Meet the team - Eithne Venney, HR Support Adviser

Eithne Venney is a HR Support Adviser working on Workforce for the Future's HR Support Service - offering tailored advice for businesses via 1-2-1 sessions with HR professionals and access to a range of topical workshops. We met with Eithne to discuss her new role and how the service can help businesses in the West of England.

Tell us a bit about yourself and your career background?

I’m originally from a little fishing village in Northern Ireland and recently moved to Bristol to take up the position of HR Support Adviser in the Skills Team working on ‘Workforce for the Future’. I have worked in HR for over 15 years for a variety of organisations, including consultancies, social enterprises, international children’s charities and private equity firms. Having exposure to different organisations will certainly be of benefit in this role.

What are you most excited about in your new role? 

Meeting different businesses and getting to share knowledge and develop a wider understanding of HR practices to benefit SMEs across the West. As well as the people of course!

What help and skills support are your team able to offer businesses in the West of England? 

I specifically work on the Workforce for the Future programme, which guides organisations on how best to utilise the skills they already have in-house, as well as deep diving into what they need. HR can be a colourful pallet of information but you don’t know what you don’t know or what you may need and hopefully, that’s where I can help. Each company will have their own set of ideas and we are here to challenge them to think a little bit more creatively.

What do you think are the biggest HR challenges facing businesses at the moment? 

There are many challenges, however, two prominent challenges widely reported are ‘The Great Resignation’ and ‘Skills Shortages’. These are both very real developments since the pandemic. When an employee chooses to move on, they take with them a wealth of company knowledge, but there is also a monetary implication in replacing that person.

This can be detrimental to SMEs. Therefore, skills training, managing internal relationships, internal training and development of current staff and succession planning will help bolster businesses to overcome some of these potential problems. Not all training has to cost the earth. 

What makes HR fundamental for business growth?

Happy employees = productive employees. Aside from keeping organisations legal and offering guidance and protection to employers and employees, HR is instrumental in ensuring excellent and good practice at every stage of the employment lifecycle. This covers a range of pillars from EDI, establishing usable procedures, policies and processes, and working in partnerships with SMTs to develop skills for becoming better leaders and staff wellbeing. 

What motivates you in your day-to-day work?

Knowing that I can help companies be and do better. Each company has their unique challenges, this provides opportunities to create new ways of working - in HR no two days are the same. 

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

I’m enjoying the MANY eateries that Bristol has to offer. Luckily I also enjoy hiking, cycling and lifting heavy things which offsets the additional eating. Rugby, gigs, history and exhibitions are also up there. I think Bristol and I will be firm friends. 

The HR Support Service is fully-funded and open to SMEs in the West of England. To find out more about the service and to get in touch with the team, please visit this page.

Business West is delivering Workforce for the Future in collaboration with other partners and the West of England Combined Authority.

For more information on Workforce for the Future, please visit the West of England Growth Hub. The Growth Hub is the West of England Combined Authority’s dedicated business support service which offers free, one-to-one advice and guidance for SMEs.

The West of England Workforce for the Future programme has received £4m of funding from the European Social Fund as part of the 2014-2020 European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme in England. The Department for Work and Pensions (and in London the intermediate body Greater London Authority) is the Managing Authority for the England European Social Fund programme. Established by the European Union, the European Social Fund helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support skills development, employment and job creation, social inclusion and local community regenerations. For more information visit: https://www.gov.uk/european-growth-funding.