Head of HR
AATCO
Total years of experience :22 years, 0 Months
AATCO Food Industries employs 500 people across Oman, KSA and the rest of the GCC together with India and the FE, and manufactures and exports ketchup, mayonnaise, and hot sauces under the Delicio brand (see delicioworld.com) to over 40 countries predominantly in the MENA region, and to global MNCs e.g. KFC, Burger King, and Subway. Led and managed a HR team of 6 spread across 3 locations.
Change Management
• Part of the senior team that developed our vision and strategy for the next 5 years.
• Developed and implemented a HR strategic plan.
• Worked with the CEO to develop a new organisational structure which separated strategy from execution, and later with the new MD to align roles and business verticals.
• Changed the salary bands and salaries for key roles after conducting a salary survey.
• Introduced an annual salary review process, removed guaranteed increases and restructured the allowances.
• Introduced annual employee surveys.
Talent Management
• Recruited from a global pool for a new MD, FD, GMs, and sales managers for KSA, UAE, Oman, India and the FE.
• Sourced new recruitment partners and introduced new psychometric tests.
• Improved localisation by 10% in Oman.
• Developed a new training programme to ‘up skill’ Production Operators.
• Implemented a new output based performance review process.
Reward
• Developed a Long Term Incentive Scheme for the C-Suit and new sales incentive scheme.
Aryzta is a £4 bn global bakery co. Coached and challenged the SLT and provided HR management leadership to 2 sites which employed 1000 people. Led and managed a team of 5. Made redundant.
• Led a restructure and introduced broader role profiles to streamline the lines of reporting.
• Managed the introduction new shift patterns that matched the customer demand.
• Managed a TUPE transfers involving 200 employees.
• Managed the recruitment of 400 new people. Cost saving of £½
Weetabix was a £0.5bn food manufacturer. Reported to the Group HRD, and was a core part of the senior HR leadership team that established strategic goals for the people agenda and led the modernisation programme that substantially changed the culture, increased profits by 100% and created a modern lean manufacturing company.
My client groups were engineering, supply chain, and the commercial areas (circa 500 people). Inspired and developed a team of 5. Left through VR.
Transformational Management
• Challenged and influenced senior managers in the development of new ‘flatter’ organisational structures, and established the role requirements and rewards for the new roles. Managed my team in the delivery of the subsequent restructure, the assessment of internal candidates and the external recruitment of higher calibre replacements.
• Worked alongside the HRD to make 100 people redundant and achieve a £4 m cost saving.
• Collaborated with the engineering management team and led TU negotiations to facilitate the voluntary exit of 30% of the company’s engineers. Achieved a cost saving of £2 m.
• Challenged and supported managers in achieving our strategic goal to develop a more team orientated, flexible, and less hierarchically structured workforce by eroding demarcation lines, and ‘up’ and ‘cross’ skilling employees.
• Worked with the SLT to evaluate and introduce new shift patterns.
• Managed and renegotiated the canteen contract and achieved a £80 k reduction in costs.
Performance & Talent Management
• Challenged, supported and coached the senior managers in the performance management of their teams.
• Part of the senior HR leadership team to introduce a nationally accredited management development programme focusing on modern manufacturing and developing new talent.
• Managed the design and delivery of a bespoke multi-skilling training programme.
Employee Relations
• Led wage and change negotiations with two heavily unionised bargaining groups that were the gateway to enabling the company to the change established working practices, introduce CI, and begin modernising the culture, for example by:
Removing fixed crewing levels and guaranteed overtime,
Ending ‘wash up time’, introducing ‘bell to bell’ working and ‘baton handovers’,
Removing the demarcation associated with loading vehicles,
Freezing shift allowances,
Transferring low skill engineering responsibilities to production operators resulting in a 30% reduction in headcount and a cost saving of £2 m.
• Led TU negotiations that led to a separation in the logistics bargaining group, an agreement on a 30% productivity improvement that gave a cost saving of £½ m, a change to monthly pay, and the ‘buy out’ of a £5 K bonus with a £¼ m cost saving.
Outsourcing of Non-Core Business & TUPE Transfers
• HR lead on a project that selected and managed the outsourcing of the logistics function.
• Led a team in managing the TUPE transfer of our logistics operations, which included employee briefings and consultation meetings with 3 x TUs. Achieved a cost saving of £4 m.
Weetabix
Employee Relations Manager (1999 - 2006)
Provided HR support for the main manufacturing site and the Head Office functions including sales, marketing, finance and IT.
• Managed a team of 3 (a HR Officer, a HR Projects Manager & a Security Manager), and security department with 28 security officers and a budget of £ ¾ m.
• Updated policies on maternity and relocation, and introduced new contracts of employment, a grievance procedure, a working time collective agreement, and an harassment & bullying policy.