Head of People - Portsmouth

Head of People Jobs

Staffing of a business has been revolutionized over the past 10–15 years as companies recognize and capitalize on the advantages of having a happy, satisfied and fulfilled workforce. It’s all about ensuring the human factor is a part of human resources. While perks and bonuses have long played a part in the equation, with a modern recognition that it’s a more complex and finely tuned process, HR departments are now employing heads of people to oversee and refine the workplace processes to help with satisfaction and therefore retention and attractiveness to talent.

The head of people typically looks after a team or a department, often reporting to a people manager or director. Those members of staff have direct contact with the board and have access to the funds and the strategic information required to put people-focused initiatives into action. The head of people is normally required to understand and interpret plans and implement them at team level, often as one of several heads of people in a company.

The skills required

A background in delivering bonuses and benefits to teams is a key asset in this role. That can often mean basing benefits on individual assessments to create focused, personalized schemes, or it could be a generalized task over complete teams. You are expected to implement strategies and initiatives that drive cultural change throughout the business, as dictated by the board and your line managers. Whether they go into detail on how these are implemented or you are expected to interpret them into actions depends on the policy of the company.

Experience within the industry the company operates in is useful as employees in different sectors have different expectations and motivations. You must be able to demonstrate that you can implement complex initiatives that have been possibly decided without your input.

Head of People Jobs in Portsmouth

Although it doesn’t really feel like it when you are there, Portsmouth is technically an island city, indeed the UK’s only one, located as it is on Portsea Island and separated from the Hampshire coast by a 30-metre-wide creek. Geographically, it is about as close as possible to being the perfect natural harbour, with its small inlet hiding the large, navigable Fareham Lake. And needless to say, it is one of Britain’s most influential ports, with a wealth of military and civilian history behind it. The city was heavily bombed during World War II, but was also a key staging post for the D-Day landings in 1944.

Today, Portsmouth is an international port, with ferries and freight leaving its docks for Cherbourg, Le Havre, St Helier and Santander, among others. As with any port, Head of People jobs are abundant thanks to its pivotal role in the international logistics network.

The city is currently booming and undergoing a major redevelopment of its central area, with new housing and shopping centres being built. The military still plays a massive role in the city, with one in ten of its employees linked to the Navy, and the UK’s two aircraft carriers being built there. The European headquarters of IBM is based in the city, as well as he UK HQs of Zurich Financial Services and defence company Northrop Grumman.

Popular locations

Find Head of People Jobs with Cast UK

At Cast UK we pride ourselves on our ability to match top HR jobs with excellent candidates, which is why companies come back to us time and time again to fill their positions. We have an incredible reach, too, filling positions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but also further afield when needed.

Our recruitment consultants are always dealing with companies looking for a head of people, so if you are such a person, there’s nothing to lose by leaving your details with us so we can get the ball rolling next time an appropriate position becomes available. Call us today on 0333 121 3345.

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