Is This Room Free?
Welcome to Is This Room Free? In this podcast I will be talking to HR professionals and listening to the stories of their careers. I will be finding out about the journeys they have taken and what they learnt along the way. The purpose is to help others in the profession identify and understand the various paths available and take inspiration from my guest speakers. Whether you are someone who is looking to get that first step on the HR career ladder or an aspiring HR Director, I hope you get value from these conversations.
Is This Room Free?
Alison Rothwell - Standalone HR Manager (going from Forensics to HR, working standalone, and building relationships in a company with no previous HR function... twice!)
Today, my guest is Alison Rothwell. To say that Alison took a very scenic route to the world of HR would be an understatement. She spent the first 20 years of her career working in Forensics before a chance role doing admin in a hospice led her to get involved in HR. Since then she has worked in two standalone positions, setting up a HR function from scratch on both occasions.
She talks about what life was like as a standalone HR Manager, reporting into a Finance Director, and how to build relationships in an organisation where HR hadn't previously existed.
There are some great points raised during our conversation which would be helpful to anyone operating in HR so I hope you all enjoy listening to this one.