Carole Burman is an award-winning founder of an HR consultancy practice in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. Here she explains how she was at the top of her game in corporate HR, when, unexpectedly, her mother took ill, and she felt compelled to rethink her working approach
I have been blessed with amazing parents who taught me the value of hard work and the importance of building great relationships as they ran their own business too. These are things which have really benefitted me personally and professionally. I am a workaholic as I love what I do, but I am grateful for my love of Ipswich Town Football Club – which led me to meeting my husband.
I left corporate life to spend more time with my Mum, who was seriously ill, however she passed away two weeks into my gardening leave. After spending time with my family, I reflected on what was to come next. I’ve always been passionate about HR, which is a good thing after having done it for the last 30 years! I saw that there was a great opportunity to bring my Make a Difference brand of HR to the region as it is blessed with great SMEs, who I knew that we could help.
It was an opportunity to reflect on what I wanted. It would have been easy to get back into an HR Director role however I realised that I wanted to create something for myself and use my experience and commercial acumen to benefit others.
My hair was not grey at the start of the pandemic! It was a strange time for the HR profession. We were waiting just like the rest of the business community to know what support packages would be available and then had to ensure that all our clients were aware of what was required. We were working seven days a week – we listened to Rishi on the Friday 5pm update and then waited for the detail to land on the government website so that we could create simple guides to share with our clients in readiness for Monday morning. We found ourselves doing a lot of webinars to help and support business owners during this most trying of times. I was very fortunate that I had Charlotte, my business partner, as someone to rely on. It is fair to say that we laughed and cried lots and probably had more deliveries from a certain wine company than most households!
Both Charlotte and I have the benefit of a supportive family who understand that we needed to focus on the business for a while, but in truth, it was hard to know when to stop. We had to give each other a good talking to every now and again to ensure that we took a break away from the laptop.
We have offices in Ipswich, Chelmsford and Norwich but in reality, all of our team work from home when we are not out with clients. There was no need for us to shift our way of working as a result of the shutdown. We already had the systems and processes to enable us to continue to do a great job in supporting our clients.
We started in 2014. MAD-HR stands for Make a Difference – because our core intent has always been to be the difference in the businesses that we serve. We help business owners achieve their ambitions faster and more effectively by ensuring that we build the confidence and capability of their teams.
I am on a sub-board of Suffolk Chamber of Commerce (Suffolk Business Women) and have recently been appointed to the main board of the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce, and also to the Innovation and Engagement Advisory Board with the University of Suffolk. I’m extremely proud to have these roles because they give me the opportunity to represent the thoughts and experiences of other leaders and to continuously be at the heart of understanding what my peers are going through in their various sectors and the potential support that may be available to them.
When my Mum was ill, my dad was her full-time carer – although she called him her ‘minder’ as she was very independent. I recognised that whilst she had a lot of support from Papworth and her medical team, there was very little help for my dad. It was only after she passed away that I discovered Suffolk Family Carers and so I reached out to them to see how I could help. I became a Trustee in 2017 and I love how they make a real tangible difference to the family carers in Suffolk that they support.
My hopes and dreams for the future are to continue to grow MAD-HR by being true to our values and ensuring that we continue to delight our clients as we extend our reach throughout the region; that we continue to see the region thrive by becoming a great place to live and work; for my inbox to finally get under control; and for Ipswich Town Football Club to reach the Premier League and stay there!
Visit MAD-HR and Suffolk Family Carers
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