Livin la vida loca while helping the company reach their ambitious growth goals – Meet Head of Resourcing Claudia Gunter

Working with People Puzzles has enabled Claudia and her family to fulfil their dream of living abroad.

In what way has People Puzzles helped you to thrive? 

Too many to mention!  I have always found people fascinating and I am a pretty good judge of character so I naturally “fell into” recruitment and talent in all my roles.  This natural curiosity has been honed over the years, especially with People Puzzles, who have supported me and given me the tools to implement and drive forward a robust recruitment strategy.  People Puzzles recognised where my talents lie and have enabled me to build a brilliant Talent to support the growth ambitions of the business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you had one stand out moment when you have felt lucky to work with People Puzzles? 

Without getting too political, I was deeply shocked by the 2016 referendum and the wheels being set in motion to remove the UK from the EU.  My husband and I had always planned to eventually live in the EU (Spain) once we retired and that option was no longer going to be available to us. Nothing goes unnoticed at People Puzzles and after another 2 years of spending all my annual leave travelling to Spain, co-owner Helen Stenhouse asked whether People Puzzles could support me in my role so that it became completely remote and based in Spain. Ally Maughan (People Puzzles Founder) then came to lunch at my house in Surrey and we discussed it some more and fast forward to 2019, we were off!  We were no longer just watching “A Place in the Sun” on TV, we were living it! With People Puzzles blessing and ongoing support, I have never looked back and feel deeply thankful to Ally and Helen for their unwavering support.

What have you found most meaningful about your work with People Puzzles and our team? 

I love hearing the success stories from both our clients and People Directors. Some People Directors are a little cautious or reticent about moving away from what they perceive to be a stable (employed) environment. I never over-promise, in fact the opposite! So, it gives me enormous satisfaction to see their portfolio grow (in terms of both earnings and clients), along with receiving amazing feedback and subsequent testimonials from their clients. Win/win! When I speak to anyone outside of People Puzzles, I am sometimes shocked at how poorly people and teams can be treated by an employer, especially when those people and teams give so much of themselves to these businesses. It really drives home the impact a commercial People Director can make in a business, not only in respect of facilitating growth, but also providing cultures to be proud of; where people stay and are happy and get excited about work. Our People Directors can influence this sort of change, and I love the idea that someone I have helped onboard is effecting this positive change right at this very moment.

What areas are you passionate about outside of your work 

I suffer from wanderlust and therefore love to travel, even if just domestically. There are so many parts of my adopted home country in Spain that I want to see. I love getting in the car and driving across the country (nothing like UK roads I can assure you!). I adore nosing around historic old towns and sampling the local tapas and wine, or catching a live set from a local performer. I enjoy beach days with a book and a Pina Colada. Family holidays are something I hold dear to now my daughter is a teenager and in IGSCE-time, which means our family periods together are less frequent, so time spent sitting down to a good meal and a chat is even more cherished. I have a fantastic friendship group going back too many years to mention and spending time with them is also a huge passion of mine.  Finally, like nearly the whole population of People Puzzles, my pooch, Lexi, is another passion (she is just too cute!).

 

 

What excites you most about the next 5 years of your career with People Puzzles?  

What doesn’t excite me? My own personal learning and developing. Bringing in even more high calibre People Directors. Using technology more and more in the talent team. Being able to come up with creative ideas to attract and retain talent. Ideally bringing in more employees to become part of our close work family.

Ultimately it is seeing firsthand the growth trajectory of the business and feeling proud knowing that what I do has helped that.