Morning - 5:50am

I’m an early bird so [my] alarm goes off and I am up. Most weekday mornings I then go for a run, normally around five miles. I find it sets me up for the day but also helps clear the fog and get the brain in a good place. I also [ran a] half marathon in April for charity so [needed] to get the training in.

7am

[I] wake the family [up] and its breakfast time and packed lunches for school. [At around 7:30am], I check the emails that have come in overnight and clear down any that are simple to deal with or what I call a “one and done”. The business is 24/7 so it's not unusual for the operational managers to send emails throughout the night for advice or follow up.

8:30am

[I do] the school drop off then drive to the station and get the train into work. My stop is the second on the line so [I] always get a seat and with Wi-Fi means I can start the day’s work remotely. I tend to work three days a week in the office or visiting venues and then two days a week from home. The pandemic did a fantastic job of forcing companies to be more agile with the way their corporate and office functions work. So now having the flexibility to travel in off peak means easier journeys, less stress at start of the day and greater availability for the internal customers as I tend to shift my working day. I like the mix of office and home. Office work brings normality after two years of on/off homeworking. It structures the week and stops the home being turned into a permanent place of work. But I like the ability to work from home as it provides opportunity for work-life balance.

10:30am

[Once I’ve] settled into the office, [I] start the formal days’ work. First, [I] fill up on coffee and snacks. [I] try to stick with the complimentary fruit but, if its Friday, then maybe the odd choc biscuit or two.

11am

[It’s time for a] team catch-up. We do this as a whole team every week. Some are in the office and some may be remote or working from home so we use Teams. It’s a quick round table to see what hangovers (as in unfinished tasks) from the previous week people still have or need help with, and then a quick discussion about what objectives we all have that we need to complete this current week. [It] helps people keep informed but also [gives] the opportunity to understand and support each other if required.

11:30am

[It’s] time to catch up with my HR Business Partner and discuss the ongoing cases he is managing or new issues he is spotting on the horizon. Today we spent a good hour talking about the challenges of trying to hire entry-level workers and the current workplace absence issues we face. Since both Brexit and the pandemic, there is a real shortage of candidates, and many hospitality companies are fighting over the same pool. We agree we need to change where we source candidates from and how we can attract them. Our other challenge is our 24/7 shift pattern but standard pay rates. We tackle this through the non-pay elements promoting the benefits of working for us, what we can do for candidates and the additional support with health and wellbeing we provide, which is such a priority nowadays.

1pm

Another catch-up Teams call, this time with my Egyptian HR Director. [I’m] excited to hear the progress she has made introducing both performance and team coaching. Plus, big congratulations as she has now become a certified coach herself, so good for her and our company. Also feels like we are influencing the culture over there which can sometime be a little traditional in terms of roles, gender, and the acceptance of such initiatives.