Cathryn joined Insight as a Consultant in October 2003 and has over 20 years experience as an HR practitioner. She is a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and is qualified to Level A & B in Occupational Testing (BPS).
She initially developed her HR career within the private sector as a generalist working in professional services organisations. Her experience has included involvement with mergers & acquisitions, undertaking associated due diligence and advising on TUPE implications; employee relations and communication; policy development and implementation; recruitment of highly skilled technical specialists as well as managing graduate recruitment & training; together with the general interpretation and application of all aspects of employment law in a pragmatic way that meets legislative requirements whilst also supporting the needs of the business.
Cathryn has worked in a variety of sectors in both HR and other roles, including James Hull Associates (corporate dental body), Buzzacott & Co (chartered accountants), Denton Hall (solicitors – now part of SNR Denton), Royds Advertising (now part of McCann Erickson), ICI Pharmaceuticals and General Accident (now part of Aviva).
With Insight HR she has developed expertise in strategic reward and works extensively on such projects. Working with Executive Teams and Boards she has developed reward structures that support the strategic objectives of the organisation in a way which is affordable, legally compliant and understood by both the Executive and employees alike. Her remit covers, amongst other things, salary and benefits benchmarking at all organisational levels, including advising on Executive and Board Member pay; design of pay structures, including costing and assimilation analysis to enable affordable implementation; design and implementation of job evaluation schemes, either as a standalone project or as part of a wider strategic review of the reward offering; and undertaking of equal pay audits to assess the level of risk an organisation may be exposed to with regard to equal pay claims, with appropriate advice on managing and mitigating any risks identified. She leads on an annual benchmarking survey of pay, benefits and performance indicators undertaken on behalf of a group of clients.
Cathryn also continues to provide a range of other HR advice and support to clients including design and facilitation of recruitment assessment centres; conducting employee climate surveys to gauge the well-being of an organisation; development of competency frameworks; review of employee handbooks and associated policies and procedures; undertaking audits of the HR function to determine the extent of compliance and ‘fit for purpose’; and on-going support to a number of our retained Synergy clients either on generalist HR matters or specialist reward support.
Her professionalism, attention to detail and analytical approach ensures that she is able to fully understand and challenge client objectives to ensure that projects are delivered on time, get the support and buy in from relevant stakeholders and deliver what the organisation is seeking to achieve.