Name:                         Emma Reynold
Current position:         Co-founder
Organisation:              e3unlimited

What roles have you held
• I was head of communications for a consultancy in Australia, working with Qantas, the Australian Government and Travelex to help them understand their internal communications.

• In the UK I was head of marketing & communications for Barkers Norman Broadbent (Bnb).

• I co-founded e3unlimited in 2006, working with organisations all over the world. I absolutely love it and thrive on the challenge of building our business.

HR POWER

What attracted you into the world of HR
The opportunity to make radical change and empower people and to also transfer my experience in communication – it should be the epicentre of every HR professional.

What are your key skills
Communication and re-designing organisations for the new world of work.

What areas of HR do you specialise in
Attraction, recruitment and development / retention.

What value do you think HR plays in an organisation
Depends on the definition of HR within the organisation. If recruitment, development and retention are seen as part of HR, then they need to lead from the front. If HR is seen as ‘tears and tissue’ then currently, I don’t think they add much value.

Is the name HR as a function still relevant - what would you rename it to
I don’t think it is relevant, given the scope of true talent management, I don’t think HR means anything. If I was able to re-design the whole organisation, I would have a CTO (chief talent officer) driving attraction and development, then have a department dedicated to process and policy.

LEADERSHIP

What kind of leader are you - describe your leadership brand
As the workplace becomes increasingly demanding, diverse and dispersed globally, the leader at the top will have to throw away the textbooks, un-learn the leadership styles of the ‘command and control’ era and embrace a radical, new world approach to leadership - ‘co-ordinate and cultivate’ today’s new workforce. That’s me.

How do you / would you develop talent
By understanding your talent. Simple point, but often overlooked. Understand who your talent is, what drives them, what pushes their buttons. (HOW)

How do you reward your staff
By creating an environment where they can drive the organisation forward and fulfil their personal values and goals.

What do you think are the most popular rewards and benefits
Creating a flexible working environment and holidays.

What do you think HR professionals need to get better at doing
Adding value and understanding the commerciality of the business.

How are you driving change
We are revolutionising talent mangement. We are working with CEO’s and boards to help them understand their role in talent management. We are working with hiring managers to help them understand the generational collision and overall just shaking things up a little. (HOW)

How do you keep ahead of trends
Having brainstorming and masterminding sessions every week. Reading a lot, travelling the world and spending time with interesting people (LIKE WHO).

How do you think you’ve already helped to shape the HR profession
We have helped organisations to understand that Gen Y isn’t the be all and end all, and that in fact, most people have Gen Y traits – it is the new world of work, rather than an age group.

What is the greatest threat to the HR industry
Obviously with the threat of the recession, the first budget to go is HR. So HR need to step up and manage retention so as to avoid being hit with the blame.

What's the most important professional lesson that you have learnt so far?
That true talent management isn’t the responsibility of HR alone. It is the responsibility of every person in the organisation.

What inspires you
Waking up in the morning inspires me. Travelling to remote places, talking to a lot of people and when a London bus driver returns my smile – I love that.

What would you eliminate in the workplace
Walls, desks, meeting rooms - it should be all open plan hot-desking. I would also eliminate the 9.00am-5.00pm mentality – people could turn up when they are most motivated and at their optimum.

What significant HR achievements would you like to be remembered for
Giving responsibility of talent management back to the board and the CEO so they lead from the top and inspre everyone in the organisation to be responsible for bringing onboard great people, who stay, who thrive and feel engaged.

IN THE BOARDROOM

How do you intend to put HR at the front of every boardroom agenda
I don’t believe it should be HR at the top of the agenda, it should be the issues around attraction, recruitment and development, but everyone sitting around the table should be responsible and have input.

What has been your greatest challenge in the boardroom
Achieving the above. But we are chipping away slowly. We just need brave CEO’s.
 
What is the quirkiest HR people initiative you have ever introduced
We have created Gen Y boards, a mirror image of the board – presenting the ideas back and empowering the younger generations to have input into the biggest company decisions was thrilling. Getting the board to listen was another story, but the brave companies are thriving on it.

What’s on your people agenda / what would you put on the people agenda
The boardroom situation as above. I won’t give up.

IN 2018…

What will the role of HR look like
Wow, it is hard to predict it in six months, let alone 10 years. I honestly believe the term HR will be non-existent and if I have anything to do with it, the CTO (chief talent officer) will be leading the people agenda.

What will the world of work look like
Loose hierarchies, electronically connected freelancers who work when they want, where they want and how they want – achieving productivity and innovation like never seen before. How exciting.