As a firm which places Employee Relations (ER) at our heart, we are proud of the amazing team here at esphr. That is why our current employee Q&A seeks to share a little more about each one of our colleagues.
Though our business development director Clare Gunnell’s passions for singing, football, and skiing sadly haven’t seen her destined for stardom, with a famous film star for a dog, celebrity dinner guests might be less of a problem. Read on to find out which top movie has seen Clare’s pooch grace the silver screen…
1. What’s the one thing which marks esphr out as an employer of choice?
The team and the incredibly positive and supportive culture. Whilst culture starts at the top, I think it was Henry Ford that said: ‘if everyone is moving together, then success takes care of itself’.
There’s definitely a common vision at esphr, and the whole team is motivated to achieve it in a collaborative way.
2. What would you say if you were to explain what esphr does to an alien?
We are a new-model employment law firm and employee relations technology business and we’re proud to be different!
We help HR professionals transform their ER capabilities and drive real commercial change in their organisations. As an extension of our customer’s in-house HR and ER teams, we provide integrated support services built around people, processes, and technology – all for a fixed annual subscription!
That’s a bit more ‘business speak’ than ‘alien speak’ I know, but fundamentally what we do.
3. If you could give anyone an internal award, who would it be and what would it be for?
Well, this is a really tricky question because there are so many potential candidates!
If I can only have one, then it’s going to have to be Sam Davies, head of commercial and absolute superstar! I have yet to find something she isn’t brilliant at, or a question she can’t answer. But the main reason I would give Sam the award is because she absolutely embodies everything engrained within the esphr culture of customer, team, self. Always the first to offer to help and nothing is ever an obstacle.
4. What is your funniest memory of someone in the team?
It has to be the Christmas party in 2021 – yes, we had one…and it was truly fabulous to actually ‘meet’ everyone having joined in lockdown.
We had quizzes, games, great food and probably a little too much to drink. I’m not mentioning names, but once we got into the early hours of the morning one colleague fell asleep and we played a game of ‘how much can we balance on their head’. Turns out, quite a lot…
5. What keeps the job interesting for you?
Variety is definitely the spice of life and that’s so true for work too.
I love the breadth of customers that we support and learning more about their challenges. In particular, it’s really rewarding to hear the real customer journeys, how they have been able to transition from reactive mode — firefighting operational HR headaches — to proactively prioritising projects to drive meaningful change.
6. If you hadn’t chosen/gone into the career you’re in, what other profession would you be in?
I love to sing; but sadly, just because I love it, it doesn’t mean I’m any good at it! Consequently, Adele doesn’t really need to be too concerned.
My other passions in life are football and skiing — but a lack of ability didn’t make these career options either!
7. Where do you see esphr in five years’ time?
Absolutely the go-to mid-market regulated law firm!
We have big plans, not just in terms of further enhancement of our technology platforms, but we’re growing as a team and looking at broader sectors too. But just because we’re growing, we will never lose the personalised service that we know is the cornerstone of what our clients truly value.
8. A little-known fact about you?
My dog Fred is a film star. He’s been in quite a number of films but most notably he was Cosmo Dog in the Marvel film Guardians of the Galaxy, released in 2014, and has his own ‘Fred the Dog’ IMBD page!
9. If we went into lockdown again, who would you like to be locked down with and why?
It would still be my hubby Adam, he makes me laugh every day.
Definitely my dogs, Fred and Barney, too. They are the best company and very funny. I never get tired of taking them out for walks, even when the weather’s not great — it’s a perfect way to start each day.
10. Which five celebrities (dead or alive) would you invite to a dinner party?
- Volodymyr Zelensky
- David Beckham
- Princess Margaret
- Brian Cox
- Robin Williams
