Jen Reynolds on driving prosperity in business through people

You’re passionate about helping businesses to leverage their people power, how do you do that in practice?

A lot of my clients want me to come in and lift the lid on their people topics, processes, and policies.

I have candid conversations with team members and give them the opportunity to have their say in a confidential and non-judgmental environment. I then present those findings along with a set of recommendations and priority actions to the business owners.

I call it an HR health check or discovery process. Out of those enlightening investigations, I’m able to help them shape a people plan to optimise the structure of their business and their people capabilities.

I get so much pleasure in helping people to see things differently and recognise that it’s not always a big mountain to climb, it’s about incremental changes – sometimes something small can actually have a huge impact.

What’s particularly topical within HR at the moment?

There’s increasingly more competition for talent in the marketplace, and it can make life very difficult as an employer because you may feel it necessary to offer more than the next company to attract and retain your people, which can sometimes be a knee-jerk reaction; a sticking plaster to a wider issue.

There’s also the challenge that people became quite restless during the pandemic, and they experienced a different way of working, which in many cases they’re reluctant to give up completely.

So, the challenge that we have in HR is supporting businesses to reward at the right level to help people maintain the same lifestyle, without over-rewarding to the point where they’re paying too much as a company for the resources they’ve got. We also need to help businesses define their future way of working and ensure the flexibility created during the pandemic is not lost, but harnessed in a way that increases not only the engagement, but most importantly, the productivity of employees.

It’s a fine balance, and reward not only means pay, but also the other benefits a company offers, including wellbeing support, the company culture, and the values of the business. All these ingredients need to go into the melting pot in the right proportions and combination to ensure you’re attracting high calibre talent and nurturing that talent to produce a good ROI and ensure you are skills-fit as a business, not just for today, but for the strategic horizon.

DE&I (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) also continues to be particularly topical. Employers have such a challenge on their hands with all the new legislation that keeps coming through. There’s more complexity to navigate now than ever before. That’s why it’s imperative that businesses have good HR advice and support because, without it, you’re playing a risky game that could really trip you up in an expensive way.

Where is your favourite place to visit when you need to get some perspective?

I love North Devon; I will try to go there two to three times a year. I enjoy going to the beaches there – I find a particular sense of calm at the beach because you realise how minuscule you are, there’s a real wholesomeness about it. I feel like I’m away from the chaos of the real world when I’m in Devon, it’s wild and beautiful and I find it very cathartic as a place.