International Women's Day 2023 - My story: Zoe Alder

Tell us about your career to date and how you got to your current role in Monahans
I really had no clue what career I wanted to go into when I finished University with a Pyschology degree but knew I wanted to work in London and live the London life. I was incredibly lucky to get my first role and started working only a few months later as a HR Assistant at News International in Wapping, where the Sun, News of the World and Times was created and printed. I loved it there, I loved the buzz of working in such an incredible place walking through the teams of journalists and seeing the incredible printing of the UK’s iconic daily papers. What I did realise though is that I knew NOTHING. I had a degree but absolutely no practical experience at all. I learnt very fast that I needed to absorb as much as possible from whoever I could. My Manager was brutal, constantly pushing me and questioning me until I thought I would break but actually she was just training me (the old school way)!

The long days, daily commutes and 6am starts started to become a grind so I returned to Swindon, moved in with my partner (now husband of 16 years) and started working at Honda within the Employee Relations team, I started my professional studies and was soon promoted to HR Advisor, a move that I hadn’t applied for, convinced I wasn’t ready for and was sure they had made their biggest mistake. The role was relentless, due to the nature of the environment and my ER role, the role was constant management of disciplinaries, grievances, absence issues and unhappy Union reps. It was a tough role but one that looking back gave me such an incredible grounding for my career and exposure to cases that many HR professionals don’t get.

I desperately craved some variety and to move away from grumpy union reps so moved to Kerry Foods where I worked for 11 years in the Sales and Distribution business unit working my way up from HR Advisor to Head of HR, responsible for 26 Sales Centres and 2 Distribution Centres. I loved the variety of dealing with all elements of HR, building a team and helping shape the business and building great relationships over the many years there. Following a management buy out the company went into administration and the new company closed after a few years, something I had never prepared myself for. Turning up and being told you, your team, everyone you worked with were redundant with no notice after 11 years’ service was certainly one of the most emotionally draining points of my life.

With no job, still in shock I had to find any job as soon as possible. I returned to the Honda group. My girls who were 4 & 6 had never seen me in uniform and asked why I was wearing Daddy’s clothes! I ended up as Head of HR, soon becoming responsible for communicating and leading the People aspects of the UK wide Honda closure– a sad end to my time at Honda. After a short break I started at Monahans. I love the variety of my current role and the positivity of the culture at Monahans. I relish the opportunity to make a difference, share ideas and work towards improving the experience for our people at every stage of their career. I am also really lucky to work with a brilliant team who always go the extra mile to deliver.

Who has had the biggest impact on your career?
My Manager at Honda who told me ‘the only thing that will hold you back is yourself’, it’s always stuck with me because it is so true. Many of us spend time convincing ourselves that we’re not good enough, we’re not ready for the promotion, we’re going to be found out - but we just need to believe in ourselves. I’m lucky enough to have been given some great opportunities because people around me believed in me & knew I could do it before I knew myself.

What do you wish you’d known about yourself when you were starting your career?
You have more grit and determination than you know. I would tell myself to soak up the experiences and look for the positives – everything is a learning experience. Situations may feel tough at the time, but you are likely to look back and realise it shaped you, gave you a resilience and grounding that you may not have experienced otherwise.

What advice would you give to someone who is in the early stages of their career?
Put as much time and effort into learning about yourself as you do into learning new skills, developing self-awareness and emotional intelligence are elements that shouldn’t be under-estimated and are so important professionally and personally.

Zoe Alder