HR Professional of the Month

We're delighted that our Managing Director, Alan Kitto has been named as the HR Inner Circle's HR Professional of the Month.

The following interview with Alan was published in the latest edition:

What is your biggest career success?

I'm very proud of the fact that I've been the HR Director for several multi-national companies but I'm more proud of the fact that I've been successfully running PulseHR for the last twelve years and now have someone working with me who can carry on the legacy.

What was your worst day as an HR Professional?

In December 2002 I was facing the prospect of having to make 1,200 people redundant just a few weeks before Christmas, after the company I was working for went into administration. Fortunately, a buyer was found at the last minute and everyone kept their jobs and I was spared the dreadful deed.

What is the hardest thing to deal with in your job?

The majority of our customers are growing SMEs and we're often faced with having to advise business owners that people who have helped them to develop their businesses are now the reason why their business isn't developing as well as it might.

What is your main goal for the next twelve months?

After more than twelve years of working on my own, in February 2015 I decided to employ Bevan, someone with all of the right qualities but no prior HR experience. My goal over the next year is to give him the knowledge and support that he needs to develop into a rounded HR professional.

If you weren't in HR, what would your ideal career be?

It's really hard for me to imagine not being in HR, I don't see it as a job but more a paid hobby. That said, I've been a Samaritans volunteer for the last twelve years and am very interested in emotional health and wellbeing so would perhaps look to be a psychologist or a counsellor.

What's the biggest challenge facing HR practitioners at the moment and how would you solve it?

I think that stress in the workplace is one of the biggest current challenges, not only dealing with genuine cases properly and professionally but also dealing with situations where 'stress' is misused in an attempt to prevent managers from managing. I feel the solution lies in more decisive action by HR professionals based on a better understanding of the subject.

Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

In ten years I very much hope that I'll be doing the same thing as I am now, albeit maybe a little less of it. I'd be very keen to teach or mentor budding HR professionals if I had the chance to.

What's your secret talent?

I can do the Rubik's cube

What's your favourite book?

The Chimp Paradox, A Guide to Mind Management by Steve Peters

What's your favourite film?

Good Will Hunting

What would be your ideal three people to meet at a dinner party?

Robin Williams, Eddie Izzard and Stephen Fry