Rachael Talent and Learning Manager
people
“We have some of the brightest and also some of the funniest people I’ve met. You really can be yourself.”
I joined PKF Francis Clark after relocating back to the South West from London. Having worked for a large accountancy firm in London I wanted to join another firm that I could support and utilise the knowledge I had gained throughout my resourcing career and PKF Francis Clark seemed like the right firm to join to do this.
I work within our People Team and lead our recruitment and learning offerings. I work with our partners to ensure that our people strategy is aligned to their business needs and that we have the right tools in place to support our strategic aim of developing general practice partners and recruiting and retaining the best talent within the business.
Developing our recruitment offering, creating this great new website and our employee value proposition, our success profiles and people’s journey throughout the firm are just a few of the things I do.
The people – and it really is. Everyone is really friendly and you come to work and know you are going to be surrounded by good people. We have some of the brightest and also some of the funniest people I’ve met. You really can be yourself.
Again, its friendly. Everyone works really hard but at the same time everyone’s home life is respected. If you want to get involved in ‘extra activities’ you can but at the same time if you don’t it doesn’t matter.
I joined as our resourcing manager three years ago and was responsible for resourcing across the firm, and I now also oversee the firm’s learning and development. Since joining we have re-scoped all of our recruitment processes, created new websites and more importantly our employer value proposition (understanding why people want to work for us). My team has grown and I have been given more responsibility which has been great for my development. Moving forward I want to continue to grow personally and also see everyone else in the firm grow too.
There have been lots of achievements since I joined – filling really difficult roles, gaining the support of the board to invest in our EVP, careers website and technology, seeing my team grow and develop, as well as getting my son and husband to school and work on time every day! Last year I presented at a PKF international conference in Sofia about the journey we went on to develop our employer brand.
I have a great team around me which means I get support from my director, those I manage on a day to day basis and the wider people team. We also work really collaboratively with our wider colleagues so I never feel like I can’t ask anyone for support or help.
I would say for someone to be really successful at PKF Francis Clark they need to seek out opportunities and take opportunities as they arise. There are some great people who work here who are incredibly talented and the more you can learn the better – just get involved.
What are you waiting for! Make sure you are thorough with your CV and that there are no typos/ spelling mistakes. If you get shortlisted for an interview, do your research and make sure you get across why you want to work for the firm.
Fun, Challenging, Colourful.
Oh my, I think I would just want to have dinner with my husband and friends without all our children being there!
Travelling across the States visiting the Grand Canyon in an RV.
Rick Stein – India. Great book with some fabulous recipes.
Not sure what my favourite album is, but my favourite song is Reach For the Stars – S Club 7. It reminds me of my uni days plus a few years afterwards. Having great fun with my friends in London, it never fails to make me smile.
Be kind to yourself.
An LED light that we use for camping – battery operated, magnetic to stick to the van and also has a hook so you can use in the awning.
Warm sunny day with clear blue skies, beautiful beach for a bit of paddleboard and a walk, my husband and son for company, followed by a country pub with great food and a cold glass of wine.
Make sure you unclip at traffic lights! I’ve recently started cycling. If you don’t unclip your feet you’re going to fall over!
With my family and friends – if the weather is warm then camping, paddleboarding, surfing and more recently cycling.
Foraging – I do a bit with things like berries and nuts but wouldn’t it be great to know which mushrooms weren’t going to kill you! Also gardening – I love gardening but I’m more a ‘hope for the best and see what happens’ type of gardener.