Kirstie Williams is Jubb’s first People and Development Manager and joined the team at the beginning of November 2020. The role is new to Jubb and demonstrates the company’s commitment to the support and development of their teams and how they value their people.
Kirstie herself explains why she was so keen to take on this role at Jubb.
“When I first started to talk with the Directors at Jubb about what was achievable within the company in terms of staff development I not only knew I could make a valuable impact but was encouraged by the passion of the directors in wanting to make a difference to their staff members. I have a long background in People development and HR and was encouraged that Jubb has really clear values; integrity, care, pragmatism, collaboration and progression. My personal appreciation of these values is strong and so I immediately felt fully aligned morally with the company. I wanted to work within an organisation that valued and wanted to do the right thing for their staff, so Jubb and I seemed to be the perfect match.”
“The strategic discussions about what Jubb want to do for the staff in terms of development and support to help them be the best that they can be are going really well. These talks are backed up for me by anecdotal demonstrations of striving to provide a positive work experience through the ongoing lockdown such as ongoing and significant investment in IT equipment as well supporting individual office social initiatives so that staff still have opportunity to meet and enjoy a bit of down time together albeit in a virtual environment.”
What is your plan to make this development goal a reality?
“My focus is to start with relationship building. Obviously, I am limited at the moment in terms of visiting the offices, but I’m using the wonders of video calling technology Teams to enable me to get to know people in the meantime.
I am going to be looking at developing clear learning pathways and competency plans to give a definite and accountable structure to personal development across the board. I think it is important to build a framework so that everyone in Jubb, regardless of their role have clearly defined expectations to guide them.. This will include some core mandatory elements, skills, qualities, and behaviours that are expected of Jubb employees, including softer skill sets such as communication, leadership skills, management and coaching and mentoring…..all essential skills for team building and development. Along with the technical requirements, we will then clearly define ‘role competency’ – what staff need under their belts to excel in a role and how they can demonstrate that.”
This framework will enable us to work with individuals to ensure they have everything they need to succeed in their role and meet their longer-term goals. Not everyone wants to be a leader, manager, or director and for those who don’t, I want to ensure they are rewarded for being excellent at their roles and happy where they are. For those with greater ambitions, we will be able to devise the learning pathways needed to support that growth. This personal approach to management is essential to making sure we get it right for every single person in Jubb. It is why I am starting with getting to know every office and everyone to build open relationships. HR is sometimes perceived as just being a hiring and firing function – my title and role is people and development and those are my priorities”.
What is the ultimate goal for you within Jubb?
“I am looking to create a culture of self-driven development, where care and consideration for development and the benefits this can bring is core to the daily running of the business. One element of this is ensuring our recruitment process takes our values into account so people joining the team are already aligned with Jubb’s core values. It will enable them to be more focused on where they want to go and what they want to do, and ultimately make it an easier and more successful process for everyone.”
Kirstie Williams is currently working from home but is available on 07776 136902 or email [email protected]
