What does it mean to you to be recognised in the Birthday Honours list?
It was a wonderful surprise to be recognised with an honour, I’m absolutely delighted and humbled. I’ve worked in the civil service for 30 years, in a number of different roles, departments and agencies. I started my civil service career as a casual admin assistant without having been to university, so I am particularly proud of this achievement. I am the first person in my family (and amongst all of my friends and community) to receive an honour. I hope this inspires others!
What does your role involve?
I am the most senior person in the department dealing with all aspects of people, working closely with permanent secretaries as part of the Executive Committee. I lead the HR function to ensure we have the right skills and capabilities in the department, as well as happy, engaged employees and great line managers, and ensuring we have the right organisational structures and ways of working. No two days are the same and it is a great role, dealing with fantastic people and enabling them to succeed.
How did you end up in that role?
Having worked in operations, finance and project management, I started my career in HR and realised I really loved it and was lucky to be sponsored to complete a postgraduate diploma in human resource management. I have covered the whole range of HR disciplines at different grades and worked my way up to director in 2018. I was delighted to become the chief people officer for DESNZ following the machinery of government change in 2023, having been the CPO in BEIS.
What's the most rewarding part of your role?
Enabling the department to deliver outcomes. But at a more granular level, I really love talent management and supporting talented people at all levels to develop and plan their career.
Apart from receiving this honour, what has been your proudest moment at work?
There have been so many. I was extremely proud of how my team dealt with the Covid crisis in BEIS and helping to set up the Vaccines Taskforce. And more recently, enabling DESNZ to get the biggest increase in people survey scores in government – demonstrating our focus and commitment to an engaged and happy workforce.
What does it take to do your job well?
Being able to empower people, spot talent and opportunities, and to be able to be resilient during difficult times. I really enjoy working as a team and approaching things with kindness and a sense of humour, which always helps!
Tell us one thing we might not know about your job...
My job also requires a good level of financial acumen, as we work closely with colleagues in finance and strategy on our strategic workforce and resourcing plans.