In the first of a new series shining the spotlight on HR directors across a range of industries, Liz Booth, HR director for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), speaks to Annie Hayes about why she opted for the ‘third way’, and explains why she is proud to champion an HR function that doesn’t default to ‘no’.

Liz Booth is a mum. She has two young daughters aged six and four, a high powered job and a sense of purpose for doing the right thing.

Booth’s journey into HR wasn’t immediate. She worked in a number of jobs including BT, BP and the National Audit Office before deciding on an HR career. The turning point came in the early 80’s when she decided that she wanted to progress an interest in employment law with a degree from the University of Bath, reading business administration, employment law and organisational development.

“It wasn’t so much a case of having a great plan, it was just that I was really interested in the topic and from there it seemed like a natural progression into HR. My first job was working for a local authority, joining as a junior HR officer in 1986,” she explains.

Itchy feet after a two year stint propelled Booth into the charity sector. She applied to an advert working for a small charity for deaf and blind people. The challenge of being the only HR employee caught her imagination and, as she admits, was to be a “baptism of fire”.

“It was a high-risk appointment for the charity, I was very young and inexperienced and I was suddenly in charge of 200 employees – there were no systems in place, no contracts, nothing.”

Moving up the HR tree

Despite her doubts, however, the job proved to be the making of Booth, who looks back at this time, spanning some nine years, as giving her the best kind of experience for moving up the HR tree. By the time she’d left, the charity had grown to 2,000 staff and the chief executive, who with great courage and foresight had put faith in her from the outset despite her inexperience, was right to follow his instincts. “He tells me today he ‘just knew’,” she remarks.

And Booth has never looked back. She worked for a brief spell as HR Director of the Prince’s Trust – it was smaller but more high profile.

“It was my first experience of working for a household name. I’d defended the charities I’d worked for before personally at employment tribunals, but I hadn’t taken proper account of the different levels of interest that a charity like the Prince’s Trust has compared to a lower profile charity and that was a real learning curve for me.”

Booth learnt that brand is just as important to voluntary organisations as it is in the corporate world. A lesson that put her in a good position when, in 1999, she joined the NSPCC, at a very exciting time in its 123-year history. The ‘full stop’ campaign was being launched.

“The most important aspect of my job is recruiting people safely. We are a target for infiltration and it’s crucial that the children that come into contact with the NSPCC are safe; it’s the only thing that gives me sleepless nights. We’re just doing some research at the moment looking at value-based interviewing to give our recruitment a more structured approach.”

Booth, who started her family whilst working at the charity, says that having her two daughters has put a real perspective on the work she does.

Family-friendly policies are also something the charity strongly supports. The NSPCC is very committed in its belief that it is only as good as the people it has. “We’re nothing without them and we genuinely believe that. Eighty-five per cent of the organisation is voluntary funded; it’s massively important to us, the generosity of our donors is integral to everything we do and training our fundraisers is not an add-on but crucial.”

Indeed this aspect of the business largely powers the training and development function which plays a crucial part in getting fundraisers up to speed. The HR function, which has 42 staff spread over regional teams, was tested when the merger of ChildLine and its 300 staff happened.

“HR set the agenda about how the transfer of people should happen. We wanted the merger to occur with as little impact on staff as possible. From this, our strategy of how the function operates has developed. We’ve moved a long way from being the department that likes to say no. I believe that our job is only to refuse when the result would be in conflict with our values.”

Supportive of changes

Booth admits that she is very lucky and privileged to be working for an organisation where, on the whole, staff are supportive of changes that occur and the default position isn’t no.

“Everyone is dedicated to keeping children safe. There isn’t a ‘them’ and ‘us’ culture,” she comments.

The staff survey that is rolled out every other year is a useful tool for checking the levels of engagement and Booth proudly tells me that they attained a 100 per cent agreement when they asked their staff whether they understood the charities values, and an impressive 97 per cent when they asked their staff whether they were committed to them.

“The passion is incredible,” she enthuses. “It makes my job easier. People are prepared to accept change, it’s amazing. Staff working for the NSPCC don’t naturally think we’re out to get them.”

A lot of this success is down to Booth’s incredible emphasis on communication – the charity works tirelessly behind the scenes so that every member of staff and voluntary worker understands about the work the NSPCC does. Much of this positive response has also been achieved by bringing the organisation together.

“When I joined, the NSPCC was regionally based. We had the objective of coming together and being more ‘corporate’ – it’s been a huge challenge. There has been a dramatic difference to the way policies have been applied – pay is an example. Consulting people has been key to the changes.”

The grounding from Booth’s degree that largely focused on employment law has been a huge bonus for her and she admits that she often reflects on what she learnt during that time. But although she commits her staff to attaining the qualification from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), she confesses that personally she’s found this less useful in the day-to-day activities of running an HR department.

But what really drives her forward is not the thorough research and meticulously executed plan that she clearly has an incredible aptitude for, but her clear sense of identity with the charity’s noble purpose.

“When my children ask me, ‘Mummy why are you late home from work?’ I feel a real sense of pride in knowing that I’m late because I’ve been doing work that helps make the world a better place.”