Advo’s HR & Payroll Director gives a personal insight into what makes her, and her team ‘tick’. Alison Gill has had a long, varied and successful career with experience in all areas of working with people.

“After spending more years in HR than I care to count, mostly because it would give away my age and possibly make me cry into my CIPD certificate – which may be on parchment – and I feel that I have earned my stripes navigating the ever-changing world of human resources.

I have worked in environments where the pace would give Formula 1 a run for its money: supermarkets, fashion retail, hospitality, and of course, head office, where Finance, Marketing, IT, and a myriad of other functions all battle for attention. Every business is different, but one thing has always stayed the same: people are wonderfully complex, predictably unpredictable, business strategy and direction can overnight!

Throughout my career, I’ve been everything from a standalone HR Manager at an SME to a HR leader of a large HR function, juggling recruitment, training, and responding to the “quick questions” that are never quick. One minute, I may be delivering a strategic succession plan to the Borad, the next launching reward and recognition initiatives, and by lunchtime checking financial and payroll information and then trying to decipher handwriting on interview notes that looked like ancient hieroglyphics.

HR generalist life is fast, fun, occasionally frantic, and always fulfilling. You become everything to everyone, balancing priorities and trying to tick off the bullet points on the to do list.

However, there were the pressure and stress times.  I’ve been involved in some seriously complex Employee Relations cases, senior management investigations, TUPE transfers, redundancies etc. Navigating those required not just skill and knowledge, but a diplomatic poker face, the patience of a saint, and nerves of titanium.

And oh, how I wished at times for a sounding board—a wise owl perched on my monitor to say, “Actually, that recent case law means you should probably rethink that.” But alas, employment legislation changes faster than TikTok trends, and I was too busy juggling live issues to stay constantly up to date.

As a business owner, you may think that having an internal HR team means having instant access to employment law expertise. HR professionals are brilliant, but can’t know everything, especially when they are firefighting, plate-spinning, and holding together policies with coffee and determination.

At Advo, our HR Consultants are a rare breed. We have all worked in-house, meaning we truly get it. We understand the chaos, the pressure, the ‘politics’ and the profound impact that great HR advice can have on business and emotionally. The Advo team are employment law experts but are not just reciting legislation, we are helping businesses make informed, commercial decisions with an understanding of risk, nuance, and that all-important human touch.

So if you’re in HR and feel like you’re walking the tightrope without a net, or if you’re a business trying to do the right thing without knowing what “the right thing” even is, Advo are here. Sounding board, legal translator, ER partner, and sometimes emotional support human.

And yes, we’ll keep you updated on what the courts just turned on their head. So, you don’t have to.”