Being part of this chosen bunch, we asked them to tell us what motivates them, how they’ve impacted their workplaces, and what advice they’d give to the next generation of leaders. And there’s something we can all take from the Female Force’s insight and apply to our own lives – no matter your gender, industry or chosen career. So, in no particular order, let us introduce to you: Perkbox’s 20 Female Forces of 2020!
Laureen McHaffie
Head of Human Resources at Phyllis Court Members Club
Laureen was hired by Phyllis Court in 2017 and asked to completely refresh and renew their entire HR strategy. She’s implemented a great deal of change in that time, taking Phyllis Court to new places and continuing their success.
Emma Brierly
Human Resources Director at Royal Lancaster London
Emma draws clear boundaries between her work and home life, a lesson we can all learn. She’s also launched a number of employee initiatives which have helped have a big impact on the workplace and on employee wellbeing.
Marie Aitken
Chief People Officer at SunLife
Marie is driven into building an inclusive culture for the employees of SunLife. She’s gone to great lengths to ensure that honest feedback is collected from employees and that their responses are used to push their business forward in a positive way.
Rochelle Appleby
Founder and Owner of Red Frog for Families
Rochelle founded her own allied health clinic after taking inspiration from her son’s autism diagnosis. While founding the clinic, Rochelle also trained as a health consultant and now champions a robust wellbeing strategy at her new clinic.
Karen Beaven
Human Resources Director, Strategist & Author at The Mark Allen Group
Karen is responsible for some of HR’s most talked-about transformation projects. On a practical level, she’s a top-tier HR influencer, driven by quality and a clear commercial focus.
Stacy Schapira
UK People Director at Caffé Nero
Stacy is a real people person and has helped many get through both work and personal challenges. This is reflected in the learning and development programme she implemented at her previous organisation, Jamie Oliver Restaurant Group, which lead to a huge reduction in staff turnover.
Beverley Budd
Head of HR at Wasabi Sushi & Bento
Beverley has crafted her HR career with a strong through-line in the the food and beverages industry. A journey which has now taken her to be Head of HR at Wasabi Sushi & Bento. Beverley is an advocate of having an open and honest company culture, ensuring there is an open door policy at all times.
Berengere Lambert
Secretary General at Des Notaires Associés
Berengere has a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to the workplace. She’s cultivated her self-discipline to deal with challenges and manage teams successfully, and is a big advocate for success at work being about merit, not gender.
Lianne Baker
Group Human Resources Manager at O'Neill & Brennan
Lianne is a long time campaigner for more flexible working opportunities for working mums having experienced how this is still a struggle for many. She’s also a big advocate for mental health in the workplace, creating regular campaigns to keep colleagues talking to each other about their mental wellbeing.
Mariam Ogunbambi
Head of Card Operations at Starling Bank
Mariam has been making waves in the FinTech industry. She’s helped Starling Bank be the first bank to enable users to use Apple Pay before their physical card arrives, and has been named as a winner in the We Are Tech Women Top 50.
Paulina Harvey
HR Manager at Sahara
Paulina really loves what she does, helping her see everything as an achievement and not a sacrifice. This extends to being incredibly supportive of her colleagues, providing flexible working hours on request and being there for them when they need her most.
Susie Campbell
Founder at Hullabaloo PR
Susie is a huge advocate for flexible working. At Hullabaloo, she’s created a business which embraces working remotely and from home, allowing working mums to continue their careers without feeling like they need to sacrifice their family life.
Catherine Allen
Head of Keeping People Happy at Ella’s Kitchen
Catherine lives to push people to fulfil their potential, whether her colleagues, herself or her children. She’s championed an evolving wellbeing programme at Ella’s Kitchen which includes the training of mental first-aiders – and has seen an overwhelmingly positive response from her workforce.
Kirsty Love
Head of Childcare Operations at Sunhill Daycare
Kirsty played a big role in creating an inspirational new environment for children to learn in, with positive feedback from parents, children and staff. She is also a pioneer of giving access to benefits and wellbeing tools to staff, launching both at Sunhill Daycare – much to the delight of their employees.
Heather Brooks
Office Manager at iZettle
Heather has the envious ability of being able to stay on top of all the plates she has spinning and still be an inspiration to her colleagues. Without Heather, the iZettle office wouldn’t have the same vibrancy and culture which is unique to their business.
Andi Hirons
People Director at Brighton Grand Hotel
While balancing work and home life, Andi is incredibly active in the hospitality industry and gives her time to numerous HR communities.
Cheraine Ncube
Director of Human Resources at Sea Containers Hotel
Cheraine truly loves her job and her passion for people is obvious. She channels this into ensuring equal opportunities for all, pushing cultural awareness as a large part of her overall wellbeing strategy.
Rachel Kay
Head of HR at Ward Security
Rachel understands the importance of balancing work, family and wellbeing. She channelled this energy into developing a workplace which not only made lives better for employees but also had a big impact on customer satisfaction.
Samantha Robertson
Head of HR at Seafolly
Appreciation is a big part of Samantha’s life – even taking time to recognise her local barista. She also brings this appreciation to her colleagues, holding town hall meetings which celebrate the winners of their monthly recognition polls.
Amanda le Gros
Head of Marketing at CV-Library
Amanda is an inspirational individual. Not only does she help people develop, Amanda has also overseen a number of initiatives to improve company-wide communication which have helped to engage the workforce at CV-Library.
