Tag: HR Industry News

We’re a Finalist in the Wales HR Awards 2022

Posted on by Andrew Knight

We are thrilled to be shortlisted as Finalists in the Wales HR Awards 2022

With a range of categories including ‘HR Director of the Year’, ‘Outstanding HR Professional’ and ‘HR Team of the Year’, the Welsh HR Awards 2022 recognises and celebrates excellence across the HR profession in Wales. It’s a real honour to be nominated and make it through to the finals.


The Spark Company | Finalist in the Wales HR Awards 2022

The awards will celebrate the unsung HR heroes working behind the scenes to support businesses and organisations of all sizes over the past twelve months.

We can’t wait to meet the other outstanding nominees and to hear about the incredible achievements of these individuals and teams.

 

We’re proud to be shortlisted for the Consultancy of The Year 2022 Award

 

Organisations looking for transactional, one-off advice to deal with employment issues are well-served by the market. However, leaders that want to make commercial, customer-focused HR or people changes often struggle to find quality strategic consultants that don’t force them to be tied into subscriptions, memberships, or retainers. That’s where we come in.


We aim to work with clients on long term strategic projects and deliverables. People love working with us because they’re continually pleased with the high-quality work and advice they are getting, rather than because they are tied in.

  

“I’m thrilled that The Spark Company has been shortlisted and feel privileged to be considered alongside so many other awesome finalists.

This wouldn’t be possible without the generous feedback of our amazing clients and the incredible video testimonials they’ve shared.”

Andrew Knight, Principal Consultant and Founder

  

About the judges

The Welsh HR Awards 2022 judges include:

 

We’ll find out if we’ve won at an awards ceremony in Cardiff on the 8th July 2022.

Darwin Gray’s Head of Employment Law and HR, Fflur Jones said: “We were delighted with the quality and number of entries for this year’s HR awards. The fact so many companies and organisations decided to enter the awards demonstrate in what high esteem these businesses hold their HR managers and teams. They will have played an instrumental role in steering their organisations during the COVID 19 pandemic. We look forward to celebrating all their achievements on the night.”

 

About the Wales HR Awards

The Welsh HR Awards are made possible by Acorn and Darwin Gray LLP. The Wales HR Awards recognises and celebrates excellence across the HR profession in Wales.

 

About The Spark Company

The Spark Company specialises in Human Resource Development and Organisational Transformation. Founded by Andrew Knight with the guiding philosophy that putting people first always leads to better business results.


The Spark Company gives clients access to high quality consultancy services to transform productivity and performance across the whole organisation.

We can help with human side of organisational change, mergers and acquisitions, restructures and those thorny HR issues that crop-up from time to time.

  

Choosing the right HR Consultancy

If your organisation needs to transform your productivity and performance, I’d love to hear from you. I love working with companies who want to make meaningful and sustainable change.

Get in touch for a friendly chat about how I can help.

  



Let’s Get Started

 

We’re a Finalist in the British HR Awards 2022

Posted on by Andrew Knight

We are delighted to announce that we’ve been named a Finalist in the British HR Awards 2022

With a range of categories including ‘Best Overall People Experience,’ ‘Wellness Initiative of the Year’ and ‘Rising Star of the Year’ the British HR Awards 2022 sets out to discover and celebrate the organisations and individuals that are truly passionate about delivering a world-class people experience.


The Spark Company is shortlisted in the Brisith HR Awards 2022 for StartUp of The Year and Consultancy of The Year

This year, just over 100 entries were received from organisations across the UK, and so competition to be named a Finalist proved to be very tough.

Firms taking part range from innovative start-ups to tech unicorns, global giants, not for profits and everything in between.

 

We’ve been shortlisted for not one, but two awards…

Start-Up of The Year 2022

Consultancy of The Year 2022

 

Organisations looking for transactional, one-off advice to deal with employment issues are well-served by the market. However, leaders that want to make commercial, customer-focused HR or people changes often struggle to find quality strategic consultants that don’t force them to be tied into subscriptions, memberships, or retainers. That’s where we come in.


Andrew Knight reacts to being shortlisted in the British HR Awards 2022 for Consultancy of The Year and StartUp of The Year

We aim to work with clients on long term strategic projects and deliverables. People love working with us because they’re continually pleased with the high-quality work and advice they are getting, rather than because they are tied in.

  

“I’m delighted that The Spark Company has been shortlisted in two categories and feel privileged to be considered alongside so many other awesome finalists.

This wouldn’t be possible without the support of our amazing clients and the incredible testimonials they’ve shared.”

Andrew Knight, Principal Consultant and Founder

  

About the judges

The British HR Awards 2022 judges include:

 

We’ll find out if we’ve won at an awards ceremony in Central London on the 21st April 2022.

Nate Harwood, Founder of New Possible and British HR Awards judge said: “The quality and diversity of entries has made judging a real challenge, but also a great privilege. We’re immensely proud to recognise the organisations and individuals that are working hard to create exceptional people experiences. These leaders are fundamentally reimagining the future of work and helping to showcase British HR leadership on a truly global scale. Congratulations to all the Finalists.”

 

About the British HR Awards

The British HR Awards is powered by New Possible, a next-generation employee insight platform. New Possible helps HR leaders build healthier organisations by providing meaningful insight that can drive real change.

 

About The Spark Company

The Spark Company is an expert HR and change management consultancy. Founded by Andrew Knight with the guiding philosophy that putting people first always leads to better business results.


The Spark Company gives clients access to high quality consultancy services to achieve specific change management and strategic HR projects.

We can help with human side of organisational change, mergers and acquisitions, restructures and those thorny HR issues that crop-up from time to time.

  

Choosing the right HR Consultant

If your organisation needs support from an experienced HR and change consultant, I’d love to hear from you. I love getting stuck into sustainable and meaningful change projects.

Get in touch for a friendly chat about how I can help.

  



Let’s Get Started

 

People, not personnel: the evolving role of HR in modern businesses

Posted on by Andrew Knight

 

From keeping things legal to boosting productivity, HR has come a long way since the personnel departments of years gone by


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Imagine a time when offices were filled with cigarette smoke and rows of typists. At the end of the corridor, there’s an office with a big leather chair for the boss. You’re probably thinking of the 1960s and 70s right now, maybe Mad Men (the AMC TV Show) – hopefully not your most recent job at a contact centre!

Somewhere in this imaginary retro office, there’s a personnel department. While they’re responsible for keeping basic admin records about the workforce, the personnel administrators and managers definitely don’t have a seat at the table when it comes to making business-wide decisions.

Now let’s fast-forward to the third decade of the 21st century. Most of us want to forget 2020 – the working from home, the lay-offs, the closures and redundancies, learning how to lead a team remotely while keeping everyone engaged and happy. 

The personnel department from yesteryear wouldn’t have been involved in this kind of thing, but luckily we’ve moved on a bit since then. These days we have people teams instead of personnel departments, and they’re here to help your business and its workforce remain productive and satisfied no matter what the future has in store.

 

People and personnel: what’s the difference?


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The term personnel is a bit old hat now, but for a long time it was the foundation for the way that businesses handled issues within their staff. Personnel departments traditionally fulfilled an administrative role, and were limited in their ability to create a positive culture within the workplace.

But workplaces have changed a lot in the last 50 years, from the organisational systems we use to the role of leadership within companies. What used to be the personnel department has evolved to meet the needs of modern businesses: it’s now more common to hear about people teams, who act as partners with your business and help leaders to make decisions that will benefit both businesses and the people who work for them.

People teams use consumer-standard technology to automate low-value admin tasks, which gives them more time to spend with business leaders. Unlike the personnel department heads of years gone by, people directors often have a seat at the top table, guiding leaders and supporting the business to make sustainable decisions. Their teams are involved in a number of key business roles: recruitment and onboarding, designing and evaluating training, developing a strong pipeline of talented workers, and tackling some of the most significant issues your business will ever face (like a global pandemic, for example).

 

Enabling, not just enforcing


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Of course, people teams also have the important role of managing risk in an organisation and ensuring that the legal aspects of employment are dealt with in an ethical and lawful way. Some of the tasks your HR or people team will take care of include:

  

Pre-employment checks

so you don’t employ anyone inappropriate or in a way that would breach legislation. (This is going to become even more important as the Brexit transition period ends and the UK immigration rules change on 1st January 2021.)

Championing integrity in the workplace

many businesses commission third parties to host their confidential disclosure hotlines so that employees and suppliers can report wrongdoing or corruption in confidence. When a report is made, people teams deal with them sensitively and swiftly to protect your business.

   

Managing complex grievance, absence and disciplinary matters

so you don’t break the law when it comes to dealing with tricky issues.

Restructuring

your business won’t look the same in 10 years as it does now. People teams will help you to design a sustainable structure and navigate your way through the restructure process

  

 

The right HR consultant for your business

As you can see, there’s a lot that a dedicated people team or consultant can help your business with. To learn more about the role I play for businesses as an independent HR practitioner, take a look at the services I offer, or get in touch for a friendly chat.

  



Let’s Get Started  

 

Image credits

The cast of Mad Men (AMC)

Typewriter photo by Min An from Pexels

Photo of Andrew Knight by Nick Morrish from Nick Morrish Photography