The HR Consultants
Being a HR expert was second nature to Charlotte Pitts, founder of The HR Consultants, a Stratford-upon-Avon based HR consultancy business – but, like so many business owners, Charlotte knew that she needed to develop her business skills and acumen to ensure the business could grow.
When she met the team at ActionCOACH Warwick – just as she was starting out – business coach Kevin Riley stood out right away. Waiting for the right moment, Charlotte reached out to the team after establishing her business in the area – just as she was on the cusp of taking on her first member of staff.
Charlotte used her experience and expertise of the industry to launch her own HR consultancy in 2019, providing outsourced HR support to small businesses who needed that extra HR helping hand. “When I started in 2019, it was just me and I only really worked with local companies, but I knew with the right tools I could grow the business.
“I knew Lizzie, one of the team at ActionCOACH Warwick, quite well and she encouraged me to come to a workshop just after I’d launched the business, which is where I met Kevin for the first time.”
Charlotte was impressed with Kevin’s knowledge and knew straight away he would add value to her business through coaching. For Charlotte, waiting for the right moment was key. “I wanted to establish myself first – build relationships with my clients and see if I could expand the team.
“I was a little hesitant about being coached to begin with, but looking back now, I think I was apprehensive about someone coming in to shine a light on the tasks I was putting off. A year or so later, towards the end of 2020, I attended a free session from the team, who were helping businesses through the pandemic. It was around the same time I was bringing in my first member of staff, so decided it was the perfect time to start working with Kevin.”
Putting in place strong business structure and procedures was first on the agenda for Charlotte. “I didn’t know what I didn’t know when it came to running my own business. Kevin set me on the right path to plan for what I wanted to achieve and then, most importantly, make sure I was acting on it.
“One of the big things we went through was being more ambitious with my targets. The goals I was setting previously were easily achievable, so I knew I wouldn’t have the stress of not meeting them. Kevin encouraged me to be more aspirational – my mindset shifted to believe it’s better to just miss a substantial target rather than easily achieve a more manageable one.”
Changing her goal-setting approach from achievable to aspirational was not the only mindset shift she worked on with Kevin. “I needed the confidence to move away from being a HR expert that runs a business to being a business owner of a HR consultancy. It seems a small change, but it did make me feel a lot more at home in that environment. We worked on how to better react to the day-to-day tasks and challenges a business owner would face, which really helped me become more emotionally prepared when those issues did arise. Knowing Kevin had experienced these before was a big help to me too.”
Charlotte feels her business has matured significantly in the time working with Kevin and ActionCOACH Warwick. The HR Consultants is now made up of a team of 12, working with companies located across the UK.
“The biggest thing for me to show how we’ve ‘grown up’ as a business is we’ve just moved into a new office. We’ve had offices before, but this feels a lot more permanent – I had to speak to a solicitor to finalise the lease, for example. It’s certainly a big change from when it was just me working with a handful of local clients!”
Kevin now coaches another member of the team, Jenny. “They work together on the business development and sales side of things. Jenny is and was excellent at that, but since working with Kevin, she’s really honed her expertise and is adding so much more to the business. We’ve now got 40-45 clients alongside doing ad-hoc projects too – I think those numbers say a lot about the work Kevin has done with us!”
Charlotte is looking to spend more time working on the business. “Kevin’s coaching has had a massive impact on my mindset as I feel a lot more at home running the business – I actually quite enjoy it!
“I set up The HR Consultants to give me more flexibility and time to spend with my family. I knew I needed to figure out how to switch off in my downtime as running your own business is full-on. Kevin and I worked on different strategies to help me shed some of the load but also to enable me to have my own me-time. He suggested taking Fridays off or deleting my email app when I went on holiday – I knew the business would be fine because we’d put a lot of hard work in; it was having the validation from someone I knew had been there, done that in business to say everything will be OK.”
With the future looking bright, Charlotte is looking to continue growing the business. “Having just moved into the new office, which was a big step, the goal is to keep expanding. We’re looking at improving how we recruit new clients and are also looking for a couple of new members of staff – we’ve got a really exciting time in store!”
The benefits of coaching have given Charlotte the confidence to be a successful business owner, and she is a firm believer in the advantages of ActionCOACH. “People are probably fed up with the number of times I’ve recommended Kevin and the team to them! It is a sizeable investment, but it is 100% worth it. The support and expertise you receive from someone who has faced the same challenges as you have been second to none.
“A big thing for me was feeling relieved that someone had experienced the same things I had before. It does help put your challenges in perspective and gives you the confidence to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. With the benefits ActionCOACH Warwick provides for you and your business – it’s a no-brainer!”
“I love coaching Charlotte – working with her has been an absolute delight and a lot of fun,” said Kevin. “She’s enthusiastic and always willing to learn new things to level up her skills for the benefit of the business.
“Seeing how much both Charlotte and her team have grown since we started working together in 2020 has been brilliant – it’s given me a lot of satisfaction to see the progress they’ve all made, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.”
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