Donna Gibb recently joined the Involve HR team as our new HR Director, bringing a wealth of expertise and career experience to this important role. We caught up with Donna for a brief Q&A to find out more about her career and what Involve HR can bring to client businesses.
Quensh: You’ve joined Involve HR as our new HR Director — what are the key responsibilities and priorities of your new role?
Donna: I have joined in a senior leadership role working with a fabulous team of HR professionals. Having been founded by Gillian Tierney and Emma Barker in 2009, Involve HR has continued to grow over the years.
Now part of Quensh Specialists Ltd, we have ambitions to further grow our client portfolio not only in the North East of Scotland, but across the UK, while continuing to build upon our range of HR services. I’ve already seen in my short time here how well both the Quensh HSEQ and Involve HR joint service offerings complement each other, providing clients with pragmatic solutions from one established consultancy.
A key focus of my role is to build upon our existing profile and reputation by showcasing our breadth and depth of expertise across the range of HR activities. We offer support across industry and sector for businesses at all stages of development. We’re a collaborative team, invested in our clients and passionate about their people requirements to help them achieve their business aspirations.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about your career to date?
D: My career has been based in HR consultancy, with a few years in private industry too. I spent 18 years in my previous role, starting at what was a small HR & HSEQ consultancy which grew significantly. I led a team of 45 HR professionals based throughout the UK; laterally in the central belt of Scotland and London, areas in which we as a company are continuing to grow.
Taking on this role with Involve HR is my ‘next chapter’ — supporting the team as we continue to build our client portfolio and extend our service proposition.
Q: What attracted you to Quensh / Involve HR as a career move?
D: I’ve always had a passion for supporting SMEs, learning about different business models and sharing HR trends and initiatives across industry. I was equally attracted to working with a skilled team of like-minded HR professionals who are supporting numerous clients across sector and industry throughout the UK.
Hearing about the company’s growth plans, through strengthening relationships with existing clients and taking the opportunity to help bring new business, it’s exciting to play a part in the journey.
Q: What kinds of HR services / packages do we offer to clients?
D: Involve HR offer wide ranging HR services with flexible contract options. From our interim HR service (onsite or virtual), retained HR service offering a monthly bank of hours, project work, start up packages as well as HR and management training.
We can offer a fully outsourced HR model or be an extension to an in house HR team. We can be as hands-on or ‘light touch’ as business requires and we’re agile to change the shape of our services as our clients’ businesses evolve and grow.
“Workplace culture and line management expertise has a huge impact on an employer’s brand.”
Q: Do you have any golden advice for anyone looking to pursue a career in HR?
D: It’s an amazing career to pursue — there is such a breadth of different activities and specialisms. Since the pandemic, the world of work has changed completely, businesses are much more switched on to the value HR professionals can bring to their business. We’ve all seen examples of businesses with a less than positive workplace culture, impacting significantly on their bottom line.
Within the workforce, there’s so much competition for talent — without attracting and retaining the right people, any business will struggle to grow and meet their business plans. Workplace culture and line management expertise has a huge impact on an employer’s brand.
Q: What do you like to do when you’re not working?
D: I love spending time outdoors walking with friends and dogs — running too, but only in fair weather conditions!
