Logging On With….Inji Duducu of CPP

INJI Duducu is HR director of York-based customer assistance specialist CPP Group.

CPP offers life assistance products that help consumers in difficult circumstances such as losing wallets, mobile phones and keys and the group employs 1,900 people.

Describe yourself in a Tweet, (no more than 140 characters)

I am Turkish, so I am shouty, very loyal and love feeding people.

What are your career highlights?

Apart from my current job, my lucky break was landing my first management board role aged 25 as the HR Manager of Halifax Financial Services. I have also been lucky enough to work with some amazing people who have been generous with their time and expertise.

What’s on your iPod?

Lots of fairly mainstream music for me, plus all my son’s music as he likes to listen to it on my iPod because it’s is red. I also have my “Teach Yourself Spanish with Michele Thomas” CDs because we are international business. My colleagues in Madrid are very supportive of my slaughtering of their language!

What has been your favourite/worst job?

My favourite job is being a mum! The best bit of my paid job is talking to our colleagues who serve our customers, hearing what they’re passionate about and what frustrates them, and having the chance to make it better.

Worst job (actually, parts of parenting a pretty grim) was when I worked in a butcher’s shop, and on Wednesdays I had to skin the hams. On a bad day I often think to myself “at least I’m not up to my elbows in ham fat”.

Who is your ideal dinner guest or which public figure do you admire most and why?

This is a bit saccharine, but I never really knew my grandparents. As I get older, I realise what I missed out on. I would love the chance to talk to them about their lives as they lived through really interesting times – the Great Depression and WWII in America and the breakup of the Ottoman Empire and creation of the Turkish Republic.

Are you worth what you’re paid? Why?

Every penny. There’s a real lack of individuals with people and organisational expertise who understand how to effect change and make a commercial difference, so supply and demand means I’m a bargain!

What has been your biggest business mistake/achievement?

Achievements range from saving 2,000 jobs from being off-shored by improving efficiency, getting 100% of people saying they were proud to work for the company, and (a very personal one) helping a young girl who was being forced into a marriage to disappear. Mistakes? Lots, but I always learn from them.

What is your pet peeve both in and out of work?

People who are rude – manners cost nothing. Oh, and people who say “pacific” instead of “specific”, but I’m never rude to them! 

Who has had the biggest influence on your career?

I am what I am today because of many talented and generous people. Probably the single biggest impact was by the woman I first worked for in HR, called Anne Knell. I learned so much from her and she set me on this career.

What do you enjoy most and least about your role?

I love that I can make a difference – both at an organisational level and to individuals. I also love leading and developing my team, it is a pleasure and a privilege. I least enjoy making people redundant – it’s one of the worst things you ever have to do as a manager.

What’s the key to managing people?

Listen, treat them as individuals, praise lavishly and take exception in a caring way.

What are the biggest barriers to your organisation’s success?

Like most organisations, we never have a surplus of good people.

What would make Yorkshire an even better place to live and work?

I love Yorkshire, but having a slightly warmer climate here would be perfect.

If you weren’t doing what you’re doing now, what alternative career would you choose and why?

I genuinely love what I do, but I sometimes have a daydream about running a bakery. It’s that urge to feed people coming through!