to take nine months of parental leave and to work flexibly since I returned to work.

Your favourite part of the job?

For me, it’s all about interacting with people – Deloitte and our clients. Everything I do is entirely focused on the client so my role is to work out how an organisation with our breadth of expertise and insight can add value to them. There’s a wealth of interesting and rich conversations we can have with our clients and that’s what makes it so interesting.

"Deloitte’s a large, complex and fast-paced organisation but it’s open to new ideas. Everyone is encouraged to show initiative and challenge the norm.”

What’s your favourite part of your job

I love how I really have the opportunity to make a difference. I’m not micro-managed so I feel I have a voice that is listened to and an opinion that is respected. It’s a large, complex and fast-paced organisation but it’s open to new ideas. Everyone is encouraged to show initiative and challenge the norm.

How does your role make an impact?

HR Business Partners are aligned to each of the service lines in Deloitte. Within the areas I support, I am the leadership team’s first port of call for all things HR related. I make an impact by coaching our leaders on key decisions which drive a high performance work culture. These decisions impact the motivation of our people, career opportunities, business needs and the ability to provide an excellent service to the rest of the firm. By acting as a trusted advisor to the leadership teams I support, I can really have an impact on how they shape the future of their teams to bring about the best results.

What are you most proud of at Deloitte?

I’m most proud of my work on creating and implementing a new programme on personal development planning (PDP). I saw there was a gap around PDP for our people across Enabling Functions so I pitched my idea and built the programme from scratch. It’s changed the way we do things for the better and has made a positive impact on how we develop and nurture our people.

I am also very proud of the fact that I have built up my career as a senior HR professional through experience on the job. I chose not to go to university, despite having an offer to do psychology, and instead worked my way up the career ladder in a variety of roles. I also undertook my Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) qualification, reaching Chartered status whilst working. I’ve always worked in HR and I’m proud I progressed to Senior HR Business Partner in my previous company. This gave me the opportunity and the confidence to use the skills and experience I’ve built up to pursue a work life balance that suits me. Fortunately working here gives me the flexibility I need, without limiting my career potential.