{"id":875,"date":"2021-06-24T10:36:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-24T10:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frazerjones.com\/?p=875"},"modified":"2023-09-26T14:09:01","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T14:09:01","slug":"perspectives-from-interim-hr-leaders-sarah-bullock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frazerjones.com\/de\/markteinblicke\/perspectives-from-interim-hr-leaders-sarah-bullock\/","title":{"rendered":"Perspectives from Interim HR Leaders: Sarah Bullock"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sarah Bullock<\/a> is a professional interim HR consultant specialising in change and OD, talent management, leadership development, and diversity and inclusion. She has global, multi-sector experience and a track record of working with senior and frontline teams to deliver change in Energy, FMCG, Retail, Leisure, Financial Services and Transport\/Logistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is also a member of the HR Interim Networking LinkedIn Group<\/a>, a community for people consultants, coaches and interims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, we talk to her about her career to understand what it\u2019s like being a professional interim consultant, how she got into it, and what lessons she has learnt over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah, tell us about your story. What prompted the move into working as a professional interim consultant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The reasons for me were two-fold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A growing recognition in myself that what I most relished about work was joining and learning about new organisations, building relationships fast, and working on programmes which required pace and delivered tangible results fast. I found, even in organisations where I was really happy and challenged, that I was getting \u2018bored\u2019 after 2-3 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, preparing to return to a full-on HR Director role after a year\u2019s maternity leave, I had a hunch that it was going to be easier to have control over when, where and how I worked if I was an independent consultant. So flexibility was a big draw for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you first get into interim consulting?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was actually a lucky break \u2013 a headhunter put my details forward speculatively for an interim assignment, and I was successful. This then led on to two other assignments in different organisations, through contacts that I\u2019d made on that first assignment. This really underlined for me how important developing and maintaining your network is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why would an organisation typically engage with your services?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I like to think it\u2019s due to breadth and depth of experience I have.  I\u2019ve covered both generalist and specialist roles in a range of sectors, which helps me flex my expertise to specifically what the client needs. This does make it a bit hard to \u2018label\u2019 me \u2013 but I love the variety of opportunity it creates. I\u2019m conscious that many successful interims develop a real \u2018spike\u2019 or specialism in a particular area \u2013 so this is another option for potential interims to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In your opinion, what are the differences between being a permanent employee and an interim consultant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I think you need to comfortable with the inherent instability of having to go out and find your own work \u2013 rather than getting a regular salary and company benefits. The upside for me is the exhilaration I get from meeting new people, working on new projects and learning about new organisations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n