Citation
Cast, A. (2014), "Andy Cast, learning and development director", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 13 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/SHR-11-2013-0106
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Andy Cast, learning and development director
Article Type: Practitioner profile From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 13, Issue 2
HR executives share their experience in human resources
Having worked as an HR professional in large blue chip companies for nearly 18 years, the decision to leave the safety and security of an in house HR department to join a growing independent HR consultancy may have been a little daunting to most, but for Andy Cast it was just another challenge to overcome.
People have always been a passion for Cast. He explains: "I honestly believe in people and their ability to better themselves, sometimes they need the right support or encouragement to do this and thats what I feel I ultimately offer as the learning and development director at Emphasis Ltd."
Experience of partnership approaches
Cast primarily gained his people experience working for Waitrose Ltd., the food shops of the John Lewis Partnership where all employees are partners in the business and have a say in how it is run. This gave him what he calls an "amazing education" in how to manage people. He comments: "In most businesses, employees are there to do as they are told; they fulfill their job description, get paid and go home. Its totally different in the partnership. For a start, as a Waitrose manager, you have to remember that everyone working under you shares in the success of the business and therefore feel more responsibility." Whilst you would think this would make managing staff easier, Cast says: "This means managers have to be able to influence and engage their teams – if they dont agree with what you are asking them to do, they will challenge you and expect you to explain your reasons and the logic behind your decisions. It might take longer and more patience, but the benefits of truly engaging your team outweigh any negatives."
Cast talks with fondness about the partnership and its ethos, often referring to the old Partnership. He says that after a few years as a partner your blood turns green (the John Lewis brand colors), and you always think and act with the partnership values at your core. He is clear that green blood still runs through his veins, even two years after leaving the company, and thinks it always will.
Working at Waitrose also gave Cast his insight into the HR sector when the company restructured the function and embraced the Ulrich model of HR Business Partnering. He is an advocate of this HR Business Partner model and sees it as key to the future success of the function, although he accepts that it needs to be flexed sufficiently to work and cannot just be applied as is. He says: "It also requires a significant cultural change from within the department and its stakeholders. Its not easy moving from being an operational HR expert to a strategic HR professional who needs to know almost as much about their stakeholders" business as they do. The best way to do this is by allowing your stakeholders to manage their business with support and leadership from you and your HR teams – through listening to what they want to do without judgment, allowing them to explore their thoughts and desires and then pointing out any possible implications, helping them to weigh up the risks and decide how they want to proceed.
Putting the fun back into employing people
Of course moving to a world of consultancy has not been straight forward and Cast has had to change his mind-set considerably. He explains: "I think the biggest challenge for me has been around the psychology of the change – the feeling that I am now selling myself and my skills almost every day to different clients and the requirement to prove my worth to win the next contract. It feels like going for a job interview every time I meet a new client."
The reality of being a consultant is certainly one where there is not a window for an off day, but he says he relishes the opportunity to influence and support so many more businesses, offering a continual challenge. "Every day is different," he says. "One day I could be talking with an HR manager about the benefits of implementing 360 degree feedback, coaching a managing director through his plans for a management development program or training a group of managers on how to give effective feedback."
One of the priorities for Cast over the coming months is to engage with as many clients as possible, reviewing their current HR strategies with them and enabling them to meet their business objectives by offering focused people development solutions. "A successful business starts and finishes with an engaged, developed and happy workforce. At Emphasis we know trying to achieve this through day to day people management can become tedious and hard work. Our business is all about helping our clients put the fun back into employing people – and what can be a better aspiration than that?"
Andy Cast
Emphasis Ltd, Romsey, UK
About the author
Andy Cast has been Learning and Development Director at Emphasis Ltd. since August 2013. He was previously a Directorate HR Business Partner for Carnival UK and prior to this worked for Waitrose and the John Lewis Partnership for 18 years in various roles, both operational and at head office. In his spare time he acts as a bereavement volunteer for Cruse Bereavement Services and a youth mentor for Young Enterprise. Andy Cast can be contacted at: http://andy@emphasis.uk.com