Tell us about your career journey and what made you choose this area of work, and ai as a company?  

After graduating from university with a Master’s in Organisational and Business Psychology, I knew I wanted to work with people. I was an A-Level Business and Economics teacher at a local college before taking a short break to travel around South East Asia – which was amazing! When I came back to the UK, I knew that teaching was not for me, but I still wanted a people-centric role that allowed me to both improve people’s working lives and the business culture. I find solving people’s questions and queries fulfilling and interesting, so what job role could be better?  

I chose to join ai as my first HR position, as it was clear from the first telephone interview that it would be a place where I could grow and progress in my HR career. With ai being an SME, the position really allows me to get into every aspect of HR as well as get to know everyone in the company, which is ideal. Also, being part of a team of two means that I am listened to and have autonomy over certain areas and HR projects, allowing me to curate my knowledge and gain valuable experience. Furthermore, there was the opportunity to complete my CIPD Level 5 Qualification, which I have already started. Other employers did not offer this.  

What does a typical day in HR look like for you?  

There isn’t really a typical day in HR – every day is different and you never know what you are going to get, which for me is the major draw to the role and ai as a company.  Some days can cover the entire employee lifecycle: from recruiting and onboarding new starters, to creating training for our LMS and developing HR initiatives to make Employees' time with us the best it can be. At the same time as bigger projects, HR involves a lot of little tasks that pop up throughout the day, including answering questions around Pensions, Payroll, our benefits package and general office management.   

What is your team like?   

The HR Team is great, although I may be biased seeing as I make up 50% of the team. Both HR managers have been super supportive and have gotten me involved in almost every aspect of HR. Our team’s focus is making sure that the business is working like a well-oiled machine: whilst some tasks may seem small, we play a big role in every employee’s working time here at ai. This can sometimes mean we have many tasks and projects running simultaneously but it is rewarding when they conclude with a good outcome.  

How do you ensure you keep your training and knowledge up to date? 

To keep my training and knowledge up-to-date, ai are currently funding my CIPD Level 5 Qualification. This allows me to attend 7 hours of training each week in various subjects such as Specialist Employment Law, Reward Management and Workforce Planning. This, in turn, has given me the chance to apply these learnings in practice throughout my day-to-day, which makes working at ai both better for the team and the business. I am about halfway through the course and coming up to the second lot of deadlines, which can be challenging to balance with work, but it has been a wonderful opportunity that I am thoroughly enjoying, and ai has made it possible.  

What’s the best part about your job? 

This is quite a tricky question, as there are many parts of my job that I love. Besides the fact that every day is different and offers a new opportunity to grow, the best part of my job is building the workplace culture. There have been many events that have been organised by the Staff Council and me, and it is really satisfying watching all that planning turn into people enjoying themselves and having fun. Plus, getting feedback from those events and building that into the next event is rewarding.  

What’s your proudest moment at ai so far? 

My proudest moment at ai (so far) would be the NCP Celebration in September. Due to a huge project finishing for one of our customers, I was tasked with organising a company-wide event to celebrate all the hard work and dedication that had gone into it. This was a big undertaking, which involved liaising with the venue, getting the menu choices, creating certificates for award winners and perhaps the biggest task, building a balloon arch and blowing up 200+ balloons. It was wonderful to see everyone together celebrating such an amazing achievement, and organising that event was very fulfilling.  

How would you describe ai in 3 words? 

Collaborative. Supportive. Hardworking.  

What do you enjoy most about working for ai? 

The people, which I don’t think will come as a surprise. Everyone who works here has made my first year enjoyable, and I feel supported in everything that I do. Particularly when you start a new role in HR, there is a lot of background and history that can sometimes take some time to get your head around. But everyone has been patient, and it feels like we’re all part of the same team.