Steve Bevan, European HR director

Citation

Bevan, S. (2011), "Steve Bevan, European HR director", Strategic HR Review, Vol. 10 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/shr.2011.37210aab.001

Steve Bevan, European HR director

Article Type: Practitioner profile From: Strategic HR Review, Volume 10, Issue 1

HR executives share their experience in human resources

Steve Bevan, European HR director at A.T. Kearney, the global strategy consulting firm, caught the HR bug while studying business studies at the University of Plymouth, which led him to do a postgraduate diploma in personnel management at the University of Kingston. After university, Bevan learned the HR trade while working in the public sector at Brent Health Authority, where his main focus was employee relations. He then worked at a variety of organisations including the Financial Times, Coopers & Lybrand and Fujitsu Consulting, as well as a dot com start-up, before moving to A.T. Kearney Ltd in 2002.

Main qualities needed for HR

Bevan’s HR experiences have led him to conclude that in order to be a good HR practitioner you need to have a good business head. He comments: “This allows you to have the requisite commercial nous to provide business advice and see issues from a commercial point of view. Most importantly, HR professionals should be part of the organisation’s leadership team and not separate to it. This helps in understanding all aspects of the business. A silo mentality is simply not an option”.

Bevan maintains that relationships are vital. Being a good networker and having a good understanding of people of all different backgrounds is essential. He adds that “a good sense of humour helps too in HR on occasions”.

Embedding diversity and inclusion

In this day and age, diversity is a word that is on many people’s lips, but is not something that is always understood in terms of being a commercial imperative. However, it is something all businesses, both large and small, must endorse. A key focus recently of Bevan’s work has been, and will continue to be, embedding diversity and inclusion values to strengthen the A.T. Kearney value proposition. At A.T. Kearney, building a business case that articulates how a diverse workforce and inclusive environment are critical to the success of the firm is essential in order to then develop a global, coordinated strategy for both the long and short-term improvement of the organisation.

Bevan explains: “Our clients are diverse. Understanding diversity will mean that we will better understand clients’ needs and enhance relationships, as well as build brand equity and client loyalty. Also, leveraging our diversity will enable us to achieve breakthrough ideas, improved innovation and efficient problem-solving. Most importantly, ensuring our behaviour supports a diverse workforce with a culture of inclusion will improve employee productivity, engagement and team unity”.

Engaging employees through change

During his time at A.T. Kearney, Bevan has worked on several initiatives to improve employee engagement, which is particularly important, as he has seen the company go through an MBO and associated change of structure. A.T. Kearney uses employee awards as a means of motivating and engaging its people, by linking the awards to its strategy and heritage. The awards are for a variety of achievements, such as great client work and thought leadership, and also include the “Spirit of A.T. Kearney Award”. Bevan explains: “This awards a staff member who embodies the values espoused by Tom Kearney, our founder – a resourceful and positive approach, objectivity, discretion, intellectual honesty, humility and team work”.

In April 2009, Bevan introduced an online survey called the “employee barometer”, designed to keep in touch with employee views and needs. Taken on an anonymous basis, this monthly survey acts as a pulse check and measures how employees feel about various issues, such as their work/life balance, their morale and motivation and how they feel about their managers.

Bevan believes HR professionals need to keep in touch – both internally and externally. He comments: “In HR it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse, and also to keep up-to-date with business issues, both within your organisation and in the wider world. Most importantly, trust your instincts and believe that you can add value to the organisation”.

Steve BevanEuropean HR Director at A.T. Kearney.

About Steve Bevan

Steve Bevan joined A.T. Kearney in March 2002 and is European HR Director and a UK board member. He has worked in HR-related roles since 1983. Prior to A.T. Kearney, he was European HR Director at start-up company PeoplePC and European HR Director for DMR Consulting (part of Fujitsu Consulting). He is a Chartered Fellow of the Institute of Personnel and Development and has a Postgraduate Diploma in Personnel Management. Steve Bevan can be contacted at: enquires@rostrumpr.com