In Your Shoes - Caroline Rochford

Adaptable

Very unusually I am in the office which is fantastic as I can catch up with the dreaded admin and hence today is a very varied day!
As a business owner you learn to be adaptable in not only being able to advise on your own area of expertise but also acting as your own Accountant, Marketing Advisor, IT support etc all of which I’ve used today.

This evening was spent in my capacity as Vice President of St Andrews Business Club at the combined event with the University of St Andrews Enterprise group helping to host a fantastic networking evening with entrepreneurs: Chris van der Kuyl, Lizzie Brough, Sam Trett and Jen Munro. Really encouraging not only to hear their business stories and tips, but to meet some of the enterprising students. Inspiring!

Supportive

This morning is spent with my PA, Emma-Jane Kerr, planning some web content, social media and discussing ongoing support she is providing with regards employee handbook edits and updates. We finish the meeting down the garden picking apples and having a blether over a cuppa and BLT!

Later, I am supporting a client with a particularly difficult absence problem – well more than one – which will involve a referral to Occupational Health as well as formal meetings with staff. The manager is very new to all of this and is grateful to now have someone to guide her through all that lies ahead! A happy client and I’m just delighted to be able to support a manager, and therefore employees, in such difficult circumstances.

Reading fun!

Today I’m in Forfar working on site with a client – the charity ANGUSAlive – with whom I work on a more regular basis. First thing I have a catch-up meeting with one of the managers and then have a meeting with Kirsty Hunter, Chief Executive. I am assisting them as part of an organisational change process they are currently going through. Apart from reading about pirates (!) following International Pirate Day recently, in their Library-themed meeting room, Kirsty and I worked together to progress a number of key areas within this project.

Later on, after quickly catching up with emails and rescheduling diary commitments, I went to the International Café in Cupar. Held monthly, it is a fantastic opportunity for people from around the world to meet others locally, enjoy international flavours of food, and just have a great time together. Tonight we are hearing from friends, Jane and Alie, who have just returned from an amazing trip to Lesotho.

Challenging!

Today was challenging because I left my mobile phone at home and my world was turned upside down! However, great support from the lovely HR team (Lisa McGrotty, Ross Manning and Linzi Rintoul), shown here, at Fife Cultural Trust (FCT) helped calm me down and we had a very productive day together.

I have been working with the Trust for five years on and off, providing additional HR project support as and when needed. Today I have been working on job evaluations, advising on some specific HR queries and policies, and generally keeping up to date with some of the changes within the service.
This evening I am relaxing with friends at our house group and enjoying fellowship with one another. And breathe …..!

seasonal

Today starts, as every day starts, with a dog walk and yoga! It wakes me up, gives me thinking time and then I’m ready to go! After a quick trip to get my winter tyres put on, I’m back in the office with a phone call to discuss speakers at a forthcoming inspiring women event.

Later, I’m working on a staff handbook for a new client in Cambridgeshire; reviewing volunteer policies for a UK-wide charity; and doing some knowledge development via a webinar and podcasts which will help me with my blog content later today.

As it’s International Egg Day, I keep my chickens sweet with some tasty potato peelings which they love! And I am rewarded with delicious, healthy eggs.

It’s all in a day’s work for an HR consultant!