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Katie HR Consulting

Name: Katie HR Consulting
Address: Derby, GB
Telephone: +447871222621
Rating: 5

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01/11/2026

🍂 Hello November and hello New Ways November! ✨

A new month means a new Action for Happiness calendar, and November’s theme invites us to bring a little more curiosity and creativity into our everyday routines.

Trying something new doesn't have to mean making a dramatic change or completely stepping outside our comfort zone. It might simply mean approaching a familiar situation differently, exploring another perspective or making one small change and noticing how it feels.

Some of my favourite prompts from this month’s calendar are:

🌿 Get outside and observe the changes in nature around you
🧠 When you feel you can’t do something, add the word 'yet'
👀 Look at life through somebody else’s eyes and see their perspective
💛 Find a new way to tell someone you appreciate them
🎨 Discover your artistic side and design a friendly greeting card
🎶 Enjoy some new music by playing, singing, dancing or listening

The greeting card prompt feels particularly well timed, with the winter Kindness By Post exchange opening this month. I also like the suggestion to choose a different route and notice what you see along the way. Skye and I have already been exploring some new walks since the house move, so that feels like a good place for me to start.

As always, there is no pressure to complete every action. Perhaps choose one that feels interesting, helpful or simply enjoyable and see where it takes you. Which New Ways November prompt speaks to you most?

If you would like to explore the theme with others, our next Action for Happiness Derby Group session is on Monday 9 November at 7pm on Zoom. It is a friendly, supportive space to pause, connect and reflect together, and everyone is welcome.

Find out more and join us here: https://actionforhappiness.org/groups/derby-0

31/10/2026

🎃👻 Halloween HR Horrors! 👻🎃

Forget haunted houses, ghostly apparitions and things that go bump in the night... there are some workplace horrors that are enough to send a shiver down anyone's spine! 😱

🧟 The meeting that won't die - It could have been an email, but somehow we're now scheduling a follow-up meeting to discuss the previous meeting.

👻 The ghost of policies past – That workplace policy nobody's looked at for years. Last updated in 2015. Still being used. Terrifying.

🕷️ The tangled web – "We didn't think we needed to document any of that..." Every HR professional's favourite jump scare.

🧛 The energy vampire – That one little task that's somehow managed to suck the life out of your entire afternoon.

💀 The deadline from beyond the grave – "We really need this by yesterday." Ah yes, let me just find my time machine.

🦇 The mysterious disappearing colleague – Last seen when the action points were being allocated. Hasn't been spotted since.

🎃 The four most frightening words in HR – "We've always done it this way." Enough said.

And, of course, the ultimate freelance consultant horror...

😱 "Can I just ask you a really quick HR question?" ... Three hours and seventeen follow-up questions later... 😂

Happy Halloween! 🎃

What's your biggest workplace horror? Or is there another phrase that sends a shiver down your spine?

30/10/2026

🍪 Never underestimate the power of a good biscuit! ☕

Some days call for careful planning, deep thinking and getting stuck into the to-do list. Other days call for a plate of biscuits and a decent cup of tea. Today might be one of those days! 😂

Today's biscuit-based support team consists of Jammy Dodgers and dark chocolate digestives. A pretty solid line-up, if you ask me. I'm not saying biscuits can solve all of life's problems, but they can certainly make tackling the inbox, navigating a busy day or taking five minutes away from the screen feel a little more enjoyable and sometimes it's those small, everyday pleasures that give us a much-needed lift 💛

So, in the spirit of Friday, I have a very important question... what's your ultimate biscuit of choice? 🍪

Are you a chocolate digestive devotee, a Jammy Dodger fan, a custard cream traditionalist, or is there another contender I really should be considering? All recommendations welcome. This is clearly very important research! 😁

29/10/2026

Apparently it’s National Cat Day today (Charlie would like to know how this differs from every other day?!) 🐾

For anyone who hasn’t met him, this is Charlie, Katie HR Consulting’s newly self-appointed Head of Chair Occupation. He takes his responsibilities very seriously. Particularly the lying down part.

I thought being self-employed meant I’d get to be my own boss. Turns out I’m still negotiating with someone over whether I’m allowed to sit in my own desk chair 😂

Still, he’s very good company and I suppose keeping my seat warm is technically a key contribution. Anyone else have a feline colleague secretly running the show?

29/10/2026

The latest edition of my Katie HR Consulting newsletter is now out in the world 📰✨

This month’s issue includes:
🎓 A rather lovely personal milestone, with confirmation that I have officially been awarded my MSc in Psychology
🌿 Reflections on taking a proper break, switching off and remembering that rest is not a reward for finally finishing everything
💌 A look ahead to the winter Kindness By Post exchange, the final and usually most popular exchange of the year
🎃 My free Mindful Halloween Checklist for Managers & HR Teams, along with a follow-on blog exploring how to make workplace activities inclusive and low-pressure
💻 Blogs and reflections on flexible working becoming unspoken always-on working, workload and work-life balance, listening to lived experience, values in practice, menopause support, workplace change and mentoring
💛 The new Action for Happiness New Ways November calendar, with some small prompts for bringing more curiosity, creativity and connection into everyday life
📚 A book recommendation for anyone thinking about balance, boundaries and making more space for what matters
🧩 A simple wellbeing recommendation that can help some people concentrate, feel more settled or manage restless energy

…and, as always, plenty of thoughts about people, workplaces, wellbeing and the small things that can make a difference.

You can read the full October newsletter here 🔗 https://email.marketing.godaddy.com/view/Z0MnUi02bk6Xv7Hrd8Z4BGmu

If you would like future editions delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up here 📩 https://katiehrconsulting.co.uk/sign-up

Please feel free to share it with anyone who might find something useful inside too 💛

27/10/2026

Fresh out of university, I had no grand career plan. I was working at my local council, first in business support and later in elections, and if I’m honest, I mostly knew what I didn’t want. I was fairly sure my future did not involve spending every day behind a desk or learning to love local government bureaucracy.

Then an HR Director took me under his wing. There was no formal programme, mentoring agreement or list of objectives. He simply took an interest, shared his experience and gave me some of his time when I was still trying to find my way.

As I moved through different jobs, other informal mentors helped, advised, challenged, guided and encouraged me. Much later, a local CIPD branch programme gave me my first experience of formal mentoring. Now I mentor other HR professionals, including through the CIPD. There is something rather lovely and full-circle about finding myself in the other chair.

For National Mentoring Day, I've been reflecting on those experiences and why the most useful part of mentoring isn’t always the advice. Sometimes it's having somewhere to think out loud, ask a question that helps you see something differently, encouragement at just the right moment or somebody quietly in your corner who hopes you will do well.

I’ve written more about my experience of being both a mentee and a mentor in my latest blog 🔗 https://katiehrconsulting.co.uk/blog/f/the-useful-part-of-mentoring-isn%E2%80%99t-always-the-advice

Have you had somebody like that in your corner?

23/10/2026

🦡 Meet the Badger of Courage! 💛

Some people have motivational quotes on their desks. I have a little badger with a rucksack 😄 Back in 2020, during the first Covid lockdown, a lovely friend sent me this little Badger of Courage pin badge. He arrived attached to a cardboard background showing him heading off on an adventure through the hills, and that's exactly where he's stayed ever since!

For the past six years, he's had a permanent spot underneath my computer monitor, accompanying me through different desks, workspaces, jobs, setting up my own business and two house moves. He's remarkably well travelled for a badger who hasn't actually left his little patch of cardboard! 😂

But there's a reason I've kept him there all this time. He's a little reminder to find courage when I need it. Sometimes that's for the big things, but often it's for the everyday stuff. A difficult conversation, trying something new, making a decision I've been putting off, or just getting through a particularly challenging day.

I love that something so small, sent as a thoughtful gesture by a friend all those years ago, is still making me smile today. So here's to my little Badger of Courage, who's now settled into yet another new home office 🦡💛

Do you have any little desk companions, keepsakes or objects that have followed you through different jobs or chapters of your life?

21/10/2026

When I moved house recently, there were some boxes I could leave closed for a while. Pictures, books and decorative bits could all wait. Whereas other things were needed almost immediately like the kettle and mugs, a phone charger, clean clothes, and everything Charlie and Skye needed to begin settling in.

Whether it's carefully labelled or not, every move needs an 'open first' box. It made me think about how we approach change at work. We often explain change through the eventual destination i.e. the new strategy, structure, system or way of working. Meanwhile, the people affected will likely be wondering what it means for them on Monday morning. They'll want to know what's changing now, what's staying the same, what do they need to do differently, what's still being decided and who they can speak to if they have questions.

People won't always need every answer immediately, but they will need a clear place to start. They'll also need honesty about what isn't yet known and confidence that they won't be left to find their way through the change alone. My latest blog explores what might go into the workplace equivalent of an 'open first' box, and why helping people through change involves more than describing the finished picture. Read the full blog here 🔗 https://katiehrconsulting.co.uk/blog/f/every-change-needs-an-%E2%80%98open-first%E2%80%99-box

What has helped you find your feet during change at work?

19/10/2026

Much of the workplace conversation around menopause understandably focuses on what to do when someone asks for support but I kept thinking about what may have happened before that conversation.

By the time someone speaks to their manager, they may already have spent weeks or months trying to manage things themselves. Adjusting routines, preparing differently for meetings, working around disrupted sleep or pain, and wondering whether it feels safe to share something so personal.

I wrote a blog for World Menopause Day yesterday about this less visible part of the experience and what employers can do to make support easier to access. That doesn’t mean making assumptions about what someone needs, or expecting them to disclose personal information. It means creating enough flexibility, trust and everyday care that people don’t have to reach a crisis point before work can adapt. You can read the full blog here 🔗 https://katiehrconsulting.co.uk/blog/f/menopause-at-work-before-someone-asks-for-support

Sometimes relatively small things can make a meaningful difference. A little more control over the working environment, flexibility after a difficult night, a private conversation handled with care, and most importantly confidence that asking for help will not change how someone is seen.

16/10/2026

🐈 I've lost my desk chair to the cat! 🐾

When I moved house recently, I was looking forward to getting my new home office set up, settling into a routine and having a lovely space to work from. What I hadn't quite anticipated was Charlie deciding that my desk chair was, in fact, his new favourite place to nap during the day 😹

I mentioned this little challenge in a recent blog and, several weeks later, I'm pleased to report that absolutely no progress has been made in reclaiming my chair! Charlie is very happy with the new arrangement. Me? Well, I'm getting plenty of use out of my standing desk function 😂 and when he looks this comfortable, how am I supposed to move him?!

I suppose there are worse problems to have when working from home, although I'm beginning to wonder who the home office actually belongs to. Anyone else have a four-legged colleague who's taken over their workspace? 🐾💛

Address

Derby

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 6pm
Tuesday	8am - 6pm
Wednesday	8am - 6pm
Thursday	8am - 6pm
Friday	8am - 6pm

Telephone

+447871222621

Website

https://katiehrconsulting.co.uk/, https://linktr.ee/katiehrconsulting

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