HR Headliners with…Laura Herbert, CPO at Apadmi

In the latest edition of our HR Headliners series, Kerry White, Executive Search lead at Macmillan Davies talks to Laura Herbert, CPO at Apadmi about her career to date, reaching CPO level by her 30s and how she has developed and implemented a strong EVP strategy at Apadmi.

Tell me about your career to date?

With a degree in history, my path into HR was an accidental one. I gained a summer internship in a HR department to help save towards travelling the world after university. It’s safe to say I loved it so much I could not keep away!

I have worked across multiple sectors over the last 15 years including holding roles across the public sector, large global enterprises, a private equity-backed business and I am now the Chief People Officer at an international scale-up based in the North-West of England.

Most of my early career was spent learning the generalist trade, as well as specialising in Talent Acquisition, Recruitment Marketing and Employer Brand, skills that have served me incredibly well in proving my commercial awareness to senior members of the businesses which I have been fortunate to work at.

It is critical for any senior HR leader to understand the foundations of how to attract and recruit Talent into a business, and I believe gaining experience early on in my career in this area has been central to my success.

I have moved around the UK to further my career too, having not been afraid to say no to opportunities in a range of locations including Shrewsbury, London and now Manchester. I spent my 20s prioritising my growth and development and I was fortunate to have some fantastic opportunities along the way.

I also identified when I needed to pivot, after spending 4 years running Early Careers for a global Engineering company in London, I manoeuvred into an internal role in Change Management, a move that enabled me to develop important commercial skills and gave me a platform to develop capabilities that would be incredibly important to what was to come in the future, notably the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the pandemic, I was at a global travel technology business, working in a job I loved for a leadership team that I believed in. As you can imagine, working in the travel industry during a global pandemic was incredibly challenging, but the experience I gained in change management ended up playing a critical role in supporting that business to survive and come out the other end, ready to thrive once again.

After the pandemic, I was ready for a change and moved to an international technology scale-up, based in Manchester as their Chief People Officer to drive their global expansion plans, whilst creating a compelling candidate and colleague experience along the way - a challenge that I am currently loving.

Was it a conscious decision to gain experience working in different sectors?

Yes. I believe that to be at the top of your game, it is important to understand different business sectors and how they all operate commercially. Understanding how a business makes money and drives value is critical to designing a HR strategy that really packs a punch.

I have been driven by improving the reputation of HR to one that is seen as adding value from a commercial perspective. To do so, it was necessary to gain a wealth of experience from different sectors to add more credibility in the Board Room. But I know this isn’t for everyone.

Additionally, it has also enabled me to figure out where my passion is. As much as I loved working in the Public Sector and for a large global business, at this point in my career, I believe that I can add value where I am right now, at a smaller enterprise. I really do love my job, something that cannot be underestimated.

You always said you’d like to be CPO level by your 30s and congratulations, you’ve done it! What do you feel was the most pivotal moment in your career to help you reach this position, and…what is next?

Thank you!

In terms of one pivotal moment, I had a reflective moment at the end of my 20s and I was honest with myself about what I wanted out of my career, which led to me leaving London and relocating to Manchester. I moved out of Talent Acquisition and took on the Change Management role which was, in hindsight, so critical in diversifying my skillset. I swapped being comfortable for moving to a new city, and creating a new life, in a new sector of HR, which then eventually set me up to achieve a Head of HR role at another organisation only 12 months later.

Overall, being open to feedback and learning along the way has been so instrumental to my growth, particularly over the last 5-7 years. I have become extremely comfortable with seeking and acting on feedback to help me be better, and without this, I do not think I would be in the position I am today.

At Apadmi, you’ve been instrumental in developing and enhancing the organisation’s EVP. Can you tell us more about the project and the benefits to the business?

As a business that is on an exciting growth journey, and one that is based in such a competitive tech scene in Manchester, we must stand out to be able to compete and to do so, we have immersed ourselves in what makes our candidates and colleagues tick.

We take a customer experience (CX) led approach to the design of our candidate and colleague experience. We take the time to really get to know where the talent is based, what they are looking for and how we can align our offering to speak to them.

We also speak to our colleagues regularly, getting to know what is bothering them, how we can improve their experience at Apadmi, and what can we do to make their lives better.

By regularly getting feedback from both candidates and colleagues, it helps us to dial into what we should be focusing on.

We know we are not for everyone, and that is ok! We also know we are not perfect, and we have a long way to go to be where we want to be. But we have made a start and decided to make training and development our battleground for talent, investing significantly in our Apadmi Academy and offering learning experiences that will help our people to shine in their careers.

Did you come up against any challenges from the Board as EVP can sometimes be perceived as a ‘nice to have’ or not business critical. How did you overcome these challenges?

I think as an industry we get too drawn into labels. We love talking about EVP and other areas of specialist knowledge, and that is ok, but what we are here to do is to translate that into actionable, commercial outcomes that improve the lives of people, whilst delivering value to the business.

My approach is all about simplification – EVP is the ‘give & get’ - what do our colleagues give to the business, what do they get out of it and how does this align with our vision and values.

I have been able to use actionable data that we have collected from the business e.g. attrition, engagement scores, sickness, feedback comments etc. and us this to present to the business the benefits of actioning on our talent intelligence in relation to our commercial ambitions.

What is the risk to the business if we did nothing?

We have a responsibility to make sure that we represent the voice of our colleagues at Board level, but we must go in with solutions that are fully considered and include investment options and what the return on that investment will be.

We must show that we are not just a transactional function that acts as the ‘policy police’ but a real driver for change. By using data and feedback to present a considered solution that will improve business outcomes, then the Board will take note, listen, and engage.

Where do you see the HR function of the future?

We have still got a long way to go to show our value to Executives, but I believe that this will start to change with a new generation of HR professionals who want a seat at the table.

I think you’ll see HR leaders who may not have traditionally fit the mould – people who have held other roles in commercial, marketing and operational functions as they can demonstrate a wide range of transferable skills, so it’s important that HR professionals think about diversification when pulling together their development plans – moving sideways into another function for a secondment for example, could be valuable.

What is the best piece of career advice you have received?

It is your life, your rules and it is on you to make it happen.

I had one of the most valuable conversations of my career with a previous Executive after some frustrations regarding my role, salary, and progression. I had presumed that there was a grand plan for me and that if I just waited it out, I would be rewarded. When in fact, the business had a million other more important things to think about and it should have been on me to drive that conversation.

It sounds simple, but I learned so much from that experience.

You and you alone are responsible for your career and your happiness. You must be bold, ask for the promotion, ask for feedback, and ask for more money (all at the right time and in the right way, obviously), but the business is not your family, it may be a community, but you must be brave, think about what success looks like for you and design a path to get there, building allies and trusted relationships along the way.

Get in touch

Should you wish to have a confidential chat with Kerry White to discuss the current HR market or your search for work/recruiting into your team, please contact her directly at kwhite@mdhr.co.uk

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