Head of HR UK, eCapital - 'This is the most positive culture I've ever worked in'

Camilla Woodrow is highly disciplined. The alarm goes off at 5am, she does a workout, then heads to the office. It's a strength she's aware of. "I do know that I have a higher level of discipline than many people," she tells me. That drive has taken her up through the HR ranks, and today she is in her sweet spot, heading up HR for a business on a growth trajectory. It's where she is happiest.

The graduate graveyard

It began at the University of Reading, where she studied politics and international relations, graduating in 1997, the year the first Harry Potter book hit the shelves and Princess Diana died.

"I joined Prudential Insurance in their call centre. It was a temporary job. We used to laugh that it was the 'graduate graveyard', because everyone at Reading did a stint at the Pru call centre," she smiles.

Read more from us

Big Interview | Director of People, Lime FMS 'We built a welfare hub to support a 96.5% female workforce'

It wasn't just a rite of passage. It led to Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM), later acquired by Premier Foods. "I was taken on as a customer care team leader. The business sold big brands including McDougall's flour, Sharwood's and Bisto. I ran their customer care line."

From there she moved into HR. "This is the point where I got extremely lucky. Circumstances just conspired in my favour. I got on really well with the HR manager, and when her HR advisor left I asked her if she'd take a risk on me doing it. She said yes."

The bet paid off. While in the role she completed her CIPD Level 7, and when the boss who had taken her on left, she took her place. "I was only 24. I remember her saying to me, the MD doesn't need to replace me, you can do it."

That faith wasn't misplaced. "I was so lucky to get that level of exposure so young. I wasn't on the board, but the senior team were the closest I had to peers. I attended the board meeting where I presented the people metrics, and I got really good at understanding the profit and loss, the balance sheet and cash flow. It was where I cut my teeth."

The importance of an early mentor

With the buyout, Premier Foods centralised its functions and Woodrow was seconded to the Marlow office to cover the divisional HRD role, until an HR Director was hired.

While there she was taken under the wings of Sue Malti, "She had a lot of retail experience and I learned so much from her. She was such a character, she'd worked for M&S for 25 years. I told her I was on secondment and had to go back to my role in Reading, and she turned to me and said, 'Oh no you don't, darling. You'll be staying here and working alongside me.'" That is exactly what Woodrow did.

The role spanned HR policy, process and L&D across a division of nine operating businesses. "It was a huge amount of involvement in HR infrastructure, but more valuable than that was what Sue taught me."

"She'd invite me to the executive meetings and I was always stunned by the simple approach she took, and how connected she was to the business. She understood them inside out, but she'd also sit at the board table, cut into conversations and explain an issue in a couple of sentences. With that approach, she was able to get the managing directors on board”

That lesson has stuck. "HR can be guilty of overcomplicating and over-processing. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the process that we forget about the outcome."