Head of People - West Midlands Area

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 the West Midlands

Comprising seven metropolitan boroughs - the city of Birmingham, the City of Coventry, Dudley, Solihull, Sandwell, Walsall and the City of Wolverhampton, the West Midlands is an English county with plenty of opportunities for those seeking Head of People vacancies.

Throughout history, the region has been known for its commerce and industry. During the Middle Ages, wool and cloth manufacture brought a significant amount of wealth to the West Midlands, particularly in Coventry.

By the 1700s, metalworking, small arms manufacture and mining were all important for the local economy, and this expanded to include bicycle building during the Industrial Revolution and beyond. In addition, two large banks - Lloyds and Midlands Bank (which later became HSBC) were both founded in the region during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Fast forward to today and the West Midlands is thriving. Birmingham, which vies with Manchester for the title of Britain's second city, has been called one of the best places in the country to have a business and it seems that big companies agree.

From finance and media, to manufacturing, engineering, tourism, retail and the service sector, there are many well-known organisations with headquarters or other large facilities in the region - including Cooks the Bakery, Marston's, Chubb Locks and Carillion.

Jaguar, Land Rover and MG cars are also manufactured in the West Midlands, along with London's iconic black taxis.

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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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