“People build brands and brands build people,” he asserts.

And Kelly has been lucky enough to put his stamp on some of the biggest British brands in the land: the BBC, BT, British Rail and now international IT and business services giant Logica, which has 44,000 employees and takes on 6,500 new recruits a year.

With a roll-call like that, one might assume that Kelly had devised a long-term plan for getting to the top, but he describes his early career at least as being more opportunistic than that.

 

It was by chance rather than any clear strategy that he landed on his feet straight out of school by working for an organisation that was willing to invest in his professional growth and development.

 

“I’m not sure how many school leavers today would have the opportunities I had,” Kelly admits. The organisation that recognised his talent was British Rail, which he joined as a trainee. “I thought I’d try it for a year and if I didn’t like it, I’d go to university,” he says.

But like it he did, staying at the rail operator for a decade and finding the experience of working through privatisation and getting involved in employer relations a useful one.

 

 

Initially, Kelly worked in contracts management. But after three years, he was moved to personnel and admin because his managers recognised that he was good with people and showed a lot of empathy, “which surprises me to this day,” he laughs.

From there, he assumed a more commercial role on the East Coast mainline and got involved in running third-party relationships as well as the HR side of things, before settling down to a ‘proper’ HR role in 1990 when he moved to Derby.

 

After the privatised part of the company where he worked as HR director was sold to Balfour Beatty, however, Kelly stayed on as a divisional HRD until 1997.

 

But from there, he moved to an entirely different sector, joining the National Provident Institution as divisional HRD until 1999, before switching industries again to join BT at the height of the dot.com bubble.

This meant that, yet again, Kelly was in the right place at the right time: with British Rail, he’d gone through privatisation, and now at BT, he had a front-row seat in the dot.com boom and bust.

 

But his advice to anyone entering the HR profession now is to choose a sector that really interests them rather than to think solely about the job position. “The great thing about HR is that we work in every sector and there aren’t many professions that allow you to do that,” Kelly says.

During his seven years at BT, he undertook three major roles: compensation strategy director; a global organisational development role in the US and finally, chief HR and change officer within BT Global Services.

 

 

But then a dream opportunity came up to work at the BBC, heading up its HR function. “I grew up with the BBC – it’s a cultural icon. It was an opportunity to work behind the scenes and see the great work these guys do,” Kelly explains.

But if it was such a dream job, why leave in January 2009 to join Logica? The downside of working at the broadcaster is that it is like a “quasi-public body”, Kelly points out.

 

“I’m a commercial animal and that means working in the private sector. Working for the biggest brand for three years was great, but then the opportunity came up to go back into the commercial sector and it was too good and opportunity to miss,” he says.

But he believes that, in some ways, the BBC is similar to a services company.

 

“The BBC doesn’t have any product. We have the capacity of individuals to make services for clients. The BBC makes great programmes. Logica develops initiatives to help companies. They are both very people-centric businesses, but culturally very different,” Kelly explains.

His job at the service provider is also made easier by the fact that he has a people-oriented chief executive, which means that the firm’s brand is no longer purely technology-focused, but has a broader business tinge.

 

This means that Logica looks for personnel who have more to offer than just technical excellence. They must also be able to engage with customers and fit in culturally.

 

 

But it’s a lesson that HR professionals also need to learn, points out Kelly. “I’m a big believer that you have to be business-focused and, from that, work out what you need to do from an HR perspective,” he says. “If you understand that, you can work out what you want to do and show cause and effect.”

In a nutshell, everything you do every day must be about improving the business, he believes.

 

“You’re competing for talent. We’ve got 44,000 people and recruit 6,500 a year. In some areas, that’s very, very competitive and you’ve got to be sure about ‘the give and get’ because it’s no longer about money,” Kelly explains. “People are interested in corporate social responsibility, and whether you are going to develop them, and what type of clients you have.”

The idea is that good people will always find opportunities, but you want them to come to your door. You also want a healthy turnover of staff.

 

“You don’t want the same people all the time so you have responsibility to skill and grow the people you’ve got and many will leave,” he says. “We have a responsibility to skill people for the existing business and for the future. You can’t be short-termist.”

For Kelly, helping the business to grow its sales and profitability is pivotal to any HR role – although it doesn’t mean to say that profits are the only measure of success.

 

“You have to have balance,” Kelly points out. “Sometimes, things come across my desk and I’ll support the employer, sometimes the employee. You have to be plural and help business make the right call. You have to think: ‘Would you treat a client like this? If not, why treat your people like that?’ You have to treat people with respect.”

And finally…

Who do you admire most and why?

Steve Jobs. Anybody who is the architect of such a business deserves admiration. That business was just about out of business when he took over again, but he’s created a legacy and an iconic brand and service. It’s worth more than Poland today.

What’s your most hated buzzword?

 

HR people have ‘initiative-itis’. It’s better to do a few things well rather than many things badly.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?

 

Do what you believe in and always keep your principles throughout your career.

How do you relax?

I go to the gym and play golf abysmally. And I like sailing because you can’t get email!