Up close and personal with – Claire Morley-Jones

CLAIRE Morley-Jones is founder of HR agency hr180. In the latest of TheBusinessDesk.com’s Up Close and Personal series she reveals why she loves being her own boss and why Yorkshire is the only place outside of London to set up a business.

What aspects of your job/profession do you enjoy the most?

I love my job for the same reason I love travelling – experiencing a new culture, new food (!) and new people every day! I think back to my corporate days and can appreciate more than ever that I now get to be genuine, passionate and helpful every time I go to work.

I go out and meet amazing people every day for whom our services can often make a big difference and this is has always been what inspired me, from my very first “proper” job; helping companies to achieve Investors in People. Different companies, cultures, leadership styles, processes, staff – learning from what they find easy and helping them with what they find hard. In the words of Tony the Frosties Tiger “They’re Great” and we love helping them to achieve results, whether that’s 17% increases in productivity or re-structuring in a way that reduces redundancies.

What key challenges do you anticipate will affect your sector/profession over the next six months?

Everyone is going through tough times at the moment. Even if your business is still doing very well there are questions – millions of them. Should I reduce headcount, should I recruit, should I invest in training to be geared up ready for recovery? Etc, etc.

The issues for the next six to 12 months will focus on employee retention and engagement. Many of the initiatives that would assist in meeting these challenges are currently on hold because of uncertainty and ambiguity and yet, they could be a company’s saving grace.

Even smaller organisations will need to identify, and make sure they fully engage with, their top talent who will be pre-occupied with a number of personal and work concerns. Employees will remember how they have been treated and as soon as the market picks up and if it hasn’t been well – they’ll walk! There is an opportunity here for line managers to really gain the buy-in of key staff by providing them with many of the things that are free in life – career progression, career development and ways of giving and receiving feedback. None of these have to cost money – job sharing, job shadowing, taking on projects to increase responsibility etc. will keep employees motivated and engaged!

What key skills do you think every entrepreneur should have?

A vision for what you want to achieve and the drive, ambition and determination to push forwards and achieve that vision. A good dose of dynamism and a fresh, new outlook also helps.

Why do you think Yorkshire is a good place to start up/operate a business?

Despite originally being from southern England, I decided to set up my business in Yorkshire after I moved here five years ago. Yorkshire was the logical place to set up a business. As the second financial centre outside London, with a GDP big enough to rank alongside the top 20% of the world’s economies and 300,000 businesses, it seemed a logical place to base my business from and I felt there would be plenty of work for those dedicated to finding it.

There were also some operational considerations – in Yorkshire, operating costs are up to 20% less than the UK average, salaries are about 7% less and innovation is encouraged by those running the region. From a personal point of view, the region is steeped in culture, I can live in the country but be in Leeds, Harrogate or York within 30 minutes. Yorkshire really is God’s own county with moors, dales and heritage coast galore! Also, being someone with a penchant for opening my mouth, calling a spade and spade and having a positive outlook – I feel I fit into Yorkshire perfectly!

If you could improve anything in the region what would it be?

The funding and support available for start-ups. When I launched hr180 I didn’t qualify for many grants because of things like not being in the right postcode. Even though many constraints like these have been addressed by Business Link Yorkshire and there are now many more funding opportunities, there is still a lot that can be done to provide more support for those starting out.

Do you think that red tape is hindering business growth in the UK?

In a nutshell… yes. We all know this – anyone with even the tiniest bit of common sense knows this – so why do the powers that be just keep making it worse? In my industry, HR is seen as one of the worst offenders – not surprising when the law says there’s no need to follow a set process, then it turns around and says there is with tribunal claims and awards as a consequence.

hr180 was set up to do HR differently. Of course, we still work within the law but we also deliver truly commercial advice and work on the solutions that are the most effective despite the red tape. Most importantly, we provide stress relief from it.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

Make sure you make time for yourself and don’t feel guilty whenever you are away from the office. If only I had listened! Three years later, however, I am finally not working weekends and trying desperately to work less than 60 hours a week and the biggest miracle of all is that I’ve been more productive, more creative and a better person for my poor husband and dog to live with!

And the worst?

I was told by a male competitor to not bother setting up my business, as I would “never crack the market” as he had it “all sewn up” and that I should come and work for him as an associate…… enough said!

What barriers have you had to overcome in growing your business/developing your career, and if any, can you explain how you overcame them.

I have to say that, so far in my career, there have not been any of the barriers I was expecting. I have never been held back because I was a woman, I have never experienced direct discrimination and I’ve never made any serious mistakes.

Instead, my barriers (where there have been some) have been as a result of my entrepreneurial nature, my directly spoken approach and my desire to deliver the greatest client experience I, and my team, can. For one particular employer (who shall remain nameless) these factors contributed to the building of a brick wall so high, I could never have broken it down. So, instead, I set up my own business where I had the freedom to build a team who embraced change, saw mistakes as learning opportunities, could be outspoken and have an opinion on anything and would deliver the highest quality HR advice. And sometimes, that is exactly what you need to do – have faith in your convictions, your values and your gut and do your own thing!

What was your first job and what did you spend your first wage packet on?

My first wage packet came at the age of 14 when I worked in the exceptionally glamorous role of kitchen assistant in my local leisure centre, with a bunch of 50 year old women who were very interested in the Chippendales. I would guess that my first £24 (no minimum wage then!) would have been spent on some amazing smelling shampoo to wash the smell of chip fat out of my hair.

If you could choose to start your career over again would you do anything different and if so what?

I would have forced my parents to allow me to go to stage school. Aged 12, I begged, pleaded and was good (for a whole week at least) but to no avail.

In reality though, I wouldn’t have done anything differently. Ever since accepting my first job in HR, I knew that I wanted to set up my own business. As a consequence I chose a career path which gave me as much experience as possible in a wide a range of sectors, giving me the confidence and knowledge to launch hr180.