Interim Interviews with… John Richardson

At Macmillan Davies, we are really fortunate to work with a range of fantastic interim professionals. In the second in our series of ‘Interim Interviews’, Sophie Atkinson, Senior Consultant in our Interim Recruitment team, speaks to John Richardson, an experienced HR Director with an impressive background, who has carved out a career as an experienced HR interim.

Tell me about your career to date

‘Pre career’ I spent over five years working part-time in a mountaineering and outdoor shop as well as teaching Karate in the UK and US – whilst I have maintained these passions, they didn’t pay the bills. I attended Northumbria University / Newcastle Business school to study Business – specialising in Operations Management, where I was lucky enough to receive a sponsorship from Black & Decker. I spent a year there during my degree and five very happy years afterwards – learning HR from the bottom up – in what was – even then in the early 90s an excellent ‘people culture’.

I was attracted to Walkers Crisps / PepsiCo for a short period following that, which again, had extremely cutting-edge processes and policies from an HR perspective. However, the opportunity at Ebac to take a full P&L – developing and taking to market a Commercial Air Conditioning range - was an opportunity too good to miss, and provided invaluable commercial experience that sets me apart from many other HR professionals.

Around the turn of the millennium – the ‘New Economy’ was creating a massive pull for talent, and I spent the two years following that, at a Private Equity ‘Tech’ company building advanced software. Amongst other things, this was my first truly international role, working mainly between the US and UK. Following the Telco market collapse after 9/11 I chose to leave and follow a more traditional corporate route for the next two decades.

My first role was with Avery Dennison where I was privileged to be part of their ’Talent’ programme and undertook several Regional and Global HR roles, as well as heading up European HR Transformation, Reward & Payroll for two years, which meant living and working across four continents. After the birth of our eldest son in Belgium, we took a path back to the UK with Rentokil-Initial where I stayed for eleven years – half of which was as HRD & Business Partner to the now CEO Andy Ransom, again a really broad role including two years as Group Reward Director as well as a lot of HR Turn-Around, Transformation, Reward and M&A.

Following some changes in my personal life and having the means to do so – I took the summer of 2021 off, before embarking upon my transition into my career as an Interim.

What attracted you to a career as an Interim specialist?

It had always been my plan to move into Interim work in my 50s, the planets aligned personally and financially to ‘take the leap’ into this world. Whilst it is naïve to state that the world of interim is free from politics – there is certainly less of it and the emphasis is more about doing the right things and getting the right results.

Given that I have a lot of breadth in terms of HR experience from Business Partnering, IR/ER, through L&D, Reward, Operations/HRIS and Transformation – Interim provides a of of variation and opportunity to bring a lot to the table and have a big impact – quickly.

What has been your most enjoyable/memorable part of a project thus far?

The LondonEnergy assignment was the most fun, partnering with a fabulous MD – who ‘got it’, but needed an HR leader to design and deliver the team, structure and underpinning processes was just fantastic. From Recruitment – through the entire Employee Life Cycle we delivered an exceptional amount in a short period – creating excellent Executive and Senior Leadership teams, development frameworks, improved engagement, reward, and recognition as well as raising the game of the HR function and general organisational effectiveness…all with great humour and teamwork.

What are some of the core skills you use as an HRD Lead?

A broad-based, multi-sectoral generalist with extensive global experience my values-driven approach covers many aspects of HR and Operational Excellence. In terms of the ‘Back office’  have led Payroll, Operations, and Reward functions and projects as well as been accountable for Remco, risk, policy and governance activities. Conversely, from a ’Business Partnering’ perspective I have supported multiple divisional and business leaders through transformation, restructuring, M&A, turn-around, and change programmes.

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

“Write a list, work hard and don’t be a #ick”

Anything else you would like to add?

My Mantra for HR is to balance the needs of the business, the people and the law… over-emphasis on one will be to the detriment of the others. My Core values – essentially learned at Black & Decker during the 90s are around.

John is immediately available and won’t be on the market for long. To discuss further please contact our interim consultants:

• Sophie Atkinson – satkinson@mdhr.co.uk – 07930 086 518
• Amy Smith – asmith@mdhr.co.uk – 07946 173 393

Alternatively, if you require candidates of a different calibre for your business’s interim needs or if you would like to discuss how you can become an exclusive Macmillan Davies Professional please contact the above.