As a business, we are working on developing Cossette’s talent. It’s a competitive industry, and as part of my role as Head of Talent, we are aiming to create a work environment that supports, engages and nurtures our employees. Increasingly, our clients are asking us to deliver integrated marketing communications and we need to have the right people in place to help us do this. The industry is changing and we, as a group, are now working more collaboratively to find the best integrated marketing solutions for our clients, whilst in turn maintaining each agency’s creativity and entrepreneurialism. We are looking to develop our talent into a more convergent employee who understand this.

As a more strategic partner to the business and potentially viewed as important as the FD, but from a people perspective, overseeing the organisation in terms of engagement, capability and development.

At the moment, it’s all about margins. Clients wanting more for less; and that is as a result of the economy as well as what is happening in the industry generally. It is hard to measure ROI for market spend and justify it. We also need to develop the right skill-sets within our industry. Agencies will need to continually adapt and evolve in order to survive, either becoming multi-discipline or by joining forces with other agencies. By this I mean when clients come to us for a complete marketing service, a one-stop-shop for all their needs. 

No, it’s a new role. I’ve been here 14 months and it’s new for them as much as it’s new for me so we’re learning together. May be in the future HR will be on the board.

18 years. I started in an administrative support role in a training department for a large oil and gas operator in Aberdeen.

A Saturday job when I was still at school working in my local public library. I served the public and stamped books in and out; I knew the classification number for every subject in the library and where I could find a book, I don’t think I could do it now though! I worked there for three years and as it was run by the Council, it was very well paid.

I took Business Studies at university and studied a module in personnel management which sparked my interest. Following university, I started a job in sales for an estate agent but didn’t like it. I then realised I liked working with people so managed to get a temp job in a training dept.

When I first started, managers needed a lot more hand-holding dealing with people and it was a lot more about the administrative and transactional elements of the job. Now HR is more about adding value from a strategic perspective, supporting but empowering your line managers to take responsibility for people management and having business acumen. HR has moved to a strategic, business partnering role for a number of organisations. I don’t think you can do HR effectively unless you know the business inside out; it’s not a bad thing for some people to come from the business side into an HR position.

I’m passionate about HR and the variety it can bring day-to-day. I thrive on and get job satisfaction from providing solutions. Because this is still perceived as a new role and not all the group agencies have an HR presence, there are various challenges that the role brings. The business has also moved recently from being publicly-owned, so this brings with it fresh thinking and a whole raft of change management initiatives.

My two year old boy Alic.

For me it’s working in a company where HR is a strategic partner and is involved in business decisions. In some parts of the marketing communications industry, HR can be perceived as more of an administrative function which deals with the negative people issues and recruitment. In the future I’d like to remain in media, but possibly go back into TV or publishing where I once worked.

Me

Not at the moment. I had one in the past and I have a few people I can call on when I need to which is hugely beneficial. To get another person’s perspective and to be able to bounce ideas off someone objective really helps as my role can be quite isolating. My boss sits in Canada, so the time difference can sometimes be a little frustrating when I need an answer or am trying to get something done. I have been thinking about getting a more formal mentor, as I still have a lot to learn.

The only one I can think of is when I worked in the oil and gas industry and I was caught short! I was offshore on one of the rigs and was wearing an offshore survival suit. In my rush to go, I forgot to lock the door and one of the senior rig managers walked in while I was on the toilet. Thankfully, I wasn’t on display and I think he was more embarrassed then me. By the time I had flown over to visit the sister rig, they had already heard the news, which was very embarrassing. This was before iphones and mobiles were really used and it certainly put the training department on the map!

Spending time with my two wee boys; Caelan 4 and Alic 2 and my husband who I’ve been married to for 6 years. I also try to get back to Scotland two to three times a year as I miss the sea and the fresh air and I want my boys to grow up experiencing that.

I recently became a fellow of the CIPD and I think that studying for the qualification is extremely valuable, however, you do need the necessary HR skills and experience to back it up as it is quite theoretical otherwise. I believe it’s also important to understand the business and industry that you are working in and get some commercial exposure to maintain credibility with management. I would recommend always linking what you’re doing in HR to the business objectives,not just to HR’s objectives.