Susan Butcher, HR director

Citation

Butcher, S. (2010), "Susan Butcher, HR director", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 9 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2010.37209bab.004

Susan Butcher, HR director

Article Type: Practitioner profile From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 9, Issue 2

HR executives share their experience in human resources

Sue ButcherSue Butcher is HR director at Remploy.

Sue Butcher wanted to be a pharmacist and was about to start A levels in physics, chemistry and maths when she decided to go to work instead. She says: “My first job was working as a civil servant in the divorce and small claims courts – a real eye-opener at 16.”

After this, she moved on to a training scheme with UK retailer Boots, where she gained a diploma in management studies. She then progressed to accountancy where a tenuous link with HR influenced her career path. Working on salary budgeting she soon realized her interests were in the story behind salary increases and budgeting, rather than the figures, so changed careers. An HR professional for more than 25 years, she held several senior employee relations, HR and reward positions with the Boots group, including Boots Chemists, Crookes Healthcare, Boots Opticians and Boots Contract Manufacturing.

When in August 2008 she joined Remploy, the UK’s leading provider of employment services to those experiencing complex barriers to work, she had not previously worked in the public sector. She says: “I appreciated what Remploy was doing as a company – finding sustainable employment in mainstream companies for people experiencing complex barriers to work. It’s markedly different from my previous experience in the commercial sector.”

Complexity of the business

Remploy is a complex and diverse business. It is the UK’s largest specialist employer of disabled people with more than 3,000 employees in ten businesses at 54 locations around Britain. In addition, the company supplies chemical and biological protection suits to police and armed forces in the UK and abroad; it is the largest supplier of furniture to the UK education sector; it operates an expanding IT recycling business; and it manufactures components for the motor industry.

It operates a nation-wide network of city center branches supporting job seekers with disabilities or health conditions into mainstream employment. Support includes skills training, confidence building and help with CV writing and interview techniques.

Sue Butcher says: “It is particularly important at a time of recession that our candidates are well-prepared to work in mainstream employment. We know that employers value the commitment that Remploy candidates bring to the workplace and our major partners such as BT, Royal Mail and ASDA report that our candidates have lower absenteeism rates and stay in the job longer.”

Consistent processes

Sue Butcher became HR director in April 2009 after spending eight months as an interim. She reviewed the existing payroll and HR system, focusing on ways to make it more efficient and effective, and the key objective for last year was to implement a computerized HR system. She comments: “It’s vital in an organization like this to have the appropriate management information to make good decisions. The challenge is not the system but the cultural impact it will have across the business.”

The challenge then will be to make use of the new system, when it is introduced in 2010, and work with it to utilize management information. With a tight timeframe for implementation and delivery, it is vital for employees to engage with this process by managing the cultural changes it brings.

Harnessing creativity

Sue Butcher is quick to point out that increasing efficiency does not mean discouraging creativity. She says: “Streamlining our internal processes isn’t about preventing creativity – it’s about harnessing it so that we can all share in it as a business.”

At present, she is also working on a number of other improvement programs to take Remploy forward and contribute to its achievement of 20,000 job entries per year by 2012 – these include skills and organizational capability. She believes that HR should be actively engaged with the business and should take into account the working life of employees when decisions are made.

It is important for the HR function to maintain credibility, particularly through rewarding and challenging times. It is essential to view HR as a tool to attract, motivate and retain employees and support the business as a whole and not just a means to an end.

The challenges ahead

Remploy faces challenges over the next five years, including the continuing fallout of the recession, the decline of the manufacturing industry and the gradual but significant reduction of government funding against ambitious and stretching targets. Sue Butcher believes that clear objectives and staying focused will keep Remploy on track.

She believes a pragmatic approach is the key to being a successful HR practitioner. She also believes that a deviation into the field pays dividends in the long run. She comments: “Having a commercial outlook is vital in HR. You need to understand not only your business as a whole but also the sector and the industry it operates within.”

About the author

Sue Butcher has been a HR professional for more than 25 years. She is currently HR Director at Remploy. Previously she worked for many years at Boots before moving into consultancy and working with Consort Medical, Nuffield Hospital, EMDA and Severn Trent. Sue Butcher can be contacted at: sue.butcher@remploy.co.uk