Name: Kelvin Rickersey
Position & Organisation: HR Manager at W&G Baird Ltd
Number of Employees: 90
1. Give us an idea about your early life and career:
I have recently left the civil service after 28 years with them. I joined them in 1996 as a junior administrator, carried out numerous finance and non-finance roles over the years, including accountant and finance manager. I spent about 20 of those years with the civil service overseas, which included working at the British Embassy in Amman and the British Embassy in Paris. I moved back to Northern Ireland in 2019 to provide my children with a stable education and so they could complete their GCSE's. I decided that I wanted a career in HR, so completed my CIPD Level 5 last year and looked for a HR Manager role. I spent many years as a Senior Manager, managing teams and administration, which has helped me with the challenges in my new career. I have now been at W&G Baird Ltd for 4 months. It's a great role that brings different challenges every day, which is what I like about it.
2. What are the key challenges you face in your role?
Getting used to the private sector ways of doing things. I'm the only HR in my company, and I am used to working with a whole HR team below me, which was great for bouncing ideas off each other. Other challenges include:
- Keeping up with the constant changes in employment legislation.
- Most of the senior leaders and managers in my company have been here a very long time and new changes and recommendations can sometimes take a long time to be implemented. They do see the importance of considering change to benefit the organisation, but it can be slow sometimes, which is understandable.
3. After a tough week, what’s your go-to for recharging and staying grounded?
Family time with my wife and children, Pilates, the gym and swimming. Watching West Ham lose again!
4. What’s the funniest or most unusual thing that’s ever happened in an interview, and what did it teach you?
Once I attended an interview in Belfast (the company will remain anonymous), for a position that I really wanted. I arrived 15 minutes early for the interview. The reception staff couldn't get hold of the two interviewers. Apparently, their Head Office in England, who notified me of the interview date and time, never let them know that I was coming. When I finally spoke to them, they apologised and asked if they could re-arrange it and let me know. I agreed and headed off to a dental appointment to have a tooth out. They phoned me back when I was on my way home from the dentist and asked if I could come down straight away for the interview. I said yes and never let on that I'd been to the dentist. I sat through the whole interview with a numb mouth and in agony. The interview went really badly, and I never got the job that I really wanted.
It taught me that if that happened again, to apologise and ask for a different day.
5. What’s the most important piece of advice you’d give to someone aspiring to your role, especially in today’s fast-changing world?
- Keep up to date with employment law changes. Attend lots of webinars, seminars, training that align to the role. Many are free of charge or a minimal cost.
- Network, Network, Network. It's so helpful to know a lot of people in HR that you can go to for advice or get their professional opinions on something.
- LinkedIn is great for keeping up to date and networking.
- Keep learning as much as possible. Stay humble, be yourself. Communication up and down is crucial. You can be nice and be successful. I was often told that I was too nice to be in HR, but you have to be approachable and earn people's trust, otherwise they won't confide in you and be honest with you.
6. Imagine HR is a reality TV show—what would the title of your episode be?
Behind the Press: Managing Talent in a High-Speed World - The fast-paced nature of the printing industry and how HR keeps everything running smoothly under pressure.
The episode could dive into topics like:
- Managing tight deadlines whilst ensuring employees don't burn out.
- Navigating employee morale when things get chaotic.
- Finding the right talent to keep up to date with speed and demands of the printing industry.
- Problem solving on the fly when unexpected issues pop up.