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As it is HR season on the 4Talent website…

October 22nd, 2009
Tamika Kerr

Tamika Kerr

As it is HR season on the 4Talent website, I though I’ll join in. I’m new to this. Here I go. I can’t promise this will be good.

I am part of a small team of people called HR (Human Resources). Lots of people get confused with what we actually do and we have a reputation for hiring, firing people and delivering bad news which is true to a certain extent but we do so much more.

HR is made up of several parts – Internal communication, Reward and Benefits, HR administration and payroll, recruitment and the list goes on.

I’m trying to think of the best way of describing what I do. Many people think I sit down all day and push papers around the desk (Yes, this has been said to me on several occasions), which is only partly correct but there are many others things that I actually do which is classed as work.

Often times, I am the help desk for the HR and can answer questions relating to about 80% of queries. I get asked questions about payroll, how to use certain systems, where to find documents and forms and everything else you think of.

I help to process payroll each month and the answer to your question is “No, I don’t give myself a pay increase or bonus each month and No, I can’t give you a pay increase”. Its surprising that after all my years working in payroll I still get asked this question.

On a serious note, I do deal with all things payroll and HR administration related. However, I also liaise with all maternity ladies (there are quite a few), before, during and after their leave. I look after parts of the oracle system which affects different things that you use i.e. The appraisal system, expenses and sprinter.

My job involves me having a lot of patience and putting things in order and also the lovely job of filing pieces of papers. I hate to have papers around me as if you leave them overnight, I am convinced they multiple by the next morning, it doubles in size.

My role has a great advantage to it as I have a generalist role. At one time or another, I get involved in every project so I don’t specialise in any one particular area. This just adds to my skills and explains why I am often a help desk for HR.

Dealing with so much information including payroll means that a high level of confidentiality is needed as you can imagine.

HR may not be at the front of any company but we are a support function which supports each and every company in many projects.

Posted in Tamika Kerr | 1 Comment »

Hello – me again, and this time I’m getting involved in the HR blogging season.

October 12th, 2009
Kate Edwards

Kate Edwards

Hello – me again, and this time I’m getting involved in the HR blogging season.  If a year ago someone had told me I’d be working in HR my reaction would have been ‘reaaaalllly?!’ but since joining 4Talent in January I have enjoyed every second. 

My job as 4Talent Coordinator means I mainly project manage our Work Related Learning Programme, however I have had the opportunity to work on a number of other really interesting pieces of work including revamping the induction policy for new Channel 4 employees as well as getting involved in assessment centres for our Diversity Production Training Scheme.

In the last year my career has changed quite a lot.  Having graduated, I went into radio as a Presenter and then Head of Music.  Up until last year I looked after the music for Xfm London but unfortunately I was made redundant so I came to Channel 4 to be the Music Manager for the radio stations they were about to launch.  Unfortunately, due to the economic climate, the radio project didn’t materialise.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t the end of the journey for me at Channel 4 and I applied for a maternity cover role in 4Talent.  I tried really hard to see past the doom and gloom of my radio career fading before my eyes and to see the opportunities in front of me.  Having only worked in radio, my CV was very focussed on one medium, using similar skills in a similar environment, but this new position has broadened my experiences and hopefully made me more employable in the future.  In the last nine months with the direction of my line manager and supportive colleagues, I have had the chance to learn a whole new range of skills that I will be able to use going forward in (hopefully!) my long and happy media career.

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The Mo will be with you… Always…

October 9th, 2009
Simon Devereux

Simon Devereux

The Mo will be with  you.. Always

So, by now you will have read some HR bloggage and have a slight inkling towards what the life of a HR professional is all about. You will also have noticed that it’s all incredibly positive, and believe me, I love working in the C4 HR team and every day presents a new challenge. So speaking of challenges, I now present to you my toughest challenge of the year: Movember 2009!

For the whole month of November I have chosen to captain the Channel 4 Movember Team aka Tachetastic!

For those of you who don’t know what this means, Movember is a charity event that takes place every year where Mo Bro’s grow fine looking moustaches for the whole month of November (or ‘Mo’vember) all in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity… For more info on this event, check out the website: www.movember.com

What I hadn’t banked on or allotted any of my brains cells to, is that I will be taking to the HR table at the next 4Talent work experience event, which means:

a)      Having to publicly display my ‘soup strainer’ for the world to see!
b)     Potentially being filmed and pasted all over the 4Talent website
c)      Being laughed at (a lot)

Positives are:

a)      I will obviously hold a certain gravitas
b)     You will listen to me if I have a ‘stache (due to the authority I will clearly ooze)
c)      The HR table will be easy to find
d)     I’ll be raising cash for a great cause

 
Anyway, I hope you see you all there, and (shamelessly) if you want to sponsor the Channel 4 Movember team and follow the progress of our hair follicles, do follow this link: http://uk.movember.com/mospace/261

See you next month… I’ll be the one who looks like Magnum P.I (hopefully)

 

Simon

Posted in Simon Devereux | No Comments »

Virgin Blogger!

October 6th, 2009
Diane Herbert
Diane Herbert

The lovely Lauren cajoled me into writing a blog, telling me that it really wasn’t as scary as it seems (umm, not sure of that!)

I am the Human Resources Director for Channel 4, which basically means that I am the boss of the lovely and talented bunch of individuals collectively known as the HR team!

In my job I think about how to get the best out of people to achieve the goals of the organisation. Most organisations nowadays go through a lot of change and sometimes that change can be worrying to people, sometimes they see it as exciting, sometimes they are not sure what that change will mean for them. I try to interpret what the business is doing and translate that into what it means for the people working here or in ‘business speak’ I drive the people dimension of the business strategy. Yes recruitment, payroll and unfortunately, sometimes firing people is part of the job (although not that often thankfully!), but people who do well in HR aren’t just administrators. They have a passion for a business, they are commercially minded but they are also able to think about what implications the commercial decisions will have on the workforce. Companies don’t make big decisions without thinking about finances, so why would they make big decisions without thinking about their people?!

The thing I love about my job is that I get to combine two things I am really interested in – how a business works, and the people who work within it (oh, and we always have a lot of food in the department!).

 

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Let me introduce myself! I work as the Learning and Organisational Development Specialist at Channel 4- that’s L&OD to you and me.

October 5th, 2009
Alison George
Alison George

Let me introduce myself! I work as the Learning and Organisational Development Specialist at Channel 4- that’s L&OD to you and me. So…what does that mean? I work in the 4Talent team which is in Channel 4’s HR department and get to manage, design and facilitate training and development for the splendid folk who work at Channel 4. It’s all about Talent Management- how we attract, develop and retain our staff and help them to perform the best they possibly can in their jobs. 

The bonus bit of my job is that as part of the 4Talent team, I also work on external talent development too; so this means working with the team on 4Talent’s work related learning programmes such as Work Experience, Diversity Production Training Schemes and Inspiration week. I get to design assessment centres; (yes, if you have ever been to one; I may have just designed it- sorry!); deliver workshops for new entrants such as researchers, and those on work experience. The kind of areas I tackle are CV writing and Career & Personal Development. I also get to work with other organisations such as FT2- (Freelance Film and TV Training), as I am a board member there.

So what does my job look like? No two days are really the same! One day I’ll be working with team within Channel 4 to help them develop their strategy or to help them work more effectively as a team. On other days; I’ll be designing or delivering development programmes such as Time Management, Influencing or Performance Management. Often I work with people on a one to one basis to help them think about how to get the most out of their roles at Channel 4- and this is called coaching. On another day, I may be at a youth media charity talking to young people about how they can get into the media industry. Recently we launched a spanking new Learning and Development website for the C4 staff to book all their training on, so that was a good project to manage and get stuck into.

The key thing about my role is about developing the people that work at Channel 4 and working with my colleagues in the 4Talent team to deliver work relating learning that benefits the widest range of people.

 

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Well, I was on the phone the other day trying to organise a collection for a faulty item when I got a “Do you really work at Channel 4?!”

October 5th, 2009
Gemma Isaac

Gemma Isaac

Well, I was on the phone the other day trying to organise a collection for a faulty item when I got a “Do you really work at Channel 4?!” followed by “Out of interest, what do you do as a Reward Manager there?”. This really made me reflect on what I actually do as everyone’s initial reaction is that I have a big trophy cabinet next to me to hand out corporate Oscars….. 

Basically, my role is to ensure that Channel 4’s total reward strategy (terrible jargony term for long-term plans) constantly evolves to ensure that the business is able to attract new employees, motivate the employees who work here, and retain high-potential individuals that could work their way up the career ladder.

If we get this right, we’re on track to ensure that the needs of our customers (eg: viewers, advertisers, government bodies) and our business objectives are met. As all people are motivated by different things, it’s a brilliant challenge to ensure our total reward offering values the diversity of others and offers something to everyone. If you’re interested in finding out about the benefits you get working here, let me know and I’ll pop them up.

Posted in Gemma Isaac | No Comments »

It’s been a busy week in 4Talent, but what better way to end it but by launching our Work Experience Programme for 2010?

October 2nd, 2009
Kate Edwards

Kate Edwards

Hey

It’s been a busy week in 4Talent, but what better way to end it but by launching our Work Experience Programme for 2010?

Channel 4 are delighted to offer up to 80 work experience placements in London during the year, to help students find out more about working in the media industry.

The scheme is aimed at 14-19 year olds in Greater London education and placements will take place between January and September 2010.

There will be around 80 placements offered across our business, from HR and Finance to Marketing and Commissioning, plus at several Independent production companies.

If you are a Teacher or a Work Experience Coordinator you can nominate up to 5 young people to attend our next Open Day on Wednesday 18th November.

At the Open Day, students will have the opportunity to hear from industry professionals as well as take part in interactive sessions.

Once attended, students will then be eligible to apply for one of our 1 or 2 week work experience placements via our online recruitment system.

To receive the correct application form and this info for you to distribute - please email wrl@channel4.co.uk

The form must be completed and sent to us via email by 23rd October 2009.

Channel 4 will email students directly, copying in teachers, to let them know the outcome of their application by 6th November 2009.

For any further queries, please email me: wrl@channel4.co.uk
I hope you’ll get on board – it would be great to have you as part of our scheme.

Have a lovely weekend,
Kate x

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Wow. I hear that October is HR season in the world of 4Talent blogs.

October 2nd, 2009
Simon Devereux

Simon Devereux

Wow. I hear that October is HR season in the world of 4Talent blogs. Well, in that case, let me be the first to welcome you to the exciting world of  Human Resources at the mighty Channel 4.

From day one, when the first 5 minutes of my induction included watching a mock Nick Broomfield documentary where Frank Gallagher waxes lyrical about Channel 4’s values whilst completely pickled on complimentary cans of lager I knew I’d landed on my feet professionally. Of course, since my own induction I’ve since been integral in the redesign of said induction and get to deliver it to new joiners which means watching the same induction film every other week, to the point that I am fluent in ‘Gallagher’.

In the current economic climate, HR gets a bad rap. For example, during week 4 of my time at Channel 4 Towers I was asked to take on the HR table at a 4Talent work experience event. For those of you who haven’t attended or been involved with one of these events, it’s a little like speed dating where students have an allotted time slot on each table with various representatives from assorted Channel 4 departments. Needless to say, I got the distinct impression that the HR table was not seen as the most exciting prospect with 90% of the student congregation assuming that HR professionals spend the day casually ‘sacking’ people and going about general day-to-day ‘grim reaping’ duties. Well, on this point I spent the whole morning convincing the youth of today that working in HR wasn’t the embodiment of pure evil and is in fact an ever changing and exciting profession to work in.

Having now racked up 9 months service working in the C4 HR department, I have had the opportunity to design an already successful one-day recruitment workshop, worked on a revamp of the Channel 4 induction (as noted above), co-facilitated a number of departmental away days, have set up a 4Careers Twitter account, been involved in recruiting for a number of Channel 4 vacancies and yes, not a single ‘sacked’ colleague in sight.

After my morning at that first work experience event, I have since taken to the HR table again with my patter well and truly nailed. The first part is called: ‘The Journey’. No, I’m not on some hippy trip or reacquainting myself with the work of Kula Shaker, no, The Journey covers how HR are the one constant from your application for a vacancy (we are involved in the short listing and advertising of the vacancy on our lovely website), when you attend an interview (we normally sit on the interview panel and try not to grill you too hard), we welcome you to Channel 4 with your contract and present the induction to you on day one, we support your manager in your professional development with training opportunities, secondments and workshops, and in the event that you decide to move onto the next stage of your career, we end up either being involved in the recruitment process (if you decide to move within Channel 4) or we process your paperwork, payroll and conduct your exit interview (in the event that you resign and move on to pastures new).

Part 2 is affectionately called ‘character building’ and tends to be around the discussions that a lot of people don’t like to have, such as addressing issues of poor performance, dealing with acts of misconduct or being involved in the implementation of changes within Channel 4 as a whole, your team, or your role specifically. It is about coaching managers to be able to handle these situations and to avoid landing themselves in the ‘hornets nest’ that are employment tribunal claims (which means brushing up regularly on developments in employment law)

So in a tiny nutshell, working in HR can be a rewarding experience (of course it helps working at the worlds greatest television channel), and you never know what the day is going to throw at you. One minute you’ll be working on an exciting project, the next you’ll be facilitating a workshop and the next you’ll be handling a very prickly or sensitive issue. Considering that I am a trained illustrator and cartoonist, I sometimes ponder on how I fell into the HR profession and why I continue to do it… But, the point is I still enjoy it, I love working with the people I work with and above all, I am taken out of my comfort zone every single week, which is always a good thing…

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4Talent Blog Seasons

October 2nd, 2009
Lauren Mollyneaux

Lauren Mollyneaux

Hello and welcome to 4Talent’s first Blog season!!

The first (lucky) department to be chosen is HR aka Human resources (Not Human Remains, as some people fondly call them).

HR may not have the same bright lights of Production, Commissioning or Future Media, but it is an integral part of Channel 4 and to any large organisation for that matter. Most would not survive without them; they are Wolverine’s claws, Jamie Oliver’s cooking pans, Beckham’s boots…you get the picture.  Without them, most companies would not survive.

At HR headquarters, it’s not just hiring, firing and payroll that go on and over the next month, blogs from our team will give you a bit more of an insight into their C4 universe. Like why does HR always have so much food, who is it that likes to sing along to Sharika’s ‘She-wolf’ loudly and whose idea was it to have HR do the first blog season?

HR blogs will also provide advice to all who are currently applying for jobs, work experience and internship placements. Human Resources are usually the first point of contact for vacancies, and over the years they have seen every type of CV, Interviewee and email possible. Over the next month will we tell you some of the do’s & don’t when applying for jobs.

By the end of October you will all want to become part of the HR team- yes; these blogs will be that exciting!

Blogs will be uploaded weekly and if you have any questions about HR just leave us a comment at the bottom and we’ll get back to you.

Happy reading!

Lauren x

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My time as a Channel 4 intern is over now.

September 25th, 2009
Spencer

Spencer

My time as a Channel 4 intern is over now. Last week was my final week at the Channel and on Friday we had our graduation ceremony. I feel that the ceremony itself went really well, all 6 of us interns spoke about our time here, what we had learnt, what we hoped to do in the future and said thanks to all the relevant people. We also had the surprise inclusion of Frankie’s film which was made secretly and undercover without our knowledge. The film was brilliant, Frankie had gone around and spoken to all our colleagues and asked them to say what they thought about us, give us any advice for the future and generally say very nice things. I am really grateful for Frankie making the film as it was very nice to hear such flattering words coming from our colleagues, especially in my case as Jen had been interviewed who unfortunately couldn’t make the graduation because of her mum’s wedding but the film meant she was still involved.

I was completely overwhelmed by all the kindness and help I received during my 10 weeks at C4 and as I said in my speech at graduation; the C4 workers are happy to go the extra mile to make you feel at home and ensure that you are getting the most of our your time here. At the end of the day, everyone knows that us interns are getting a great deal out of having an internship at Channel 4 as it will look great on our CVs and provide us with valuable experience for the future. Therefore, knowing this, I expected (perhaps somewhat cynically) that permanent employees at the channel would be aware of this and as a result, would treat us a resource purely to help them while we were there. I couldn’t have been more wrong. They are constantly doing their best to help you fit in and are always coming up with different ways of ensuring that you are getting the most out of your time at the channel, and for that I am very grateful.

I also love that even though I’ve left the channel and am back at University, I can still write blogs and keep in touch with everyone and let them know how I’m getting on. You become part of a family at Channel 4 and like most families, when you leave home, you still remain part of it. Last night I had a stand up gig in Reading which was part of the Reading Comedy Festival. It was the third heat of the Reading Comedy Festival’s New Act of the Year competition and I am happy to announce that I got through to the final. The gig went really well and I am crediting part of this success to my time at Channel 4 which helped build my confidence and made me feel more at home on stage. If any of you guys are in Reading on the Saturday 17th October, feel free to come by and support me in the final! Just want to say one final thanks to everyone who I came into contact with during my internship, you were all amazing! That’s it from me for now, stay safe and remember: Keep chasing the dream, not the competition.

Spence x

Posted in Spencer Carmichael-Brown | 1 Comment »

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