Emma Brierly
Human Resources Director at Royal Lancaster London
Why we chose Emma
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.
What’s your ‘why’? How do you balance work and life responsibilities to fulfil it?
This has always been a difficult one – for me, it’s all about choices. For example, by going into work slightly earlier, I can organise myself and prepare for the working day. I also make sure I always leave work on time and use my commute to finish off any work emails before the next day. This means that when I’m at home, I’m at home and very strict with myself when it comes to checking emails (although sometimes that can be inevitable working in HR).
Can you explain an initiative you've implemented that has made an impact in your workplace?
Launching Perkbox last October has really made an impact on our team. After looking at responses to an engagement survey we carried out, it was clear our employee benefits offering didn’t resonate with them.
So we decided to implement Perkbox, which has had a significant impact on our workplace – namely that the team love and use it regularly. Perkbox Medical has also made a positive impact on the running of the business day to day, as it allows our employees to easily speak with a medical professional
As a female leader, what have been the most significant barriers in your career?
For me, gender hasn’t come into it. I have to say I feel extremely lucky in that I haven’t found any major barriers along the way in my career as a female leader. In my experience, fairness and transparency have prevailed.
What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?
Remember that you’re leading people with feelings and lives, it’s always important to remember who they are. From my experience, it’s also important to value your team around you for everything they do. If you support them, they will support you back.