Meet Helen

Hi Helen! Tell us, what’s your job role?
H: Head of People

What did you want to be when you were little?
H: When I was very young I wanted to be a footballer. Then, at school I wanted to be a magazine designer: Smash Hits was a favourite of mine, pre internet days when magazines were our social media.

Love that! What do you do at Punch?
H: My role is to lead all aspects of our people initiatives to attract and retain great talent through team engagement, and all areas of the employee lifecycle. Basically, it’s people.

What’s your favourite thing about being Head of People?
H: I really love onboarding new talent, aligning their learning and development with Punch’s strategic goals, and embedding our vision and values into our culture. All these elements create our amazing Employee Value Proposition (EVP) which is so important to me, and the success of Punch.

That sounds amazing. What do you think people know you for?
H: I love taking on new challenges and problems, and then figuring out the solution. At the start you may not always have the answers but if you fully engage in the task, it’s great to see results unfold!

You’re definitely a great problem solver. What’s been your favourite Punch project to work on?
H: Working with the Head of Operations finding a new resource planning software. We had to really engage with this one, and it took a while, but with a lot of research and setbacks we found it! It was so satisfying to see our hard work pay off and get the team on board.

Time to get personal. Where’s your favourite place in the world?
H: The Tarn in Ilkley – very peaceful and a great place to see the changing seasons.

It’s so beautiful there, Ilkley’s gorgeous. So, if you were an animal, which animal would you be?
H: A sea turtle living in the Maldives.

A great choice! What would you say your lifestyle is like?
H: I love going to the gym, running, walking, cinema, reading, and an occasional nap. I have two sons so I play a lot of basketball and Lego, I can also do 30 keepy-ups on a good day.

That’s impressive. Is there a saying you live your life by?
H: “You don’t have to see the whole staircase; just take the first step”

We’re inspired Hels!