Harlow and District Chamber of Commerce

Biography

Kerry McGowan is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (FCIPD) and Member of the Institute of Paralegals (M.Inst.Pa) with qualifications in business and Personnel Management.  She is a skilled and qualified manager & HR professional with over 25 years experience. Kerry has worked for large retail organisations, such as House of Fraser, Marks and Spencer and Tesco, and provided HR support at a strategic level in public sector organisations including policing and education and worked with public service & teaching unions and the police federation.

Kerry spent 8 years at Essex Police in a variety of senior HR roles including provision of operational HR support, strategic planning, resource management, organisational change and project management. Kerry has experience managing large teams, providing strategy & direction and high standards of service in a HR function.

Her experience was initially gained in the private sector which has helped Kerry maintain a commercial approach to HR and training.  She was a senior HR lead for an absence management initiative that saw £1.5 million savings in absence costs. Her style is to seek to understand how your business operates and work with you to identify the statutory, ethical and business needs that impact your organisation.

Kerry also holds a licence to act as an independent psychometric tester & profiler at levels A&B using SHL psychometric tools.

Kerry now uses her experience supporting small organisations and charities in developing their HR functions. Comfortable dealing with day to day HR, more complex employment queries or strategic HR matters.  Kerry is a self starter, driven and committed with a natural empathy for dealing with people issues.