Navigating the HR World and Building Stronger Peer Relations

Kelly Sunderland joined PEI Genesis in 2009 after being their HR consultant for a few years previously via PETA Training. After setting up the HR function from scratch for several countries he was promoted in 2015 to HR Director

What factors influenced your decision to pursue a career in HR and what led you to your current position at PEI-Genesis? 

Whilst at school at 15, I had my two weeks’ worth of work experience in an HR office, and it was very interesting with lots of different facets. When I left school, I was a buyer for six years for the Ministry of Defence and once I returned from maternity leave, a position came up in HR. I joined the HR world 27 years ago as an HR Admin Officer and was offered the opportunity to do my HR degree (CIPD) which I took. I then moved into the commercial word of HR for BAE/ Marconi, still within defence and concluded my studies and then I took on a HR Manager role in 2000 in Electronics for WK Test. From there I had various Regional HR and Training roles within electronics, food distribution and banking Including ACC Milk, Cattles Finance, Zurich Insurance and PETA Training, but my first love culturally, was always electronics. These roles gave me my first taste of looking after multi-site and multi-cultural teams in the capacity of a consultant/business partner, so adaptability to your surroundings and different cultures was key. I joined PEI Genesis in 2009 after being their HR consultant for a few years previously via PETA Training. After setting up the HR function from scratch for several countries I was promoted in 2015 to HR Director. The legal aspects of HR have always fascinated me, and I wanted to learn more. So in 2018, PEI Genesis sponsored me to do my 3-year Law Masters (LLM) which I concluded in 2021. This was a massive achievement especially as COVID happened midway through. Training was another passion of mine and several of my previous roles included training with the HR piece and in 2022, I also took on the European Training Team for PEI Genesis. This means that for the employees in Europe, they have a ‘one stop shop’ for all HR, training and employment law matters which makes perfect sense as any changes adopted can affect all three areas.      

As a European HR Employment Law and Training Director at the company, what do you consider to be the most significant challenges you face in your day-to-day operations?

Within my role, I look after several different countries and the HR and legal complexities that can bring, is immense. Especially since Brexit and the global pandemic, finding the balance of having policies and procedures that work for the business but also consider the wellbeing of all employees in a win-win scenario and must be key. Adapting to an everchanging marketplace for resources and looking after staff retention and giving them a sense of worth and fulfilment whilst understanding the commercial aspects and the business impact employment issues can have on that, whether it be compensation and benefits, wellbeing, hybrid working or taking on new technologies and having to ensure all employees have the right level of competency.         

How have you built relationships with employees and resolved disputes in multi-country, site, and cultural environments?

I have been at PEI Genesis for 14 years and have helped grow the workforce and open the offices in different countries so I understood the complexities from the beginning and hired most of the current staff, hence the relationships were forged from day one. Fairness is key and utilising the law to write policies and procedures that are fair, inclusive, have a level of empathy for all and being solution driven; mediating rather than dictating. As long as you are fair and open, relationships will remain positive. You should openly communicate and try to understand that. Whilst the PEI Genesis company culture remains the same, there are nuances for each country that need to be taken in account.   

“As long as you are fair and open, relationships will remain positive.”

In what ways have you demonstrated your ability to work in demanding environments and adapt to the ever-changing requirements of the HR field?

I guess the most recent demonstration must be COVID. Not only were we all learning as we went, we had to do this for several countries that all had different ways of doing things, different levels of furlough and payments for such things and some restructuring in different countries. We achieved this by shortening shifts and having no cross over on shifts. Equally for the office staff, they had to be at home, and this was a new way of working and developed a level of ‘trust’ but on the flip side, now things are getting back to normal. Adopting hybrid working from home and getting people to get back to the office some days a week when they had been at home for 2 years 5 days a week.  Interestingly at first there was some resistance but now a number of employees who are allowed to adapt to hybrid working are choosing to be in the office to work collaboratively. We also had to consider the operations side as they had been working on site through the pandemic and they are not in roles where they can work from home. So, we changed their shifts so that they finish early on a Friday.     

How do you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and developments in HR and employment law across Europe, and what resources do you find most valuable?

For the law element, I work with lawyers of each country we operate in, and several online forums and seminars. For the HR element I use the CIPD, local chambers of commerce (or equivalent), LinkedIn, HR platforms, and other HR forums especially when trying to implement new polices. It is good to share best practices with other HR professionals.    

What role do you see technology playing in the future of employment law services?

HRIS systems are key in running HR. As the world of work becomes more litigious and the employees become savvier due to the information that is available online, it will be important to get the balance right and ensure that the information available has the full story and not just the headline. For employment law specifically, I think it is difficult to put it all online as the nuances of each scenario/case are so different, whether it be the length of service or protected characteristics. One size does not fit all. The human element will always need to be within advising on any legal matters.