Behind the CHScenes: The Diverse World of HR – Mrs Rebecca Edwards (CHS HR Manager)
Meet Rebecca!
As part of our series, Behind the CHScenes, we’re chatting with non-teaching Staff around CHS who are often busy keeping everything running smoothly! Let’s learn a little more about what Rebecca gets up to during a typical summer holiday…
What inspired you to pursue a career in Human Resources?
I think like most people in HR I ‘fell into’ the profession. While I decided which career path to choose after uni, I began working for Sainsburys HR Shared Service Centre in Manchester. After stints in various departments such as Recruitment and HR Admin, I moved to the Employee Relations team. Along with advising managers on policy, this involved supporting them with issues such as staff grievances and gross misconduct.
I found the role I played in supporting people in resolving issues really rewarding and this is something that has continued to motivate me throughout my career.
Can you describe a typical day for you?
No two days are the same, however we do have certain cycles during the year where activities such as recruitment and onboarding get much busier.
During the Spring and Summer terms the team advertised vacancies and ran recruitment days to fill 29 roles within the School. We are currently busy processing all of the safeguarding and compliance checks for those new staff joining us in September.
Along with advising SLT on a wide range of HR related matters, I will meet with staff and managers to support them in resolving any issues they may be facing or answer any questions they might have about elements of their employment.
I also do work on more strategic HR projects such as employee wellbeing and implementing updated HR systems.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role, and how do you overcome them?
One of our main responsibilities in HR is ensuring that all staff working on site at CHS have gone through all of the required safeguarding checks. This involves a number of different processes that all need to have been completed before a new staff member is able to be in School.
It takes a lot of organisation to ensure that everyone is vetted before their start date, particularly at this time of year when we have a lot of new starters. To get the process started quickly, we ensure that new starters know at the point they are offered a role with us what information they need to provide for their safeguarding checks. We also have a huge spreadsheet which we update religiously!
What motivates you in your work, and what aspects of your job do you find most rewarding?
One of the main drivers for me working in HR is the wellbeing support that I can offer to staff. We are generally in work for a good chunk of our time, so it is important that this is where we feel able to be at our best.
Our staff are our main asset and wellbeing is a high priority in everything that the HR team sets out to do. For me, this includes ensuring that our policies and procedures have consideration for all employees involved within a process, offering support for line managers and staff in resolving issues amongst their team and making sure people feel fully listened to and aware of the wellbeing support on offer to them.
What do you get up to outside of CHS?
I have a very lively three year old boy who currently takes up most of my time! Although when I’m not playing spiderman, I like getting out walking in the hills around my home town of Glossop. It’s the best stress reliever. I love being in our garden and have attempted (and often failed) to grow some things. I also enjoy the odd true crime podcast.
Any goals for the future?
I have just completed my first full year at CHS, so I’m really looking forward to going into next year as less of a newbie and working on some exciting new things!
