“HR would be a good job, if it weren’t for folk!”
Luckily, Dominic Ceraldi, HR and general manager at Pimlico Plumbers, has chosen to disagree with this helpful observation that was made by one of his bosses early on in his HR career.
In fact, he aims to be very much seen, heard and actively involved with all of the 190 plumbers and other staff employed by the firm. It’s a family-run business and so hiding behind your desk is not an option.
Since joining the company four years ago, Ceraldi has set up the HR department from scratch because prior to that, the owner had pretty much been running the whole show himself. But established HR practices are now in place and Ceraldi has taken on recruitment and learning and development specialists to help him, which has led to a considerable boost in the retention rates of both plumbers and call centre staff.
It wasn’t a straight path from school to head of HR, however. Ceraldi’s first pit-stop after finishing full-time education in the mid-80s was in catering, which taught him some valuable lessons about dealing with people and problems.
But studying at night school in his mid-20s armed him with the necessary qualifications to change direction and Ceraldi subsequently began working for the Department of Work and Pensions in its Jobcentre Plus department.
It was a small unemployment office where people assumed multiple roles and one of the tasks that fell to him was to manage vacancies. From there, Ceraldi branched out into recruitment, before becoming a performance manager in London – a troubleshooting role that saw him tasked with turning round under-performing sections of the business.
“I never thought I’d be in HR. Even 10, 12 years ago – it was just something I stumbled into. When I talk to people at the CIPD, most of us – even the lecturer – found that it’s something you get into from other routes,” Ceraldi says.
Culture shock
His next move was to the South Bank Employers Group, a collection of 17 companies, located along the bustling slither of the Thames, which aims to improve the local area. But Ceraldi found it as much of a culture shock moving from Jobcentre Plus to the Employers Group where he dealt with big companies such as IBM and Shell as he did on joining a family-run business in the shape of Pimilico Plumbers.
“As it’s a family-run business, the biggest problem when I came on board was gaining trust because everything I do has a direct impact,” Ceraldi says.
While his official title is HR and general manager, he is quick to point out that it “doesn’t mean I’m the guy who orders the stationery. The managing director calls me general manager because I deal with issues such as customer complaints and legal issues. He doesn’t see HR as someone who sits in an office – I have a broader and a visible presence. I go to the call centre and I meet the plumbers”.
Another appeal is that the owner does not like bureaucracy, which was one of the reasons that he left the Jobcentre. “It got to the point where we were making rules for rule’s sake. Here a decision is made pretty quickly,” Ceraldi says.
But it took him a while to get used to the levels of interaction and transparency expected by his boss. “I speak to the managing director every day for a catch-up and he says, however insignificant something may seem, he wants a call. That’s a big culture shock for me because every decision you make has an impact in a small family company,” Ceraldi explains.
This openness with his boss is matched by a similarly open attitude to the staff he deals with. “It’s important to be upfront, straight and honest and don’t dress things up – working with plumbers that goes down like a ‘bs’ sandwich,” he says.
Although Ceraldi enjoys troubleshooting problems and seeing a new strategy or plan such as new employment contracts put into action, the biggest buzz he gets from the job – and the thing that pulled him into the profession in the first place – is and remains dealing with the people.
And finally……
Who do you admire most and why?
My wife, because whenever there’s any problems concerning work, she always points me in the right direction and looks at things from a different perspective.
What’s your most hated buzzword?
Talent management
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
My managing director says: “If something ain’t working, change and move on – don’t stick with it. “
How do you relax?
I have a six-year old son and I also like a glass of vino and gardening.
One Response
HR at the front!
What a refreshing read, thanks Dominic