What was your highlight of 2024?
I am now two years into the role of government chief people officer. There has been a lot of change in that time, but I now feel much more part of the civil service family – although I still like to bring a bit of an outside view to the exceptional challenges we are working on.
Civil Service Live 2024 was a real highlight for me. Whether I was talking to colleagues in London, Birmingham, Edinburgh or Belfast – the passion for public service is extraordinary. It’s so inspiring to meet colleagues right across the UK, and listen to their views on the key challenges we are tackling together.
I am also incredibly proud that we launched the Civil Service Line Management Standards. We already have lots of great line managers in the civil service; the standards build on this by bringing clear expectations, great training and supportive guidance.
What was the hardest part of being a leader in 2024?
Being a HR leader in 2024 was very different from when I joined the profession in the 90s, and I have now given my age away! The expectation of people from their work has evolved dramatically and the civil service has to continue to adapt to recruit talent, retain those already in the service and ensure we are a great place to work for everyone.
We still have a lot to do but I am proud of what my HR colleagues achieve on a daily basis whether it be exploring how AI could support recruitment or ensuring the successful delivery of our shared services ambition. We will continue to deliver on the People Plan and support colleagues across government on embedding what it means to really be mission led, much of which is down to our people working more collaboratively on the biggest issues.
What are the main challenges facing your organisation in the coming year – and how are you planning to meet them?
The civil service’s success is based on our people. Every day we have a profound impact on society and people’s lives. Ensuring we have the best talent is a challenge for every organisation, but given the context it is even more pertinent here.
I want to do more to attract the best skills from every region in the UK to deliver on the government's priorities. I recognise this will mean changing the way we recruit as well as ensuring the civil service brand is strong to continue to attract external talent and retain the brilliant people already working here. This is not easy, but with a fantastic team we are already exploring what more we can do on apprenticeships and speeding up recruitment to make positive changes.
What was the best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received? And the worst?
The best for me would be when I got the ‘Make it Big’ album by Wham! when I was 11 years old, but the worst would have to be a blender. I was very grateful but any kitchen appliance is totally wasted on me!