Our group head of talent and leadership development, Katie Saunders, is starting the year in a new role – she has been promoted to HR director.
With 20 years’ experience in HR and learning and development, Katie spent five years with Volkswagen Group UK and was also HR director- Europe for Guilford Performance Textiles. She was HR director for the Gilder Group which became part of JCT600 in February 2013.
In her new role, Katie will be responsible for setting and driving the JCT600 talent and people agenda, working on projects and programmes that will increase capability and support the business to become one of the Times Top 100 best companies to work for. More importantly, by supporting career development more proactively for the JCT600 team, Katie hopes to truly drive employee loyalty and engagement within the business.
Chief executive John Tordoff, says: “We recognise that people are at the heart of our business and continuing to retain and develop the best talent is crucial to our future success. We now have a 2,000 strong workforce, spread across 47 dealerships, and it is vital that each and every one of our colleagues feels that they are part of the JCT600 family and know that we are committed to helping them to progress their career with us.
“Over the last two years, Katie has done a fantastic job of working to convey this message and helping us to achieve our aim of making JCT600 the best place to work. With developing people being at the core of our business ethos, Katie’s input at board level will be extremely valuable.”
Katie comments: “Over the last few years, the company has developed a platform of training and development initiatives which provide structured career/personal development for all groups of colleagues, from employees new to our business and the motor industry, through to those aspiring to management and leadership positions.
“It has been a really satisfying experience; we have seen a transformational change in attitudes within the business with colleagues now firmly at the centre of everything we do. Having set these solid foundations in place, I am looking forward to working with the other directors to continue to grow and develop the business, I feel exceptionally proud to be part of this company.”
Added: 01 January 2015