I joined Beyondly (then Comply Direct) in 2018 when the company had just 18 employees. Although there wasn’t an immediate need for an HR assistant, it was clear the business was growing and would require HR support in the future. I started as an Admin Assistant, supporting various areas of the business while developing my HR knowledge. As the team expanded, I took on opportunities like shadowing interviews and drafting policy updates, which helped me build skills and take on more HR responsibilities. I later recognised that completing a CIPD course was essential for progressing within HR, both internally at Beyondly and externally if I were to move on. Throughout this time, my managers were supportive, and regular performance reviews helped me set and achieve development goals.
Confidence – my role as Talent and Culture Manager required me to regularly speak publicly in situations such as delivering training sessions for the team, speaking at schools about career development or presenting at awards events. Public speaking wasn’t something I felt comfortable with initially but my confidence increased the more I was exposed to it.
Adaptability – Beyondly is a fast-paced working environment and I worked at the company whilst it went through a lot of change. Being adaptable is a key skill for being a HR generalist because the role involves so much variety and requires you to jump between tasks, priorities and to support with change.
Problem solving – being involved in leading on KPI’s, taskforces and supporting managers with decision making. I learned to assess situations, consider different perspectives and identify outcomes that aligned with business needs and employee wellbeing.
Shadowing difficult meetings and conversations, understanding how to approach these meetings with fairness and consistency.
Asking for feedback and acting on it. As much as no one likes receiving constructive feedback it’s so helpful to understand where you can improve, and it’s useful to get someone with more experience to pass on their learnings to you.
I took part in a secondment to Uniserve to spend time with a larger HR team which was useful to learn about how they addressed the areas of work that I didn’t get as much exposure to at Beyondly, such as casework/ employee relations.
To develop, you have to be willing to try new things, accept mistakes, and learn from them. Don’t use your performance reviews as a tick box exercise, instead set meaningful goals that support both your current role and future growth, such as learning new skills or starting a qualification. It’s also okay to feel content in your current role, you don’t always have to be striving to progress to the next thing. You can be happy in what you’re doing now too!
